First Day Hike in the Mapleton Preserve

Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands invites everyone to a First Day Hike in the Mapleton Preserve on Saturday, January 1, 2022, from noon until 2 pm. For anyone who made a resolution to walk more, this is a great opportunity to start the new year off on the right foot with an easy 1.5 mile loop hike through the Mapleton Preserve.

The walk will begin and end at the Mapleton Preserve/D&R Canal State Park Headquarters at 145 Mapleton Road in Kingston. Dress for the weather, whatever it may be. The walk is free and all are welcome.

Tree Trimming Event in the Mapleton Preserve

Join Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands for a festive tree trimming event in the Mapleton Preserve on Sunday, December 12, 2021, from 2 to 4 pm. Celebrate the season together in the Flemer arboretum with an edible ornament craft for our feathered friends, hot cocoa and holiday cheer. Participants can make one ornament for the event and one to take home for their own backyard birds. 

Thanksgiving Day Walk in the Mapleton Preserve

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Fall Back

Remember to move your clocks back one hour tonight. Daylight saving time ends at 2:00 am on Sunday, November 7.

Kingston Community Safety Sessions

In response to the recent assault that took place on Kingston's berm path, the South Brunswick police department is leading two safety sessions for the community, so that we can safely enjoy our beautiful surroundings. Please join your Kingston neighbors on either October 27 or November 14 at the Kingston Firehouse.

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Thank you to Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands for informing us of these events.

Happy Juneteenth 2021

Our Land

by Langston Hughes

We should have a land of sun,

Of gorgeous sun,

And a land of fragrant water

Where the twilight is a soft bandanna hankerchief

Of rose and gold,

And not this land

Where life is cold.

We should have a land of trees,

Of tall thick trees,

Bowed down with chattering parrots

Brilliant as the day,

And not this land where birds are gray.

Ah, we should have a land of joy,

Of love and joy and wine and song,

And not this land where joy is wrong.

                               Photo: Gordon Parks

FPNL Zoom Program: The Cicadas Are Back

In the coming weeks, billions of cicadas will emerge in a dozen eastern U.S. states, including hot spots in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. On Thursday, May 27, 2021, at 7:30 pm, Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands will present a special illustrated slide program on Zoom with Professor George Hamilton entitled: "We're Back!" The Emergence of the Brood X Periodical Cicadas.

Dr. Hamilton will speak about the highly anticipated emergence of the 17-year periodical cicadas, describing their life cycle and natural history, including their singing, their eating habits and survival strategies, and how they might affect your trees.

This group of cicadas, known as Brood X, has been living underground, feeding on tree sap since 1987. When they will appear varies by location, but they usually emerge when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees. For this region, that typically occurs by the third week in May, but in some areas, they are already here.

The cicadas will only live a few weeks above ground, during which time they molt, mate, and die, but only after males have wooed females with ear-splitting calls, and the females have laid their eggs under the bark of tree twigs, starting the 17-year cycle anew.

Dr. Hamilton is Chair of the Department of Entomology and Director of the Rutgers Graduate Program in Entomology. His research has included evaluating alternative methods of controlling insect pests, including the Asian Tiger Mosquito, and understanding the pest potential of brown marmorated stink bugs.

Please pre-register and receive the link to attend this talk by contacting karenlinder@fpnl.org or by calling 609-683-0483. The talk is free and all are welcome.

Earth Day

An Earth Song

by Langston Hughes 

It's an earth song,—
And I've been waiting long for an earth song.
It's a spring song,— 
And I've been waiting long for a spring song.
    Strong as the shoots of a new plant
    Strong as the bursting of new buds
    Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's womb.
It's an earth song,
A body song,
I have been waiting long for this spring song.

FPNL Zoom Meeting: The Plainsboro Preserve

On Thursday, May 6, 2021, at 7:30 pm, Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands will hold its annual meeting and program on Zoom. Following a brief business meeting, Anne Price, Manager and Naturalist at the Plainsboro Preserve, will present a program on the history of the preserve and NJ Audubon's role there. During the presentation we will learn about some of the exciting flora and fauna to be found on this unique property. Formerly a quarry, this 1,000 acre property is now a nature preserve managed cooperatively by NJ Audubon, the Township of Plainsboro, and Middlesex County. Anne Price has been teaching environmental education since 1987. In 2020 Anne joined NJ Audubon as Manager and Naturalist at the Plainsboro Preserve.

The meeting will take place online. If you plan on attending, please RSVP to karenlinder@fpnl.org or call 609-683-0483 to obtain the link.

Spring Cleanup in the Mapleton Preserve

Join Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands and Scout Troops 10 and 102 to clean up trails and clear brush and vines from trees surrounding a vernal pond in the Mapleton Preserve. This event is scheduled for Saturday, April 10, 2021, from 1 to 3 pm; the rain date is Sunday, April 11, from 1 to 3 pm. Tools and gloves will be provided, or you can bring your own; rakes would be particularly helpful. Dress for the weather, whatever it may be.

For the safety of all, masks and social distancing will be required. Preregistration is requested at karenlinder@fpnl.org or 609-683-0483.

Mapleton Preserve/D&R Canal State Park is located at 145 Mapleton Road in Kingston. Click here for directions.

The Hill We Climb

Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, reads "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris.

COVID-19 Memorial

Seasons of Trump

A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

MLK Day of Service in the Mapleton Preserve

Friends of Princeton Nursery Lands has decided on short notice to host a cleanup event on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 18, 2021, in the Mapleton Preserve from 1 to 2:30 pm. The fields in the Preserve were brush-cut last fall to start to improve the quality of the habitat. This left a lot of wood debris on the inner paths of the fields, making walking difficult. At this event FPNL will be mostly picking up this debris and litter, but there will be something left to do for everyone.

All are welcome, but COVID-19 guidelines must be followed and masks must be worn at the event. Work gloves and tools will be provided, but please bring your own water or snacks. Dress for the weather, whatever it is.

Preregistration is requested. Phone (609-683-0483) or email Karen Linder (karen.e.linder@gmail.com) to let her know that you are coming so they do not exceed Park COVID capacity guidelines.

Mapleton Preserve/D&R Canal State Park is located at 145 Mapleton Road in Kingston. Click here for directions.

Yesterday

This is today's cold open from MSNBC's Morning Joe, showing images and videos from yesterday's acts of violence at our nation's Capitol.

Greetings and Take Care

Happy New Year, Princeton Landing friends, former neighbors, and residents.

Your board of directors may have faith in your management company, but we wonder how this is possible. Although we sold our home in the community in November, FirstService Residential is still sending us monthly maintenance bills. We have also received a collection notice for an erroneous December maintenance bill. The same day the January maintenance bill and the December collection notice arrived, we also received our former Parcel's finalized 2021 budget "prepared by the Association Board of Directors," telling us about the increase in monthly maintenance fees in Parcel 6. The maintenance bills and collection notice were sent to our new address. The Parcel budget was sent to our old address and forwarded.

Back in December when we received the first erroneous maintenance bill, my husband emailed the management office. He did not get a response. So I inquired to management on a copy of his email. Only then did they reply to him. They told him that it was "normal" to continue to receive maintenance bills even after you have sold your home in the community. It's "normal" then, it seems, to also receive a collection notice on a maintenance bill you didn't owe in the first place. 

Princeton Landing homeowners, THIS IS YOUR MANAGEMENT COMPANY. They are no longer our problem, but they are yours. We wish you all the best in the new year and sincerely hope that errors like these are not indicative of other ways in which your community may be mismanaged.

Be well. Take care. Stay safe.