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Health & Fitness

Words from the Water's Edge

The Turtle Lady with the latest from the banks of the Pompeston Creek

     It's been a while since my last post, and lots of things have been happening. If my memory holds up in this heat, I'll try to fill you in.
     Needless to say, the aforementioned heat has had an effect on both me and the creek. As someone dealing with hot flashes (or as I like to call it, my own global warming), I am lucky enough to have a pool in the backyard - and no, there are no turtles in it - and have been in the water almost every day. Even that is becoming less than refreshing lately - the water temp hit 91 degrees yesterday!
     With the heat, we've had to deal with the thunderstorms that come through. I wish that we would get more of the rain instead of just the thunder, lightning and wind. A number of trees and large branches have gone down, the biggest one right next to the creek. I was watching the storm from my front door and saw the lightning bolt hit. It was close enough that the electricity in the air made the hair on my arms stand up! That's a bit too close for me!
     Speaking of weather, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending the retirement dinner for good friend Bob Wanton. Bob was a fixture at the National Weather Service for 47 years! He's a huge part of why I love weather so much, and why I became a Skywarn Storm Spotter. The best part of the party was that everyone got a chance to tell Bob in person what an impact he had had on not only our lives, but the lives of so many others. In addition to his duties at the NWS, he also traveled the area giving weather lessons to kids at schools - his presentations reached more than 130,000 people!  I wish him all the best, and hope that he enjoys his retirement.
     I've been able to attend most of the township committee and board meetings - there hasn't been anything dramatic going on. Unless, of course, you consider the final approval of the Lutheran Social Ministries project site plan to be something of importance. I'm still confused by this whole situation. Apparently, the state house commission gave approval for the property to be removed from the ROSI list - I thought that there would have been notice given for the public to attend the state house hearing of the isssue, but I only heard about the approval, after the fact, at a twp meeting. I have accepted the inevitable fact that the project will go forward, but am highly disappointed that the powers that be didn't take the opinions and feelings of the public as seriously as they should have. I still believe that there were other sites in town that would have met LSM's needs, and I'm still not clear on the whole timeline concerning the original purchase of the property and where the funds came from. I'm no sure if Green Acres funds were used, even though the township never intended the parcel to remain open space. It's all fuzzy to me, and sadly, it's too late to do anything about it. Don't you just love progress!
     Now that school is out for the summer, I am able to go to seminars and workshops. About two weeks ago, I attended a workshop on working more effectively with municipal governments. It was very informative, and I hope that I will be able to use what I've learned. The workshop stressed being informed and being civil - as I told the township committee, it should at least make me more pleasant to deal with!
     This past weekend was incredibly busy. As "The Turtle Lady", I participated in Westville's Independence Day Celebration on Saturday - check out the article in the Gloucester County Times at http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/06/westville_environmental_commis_2.html . Then on Sunday, I attended a training session with Trish Pitcher, the NJ Watershed Ambassador for our area. Seven of us learned how to assess water quality by looking at the macroinvertebrates found in the water. After looking at bugs all morning, it was off to the Riverton Park. We spent a good part of the afternoon picking up trash and clearing spiderwebs and knotweed from the paths along the creek in preparation for the 4th of July festivities on Wednesday. After the parade, there will be a table with information about the Pompeston Creek and the watershed at the park, and guides available to take you along the paths, pointing out various birds and wildlife. (Watch for the "Turtle Crossing" float in the parade, with a special appearance by turtle princess, Aden!)
     Talking about and the creek brings me back to the heat. When the temperatures get up into the 80s and 90s day after day, it brings a change in wildlife behavior. The beavers muskrats only come out after dark, the egrets and herons are only seen around sunrise. The creek water is so warm, that even the fish disappear during the day. We haven't had much significant rain with the recent storms, and the water level at low tide is just a few inches in some spots. We have been seeing a lot of debris in the form of branches, broken marsh plants and massive amounts of litter coming in with the tide. We have also been seeing even more sediment than usual. I have a theory about where it's coming from, but I'll keep that to myself for now. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the construction site that was fined more than $50,000 for soil erosion violations (wink wink nudge nudge - did the sarcastic tone of that last sentence come through?)
     Until next time, have a happy 4th of July, and try to stay cool!

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