Back from work travels...

Home at last! I look forward to visiting and catching-up on your photos! Meantime, here's a wee "Pooh" stump from Cambridge, Massachusetts (outside Harvard University's Science Center, back story here) - only because I've not been able to take Princeton photos for days, and this stump was rather sweet!:) 

Fresh harvest

{Watermelons and cantaloupe, in season through September}

It's hard to resist these roadside farm stands. Everything smells of fresh sunshine and earth. I'm signing off for the week because of work travel, but will be back soon - enjoy your week!

Weekend explorations: Whimsical Tribeca

Why hello sweet little statue. New York's Tribeca is now a trendy area where celebrities live, but once upon a time was an industrial and artists' enclave with cheap rent. This fellow seemed to recall that bohemian past.

"O, what a place for a lake!"

{Lake Carnegie and dam on the Millstone River}

Industrialist Andrew Carnegie reportedly uttered those words when he saw this area. Carnegie's gift, the construction of  Lake Carnegie, provided a great place to row, ice skate, sail...or just soak up some sun.

~Hope yours is a sunny weekend!~

Al fresco

Relaxing over lunch at the local dairy farm, with cheeses made on-site. Our days are still warm, but evenings are noticeably cooler.

The 1830s canal

Canal, lock and locktender's house

The Delaware and Raritan Canal, built 1830-34, now offers a trail for walking and biking. Hand-dug by Irish immigrants working in difficult conditions, the 66-mile canal ran for 100 years, floating mule-towed barges and steamboats.

Lock #8 here is a pleasant 2.5 mile walk from Princeton. One of the first commercial uses of the telegraph ("the Victorian internet") was at this locktender's house and station - to wire canal traffic reports!

Standing on the canal lock.

Photo op

A sure sign of summer's end is the return of Princeton University students. These first-year freshmen - so excited and happy - had gathered for a group portrait. At left, BBC reporters interviewed an excited Princeton parent (it's pretty funny the BBC was there!).

(My camera battery chose that moment to die, so I sadly resorted to my phone.) 

Weekend explorations: Looking up at the Met

Ceiling, wood, Spain, 16th century, in Moorish-influenced Mudéjar style

Skyward glimpses of the newly-renovated American Wing and Islamic Art galleries, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. You could spend days here and still not see everything.

Portals of Princeton: Escape hatch

Princeton Junction train station. Portal to the world beyond (and great for cases of wanderlust).
~Have an adventurous weekend!~

What's up, tiger lily?

Tiger lilies - one of several species known by this common name - add a bright touch. (These may be L. lancifolium). I'll miss seeing outdoor flowers when cold weather arrives.

Bovine beauties

At the local dairy farm. These Jersey cows are a gentle-natured, old English breed.

The March of the Mill Children

While our town square is known for boutiques (and mass yoga), that bottom left sign marks another chapter...

...The 1903 anti-child labor "March of the Mill Children" made a stop here, led by activist Mary "Mother" Jones. "Mother Jones showed the crowd James Ashworth, who was 10 years old and stooped over like an old man from carrying bundles of yarn that weighed 75 pounds."

***

The march drew much attention: New Jersey State passed its first child labor law in 1906, a decade before the U.S. passed its first such national law.

Weekend explorations: Central Park details

Back at Central Park, New York: A staircase carving at Bethesda Terrace and a tribute to a Beatle.

September theme day: People watching

I'm still living in the 1990s and haven't joined Facebook, so just recently learned today's theme (time to join FB - and the year 2012!). Taken a previous weekend, these yoga enthusiasts were enjoying a morning stretch in our town square, a great people-watching spot.

Enjoy your weekend and see other CDP entries here.