Welcome!

This is from my Aug. 17 column:

Joe's Pequannock Township



Apparently I’m not the only one with Mountain Avenue memories. The column I wrote a couple weeks ago reminiscing about my first journey to the summit of that Pequannock Township road resulted as many responses as anything I’ve ever written. (The PTHS Class of ’77 was well-represented!)

We all seem to remember The Road, and the personal accomplishment it was to reach the top as a 10-year-old. Even people who did not grow up in town were reminded of their own version of Mountain Avenue. It seems every town in America has a road steeped in mythology and local lore.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been riding my bike a lot more lately after having been idled for several years by a defective heart valve. The mechanical aortic valve I received at New York Presbyterian Hospital last year has put me back in the saddle, so to speak, and just last week, Dr. Bill Borden, the World’s Greatest Cardiologist, removed any remaining physical restrictions.

I used to ride a lot, sometimes a hundred miles in a day. (Cyclists call that a “Century.”) As I’ve been riding more lately, I’ve been reminded of how the world looks when you’re not passing by it in a car at 60 miles per hour.

When people of my generation went someplace as kids, we usually walked or rode our bikes. And we saw and learned so much more about our surroundings. In our relatively unstructured youths, most of our activities were planned ourselves, and we got where we were going on our own for the most part.

There’s a lot to be missed when most of the exposure to your town is experienced through the tinted windows of the minivan on the way between soccer practice and music lessons.

As I’ve ridden around town this summer I’ve been realizing that. So I set a goal for myself. There are 67 miles of road in Pequannock Township, and I am going to ride them all.

I’m going to take my time, look around, and keep a blog about it. The blog can be found at joespequannocktownship.blogspot.com.

I’ve written plenty of those “On the Road” type articles from other places. But there are lots of interesting people and places right here in our hometown. Sixty-seven miles of them.

Already more than a few people have said they want to join me on the road when they can. Contact me on the blog if you’d like to join as well. And you don’t have to ride a bike. Please feel free to tell me about interesting or offbeat facts about your neighborhood.

Growing up in this town, I’ve seen it evolve and develop. There have been triumphs and tragedies, and in both, the best of people. Seeing my hometown up close again lately has brought back many of those memories, and I hope to share them on my blog.

That’s joespequannocktownship.blogspot.com. I look forward to your comments and your own memories.