{"id":70707,"date":"2016-07-21T09:49:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-21T16:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/?p=70707"},"modified":"2016-07-21T09:49:12","modified_gmt":"2016-07-21T16:49:12","slug":"there-are-secrets-in-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/?p=70707","title":{"rendered":"There are secrets in New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Jersey has a secret. It wears an industrial mask and is draped in a costume made from the fabric of loud boardwalks, clubbers, and miscellaneous state stereotypes.<\/p>\n

But, beneath the fa\u00e7ade, there is something very\u2014very different. The secret\u2019s out, New Jersey is bursting at the seams with plant life and environmental diversity.<\/p>\n

My partner, Robbie, and I have gained a lot of memorable and joyous experiences exploring NJ and its plant life. We have driven through rough and gritty dirt roads deep into the soul of the Pine Barrens. We did not find the Jersey Devil, but we did find adventure.<\/p>\n

We camped under hearts of oaks and pines, nestled in the rib cages of blueberries and huckleberries. N.J. unveiled its rare Lysimachia terrestristhe <\/em>and Pogonia opioglossoides <\/em>to us in the summer\u2019s boiling bogs brimming with sun dew and pitcher plants.\"Screen<\/p>\n

We have taken shelter from the sobs of the earth and its storming pulse under the spiral bark of the Atlantic white cedar.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve inhaled the aromatic scents of Rhododendron viscosum<\/em> of the Appalachian Mountains tucked away in the northwest of the state.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0559\"

Rhododendron viscosum<\/p><\/div>\n

We kayaked through the narrow veins of the creeks, and saw the Spartina<\/em> species thriving on the scalps of muscle clams.<\/p>\n

\"Egg

Egg Island, NJ<\/p><\/div>\n

We escaped the vicious greenflies and their shocking vampiric bites.<\/p>\n

We traced roads that evolved into thick, impassible tickets. We baked like potatoes in the summer\u2019s oven. We searched through the labyrinth of dunes seeking beach plum (Prunus maritima)<\/em>, bear berry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi<\/em>) , and heather (Hudsonia sp.).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Endless

Endless under stories of Gaylussacia baccata<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

We saw proud bald eagles, and ravenous osprey gripping fish in their razor talons. We saw black face terns plummeting and breaking the skin of the sea. We eaves dropped into conversations of sand pipers and red winged black birds as they discussed territory defense strategy.<\/p>\n

\"Turkey

Turkey Beard (Xerophyllum asphodeloides<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our alarm clocks were not actual timepieces, but roaring torrential downpours, leaky tents, and whippoorwills gossiping into the night.<\/p>\n

Our breath would escape our lungs from the snakes slithering across our boots.<\/p>\n

We were freckled with ticks.<\/p>\n

We waited patiently for nesting terrapins to cross the road.<\/p>\n

We learned the language of the land and had the opportunity to listen closely. It spoke in gentle whispers. It said, \u201cI have a secret. Can you guess what\u2019s under this mask?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey has a secret. It wears an industrial mask and is draped in a costume made from the fabric of loud boardwalks, clubbers, and miscellaneous state stereotypes. But, beneath the fa\u00e7ade, there is something very\u2014very different. The secret\u2019s out, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7286,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[3535,50,3533,3531,3534,3516,3504,3532],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70707"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70892,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70707\/revisions\/70892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}