Do daffodils usually start peeking up in February? Is this normal? Or have they been lulled into a false sense of spring? Am I crazy? Help me out here.

ACCORDING TO LEGEND…..

Back in the days of Feltville, the children of the village kept disappearing. It was eventually decided that THIRTEEN MURDEROUS SISTERS were responsible for the childrens’ disappearances. The “witches” were all hanged and buried beneath Johnston Drive, which was dirt at the time. Because, I mean, obviously, what better place to bury someone than somewhere your wagon wheel could accidentally plunge into a muddy half-rotten grave, right?

But I digress. Their graves created small bumps in the road, as graves in a road are presumably wont to do.

After Johnston Drive was paved in later years, THE THIRTEEN BUMPS EMERGED FROM THE GROUND.

The bumps were removed and paved flat. YET AGAIN, THIRTEEN BUMPS EMERGED IN THE ROAD.

And it KEPT HAPPENING. Every time.

According to the story, if you drive over the bumps and count all thirteen, say “thirteen witches,” and then look behind you, you can see the witches following you. DUN DUN DUUUNNNNNNN!!!

Personally, I didn’t really notice any outstanding bumps when I drove (‘Was that a bump? Maybe that one? Maybe all of these bumps? If they all count, there are way more than 13 bumps here’), so this is just a generic photo of the road. I kept thinking of a quote I’d read earlier: “Every time I go there I’m either drunk or high so I count like 52 or like 5 bumps, so I’m looking around for a hell of a lot of witches or I’m wondering what the hell is going on” (Weird N.J. n.d., para. 2).

(Just to be clear: I was neither drunk nor high, Mom.)

One more reasonable theory asserts that Johnston Drive has lots of bumps ‘cos it’s always been a steep and tortuous road through the mountains, and bumps used to help prevent carriages from sliding backwards down the hills.

For other more reasonable theories, check out my sources below. OR TELL YOUR OWN TALES.

Sources:

Everson, E. (2011). “The ghosts of Union County: 13 bumps for 13 witches.” Patch.com. http://newprovidence.patch.com/articles/theghostsofunioncounty-13bumpsfor13witches.

Weird N.J. (n.d.). “Bumps road revisited.” http://www.weirdnj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=28.

The Watchung Stables are located on the Watchung Reservation. As evidenced by this photo, they do in fact contain real live horses.

The stables used to be the site of a Nike missile launcher! There are reportedly no longer any signs of that, though.

Just a stony little rivulet off the Passaic River.

This is probably a good fishing spot in the summer. I stumbled into some fishers last year right here (but I didn’t have the guts to ask for or take a portrait), and there are signs posted all over the area about trout fishing regulations. So. Apparently you can fish the Passaic River for trout, when the season is right.

There is some kind of a thick bright red hairy thorny vine that keeps impeding my explorations.

I have no idea what it is. It’s like a malicious rose. It snags my hat and sleeves when I walk by.

This is what it looks like, anyway.

There’s a heliport in Berkeley Heights, behind the Connell Corporate Center!

On the map, it’s actually that beige square, not where the marker is. But still! Kind of cool. I’d love to be around when they’re actually landing a helicopter here.

When I first explored the area near the Chatham-Summit railroad bridge, I thought it was weird that I kept stepping over a million clam and oyster shells. I hadn’t thought the woods of north Jersey were a natural habitat for shellfish.

And of course there was broken glass littered around, as there always is.

But as I continued exploring and looked a little closer, I realized that some (not all) of the broken glass was antique! (Long story short, as my family can attest, I went through an antique bottle/glass collecting phase, and I can recognize it.) And there was a lot!

So THAT’S why there were a bunch of clam and oyster shells, and broken pottery, and glass shards: this place must have been a trash area in the early-to-mid-1900s. In theory, this stuff might have been sitting at the bottom of the Passaic River until it washed ashore during Hurricane Irene’s flooding, but the glass doesn’t show any signs of water erosion (“sea glass”).

There was a well-worn trail leading to this area, and if people have been coming through here for the past 100 years, they’ve taken or broken all of the good stuff. There are some fragments hanging from the trees (signs of recent human activity) and no intact pieces left.

…Well. To be totally accurate, there are no intact pieces left now that I’VE been through there.

Here are the treasures I found after an hour of very careful hunting:

A rectangular glass dish thing, a teeny tiny bottle, a little vial (which may or may not be modern), and (my prize find!) a jar that seems to have been used for dressing.

The bottom of the jar is stamped (on the outside, in reverse, so you can read it when you peer into the jar):

It reads:

No. 65.
Pat.in.U.S.
Dec.22.1903
July.17.1908

I’m pretty excited!

(P.S. Thinking of checking it out for yourself? If you, my dear local archaeologist, are looking for old glass shards, or you’re dedicated enough to do a really thorough excavation, it might be worth your while, but if you’re just a casual enthusiast like me, don’t bother.)

—–

After I wrote the stuff above, I found ANOTHER spot by the Passaic River with MORE discarded old glass!

As far as I can tell, the clear bottle is probably from the mid-1920s; the Pond’s jar is pretty common (I’ve actually already got one from a college glass-hunting excursion), but this one is in really nice condition. Again, all of this stuff is pretty worthless. But nifty!

There are a few spots by the Summit Transfer Station where the grass is lush and green and verdant… in February. Everywhere else, the flora is brown and dry and dead.

I don’t know if there’s some weird underground heating pipe, or if this is some mutant grass that thrives on cold weather, or if we just haven’t had weather cold enough to kill grass, or what.

It’s also worth noting that the grass is deceptively concealing a swamp. If you actually try to walk on this grass, your shoe will sink and be completely submerged in watery mud. (Surprise!)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Spotted outside New Providence Florist.