Trenton Walks -- Ten Crucial Days

Once again Tim and Becky led us on an excellent tour of Trenton, this one focused on the Trenton section of the "ten crucial days," December 25, 1775-January 3, 1776 when General George Washington convinced his troops to stick it out just a little longer and changed the tide of the war in favor of the colonists beating the strongest world empire. This has recently been featured in the second hour of the third part of the Ken Burns' documentary on the Revolutionary War. Not surprisingly, most of the dozen people on our tour had already seen it.

We began at the Battle Monument. Perched atop a tiny hill, the 1893 monument was designed by John Duncan (who also designed Grant's Tomb in New York City). Our troops were stationed on this incline with the snow to their backs as they brought their cannons down to where the Hessians were staying. They arrived at 8 am (barely after sunrise that time of year). The battle was decisively over a mere 45 minutes later. Very few civilians were hurt. Twenty-two Hessian (professional German soldiers) were killed, 900 taken prisoner, and 30 were wounded.

In six months we will begin to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The 13 stars along the stream are a recent project called the "Birthplace of Freedom" to commemorate the battle. The stream leads to Petty's Run to the the mill, one of the few where scissors were made. Betsy Ross showed flag makers how to make the 5-point star, which was chosen as the shape of these flower pots.

On Christmas Eve 1776, Washington
arrives with his patriots. They pass St. Michael's Church. The Episcopalian/Anglican church is still standing. In 1776 the congregation had people on both sides of the fight, much as today our church has both staunch Republicans and equally strong Democrats. St. Michael's paused holding worship services until the war was settled. Let's hope our church does not feel the need to do the same.

Across the street was Col. Johann Gottleib Rall's headquarters in Stacy Potts' house. The window pane had a bullet hole in it. The building has since been replaced.

St. Michael's held 1,000 Hessian troops. David Brearley, a colonel in the New Jersey militia and a signer of the Constitution, is buried in the cemetery. If we come back during Patriot's Week we can tour the graves in the basement. Brearley was the chief warded. Today that role is held by Fred Vereen, someone we know through Eggerts Crossing and the Lawrence Community Center.

We studied the mural depicting the first reading of the Declaration of Independence. Street art this magnificent always makes me pause in stunned admiration. The reading took place on the steps of the Hunterdon County Court House because in those days Trenton was in Hunterdon County, now it is firmly in Mercer County and Hunterdon is further north. Modern day locals were added to the image, including Michael's wife who was instrumental in making this mural happen, and working with the artist. Michael was on the tour with us. His wife, sadly, has passed away. The mural is surrounded by images of things Trenton has been known for: pottery, rubber, steel, and scissors. The scissors was new to me. The original courthouse used to be across the street.

We continued to the First Trenton National Bank. On the bronze doors are images of key players in the Revolutionary War including General Marquis de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton.

Trenton has the third oldest capital building in continuous use.

The Old Barracks are undergoing a massive renovation project. I recently spoke to the director of the barracks. He said while construction is taking place the staff is doing research. They finally have time to study boxes of primary sources and are making connections that will change how they tell the story of what took place. 

From 1758-59 the British troops occupied the barracks during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The Hessians were there during the Revolutionary War. Later it was an army hospital. The British gave up Trenton after losing the Christmas battle. It wasn't a very important city at the time. 

In January 1777 Washington pulled up most of his troops and went to Princeton. He did leave a few behind.

In this yellow house (which has been moved to its current location), the Council of War met following the second battle of Trenton. They snuck out in the middle of the night and moved to Princeton.

Remember Johann Gottleib Rall? He is buried at the Presbyterian Church, which now the 120 East State Street Community Center.

A few more pictures from our walk:

George Clymer's gravesite.
He signed both the Declaration of Independence
and the U.S. Constitution (one of only six men)

Thanksgiving Prep 2025

A couple of years ago I wrote a blogpost about Thanksgiving Through the Years. As much as one year blends into another, when you take a step back you see that it has evolved. This year it will take another step forward as I am hosting for the first time.

When we bought our four-bedroom Colonial a quarter of a century ago we did so with the anticipation of filling all the bedrooms and hosting many large parties. Neither prophesy came true. We've hosted some parties, but I feel we hosted more in our tiny rowhome than we do in suburbia. When we do host, I prefer spring and summer when guests can stretch into the backyard and form clusters of conversations. The food starts on the kitchen countertop and spreads to the kitchen table. Eating is a free for all.

Thanksgiving, though, is different. It involves breakable dishes, and everyone needs a seat at a table.

Thanksgiving dinners are fraught with expectations. Even if you are a new addition (through relationships), you bring your past Thanksgivings to the table. To the room.

With ten days to go, I've created a list of food and realized just how much work my mom has been putting into this each year. 

My concerns are trying to cater to everyone's food preferences, while making sure there are things I like to eat.

Fourteen people. One cannot eat dairy and raw vegetables. One is gluten-free. One is vegetarian. One won't be in the room with food smells. Several don't care. May someone offer to wash some dishes, unless I decide I'm afraid of the china breaking. 

Yes, my dishwasher is broken. I could opt for paper plates and no one but me would care, but I would really care. If I'm doing this, I'm doing it right. Gosh darn it.

Happy Thanksgiving. See you on the flip side.

Heritage House in Smiths Falls

Last June when we stayed in Smiths Falls, Ontario we ran out of time to enjoy every part of the charming town. We made plans to return in the fall. Snow arrived before we had a chance to visit, making it feel like fall, though it was Remembrance Day.

After dinner we saw the Northern Lights. The next morning we toured The Heritage House Museum, a community historic home.

The plan had been to visit a couple of weeks earlier when the museum was decorated as a haunted house. We arrived between seasons. Staff members were undecorating. Rooms were still sealed. They were not even charging admission, instead barely asking for a donation. They were shocked when I offered to pay the full price of $10 CAD.

The Heritage House was built in 1861 by Joshua Bates. Mr. Bates was a visionary. He envisioned the canal and the railroad both bringing many people to their factory town, so he built the house looking the same from the road as from the railroad -- in other words, there was no front nor back of the house.

The door was just as fancy on both sides. The windows just as nice. Even the attached barn had decent windows. Mr. Bates believed in extreme symmetry. He wanted everything just right. At least from the outside.

The house is listed in the book The Top 170 Unique Places in Ontario because it has one of the few two-storey indoor outhouses. It took me a couple of minutes to wrap those words around until they made sense. The outhouses were not directly on top of each other, so the stuff from upstairs did not land in the outhouse downstairs. The downstairs one was a two seater -- with a big and little hole as if a child would sit next to an adult. Makes me appreciate how we did potty training without a two-seater.

Mr. Bates lived in the home for the last six months of his life. He died destitute in 1965, two years before Canada became a country. His wife and four children tried to find new places to live (marriage for those of the right age) before word got out they were penniless.

Today the museum is a hands-on place. With very
few exceptions you are encouraged to sit in uncomfortable chairs, open drawers, touch things. Of great interest to me in the study is a switchboard that used to belong in the town's hotel, and an apothecary case. I had fun playing with both.

Upstairs is a room dedicated to the factory history of the town. A display case with Hershey memorabilia. A picture of the button factory employees. Some farm equipment from Frost & Wood. Coca Cola and Pepsi bottles. Factories were big industries in Smiths Falls. Most of the 9,500 people's lives would have been involved in the factories.

 

The other open rooms upstairs were dedicated to an art exhibit. This was the 46th year for the art exhibit. The art exhibit has been taking place longer than the Heritage House has been open to the public. 

The upstairs hallway walls are dedicated to pictures of the people who lived in this house. The last owners were not proud of the fact they lived there as the house was inhabited by squatters, but owned by someone else.

The staff took time away from returning the home to its non-haunted look to show us around and tell us stories. It was the epitome of how I felt the entire time in Smiths Falls, everyone was easy to talk to with bright smiles and enthusiasm. Something that feels missing in the States these days.

Northern Lights

Don and I have been talking about returning to Smiths Falls since we stayed there the weekend we ran the Kilt Race. It is a cute town. When I came home I signed up for weekly emails describing the events taking place in the town. Fall seemed the perfect time to visit. A chance to see the town in a different season. The weekend before Halloween they had a lot of events scheduled...a Zombie walk, Haunted Heritage House, a costume party. 

It sounded idyllic. The emails talk of a town I wish was closer, one we could move to. Everyone we talked to was relaxed and open. People I'd love to live near.

For a couple of reasons we didn't make it the weekend before Halloween. Instead we saw "Phantom of the Opera" with Dave and Scottie, The War of the Worlds bike ride, and the Great Emu War. It turned into a very busy weekend.

We drove up a couple of weeks later on November 11 for an overnight. I wish we had gone up a day earlier to participate in their Remembrance Day ceremony. As we saw in Australia last year, Canada honors their veterans more than we seem to do in the United States. At the border crossing we fumbled explaining (honestly) we were only coming up for an overnight. After a struggle with the border guard he begrudgingly let us in. I agree, our explanation sounded weak. With NEXUS, though, I thought we had been screened so thoroughly we didn't need to explain ourselves when we cross the border. "Because we want to" should be good enough. When I am holding myself back from saying "because I feel calmer in your country, because Smiths Falls is my happy place, because the US is messed up and I need to be around sanity." I didn't think those reasons would really fly.

We missed fall. On November 9 it snowed five inches. Early, even by their standards.

Instead, it was winter. 

The day was magical. The things we didn't get a chance to do in June, we did in November. We toured the Heritage House Museum. We visited a couple more thrift stores. We stopped in the new site of a bulk store we wish we could clone in Lawrenceville. The owner remembered us from the fall.

The real bonus surprise of the trip was seeing the Northern Lights. 

As we were finishing our dinner at The Vault Eatery and Pub I overheard a woman at the table next to us say "aurora borealis." She received an alert that they would be exceptionally active that night. We had already been bonding over her friend's baby Elijah. I learned which app she uses (My Aurora) which has a cloud coverage feature, and one that has pinpoints where others have seen it.

As you can see in this screenshot most of the country is covered in clouds, but there we a small break between Smiths Falls and Ottawa. 

As we headed in the direction we could see faint colors in the sky. As I learned in Iceland in 2016, and again in New Jersey in 2024, the lights looks more stunning through the lens of a camera, especially an iPhone. 

As I looked out the car window I could see faint colors in the sky so we paused at the side of the road. The shoulder had snow in it. The temperature was in the low-30s --warmer than when we saw them in Iceland, but colder than we are used to this time of year.

Feeling unsafe on the side of the road, though only two cars passed us, and with the clouds catching up to us, we kept trying to outrun it without finding the bright lights of Ottawa. The woman at dinner said it was hard to find a really dark place. I nearly laughed at her. It is darker in Ontario and on the road to Ottawa than anyplace in Central Jersey.

Another pause by the side of the road as we looked for the pinpoint on the app:

It was so faint, we drove to the pinpoint. It turned out to be an icy parking lot by a golf course. The original poster got out of his car and walked into the middle of the golf course for an even darker view. I wasn't that brave. I was glad we packed the Yak Trax so I could get out of the car and looked around the car.

The lights went so far up

It looked like a water coloring

Every time I see the Northern Lights, I gain a bigger appreciation for why our Icelandic guide, Runar, chases them every chance he gets. They do feel magical.

The trip home through border control was much easier. We switched seats. I talked to the border agent. When he asked why we went to Canada, I said we were chasing the Northern Lights and saw them in a clearing on the way to Ottawa. I asked if he saw it and we ended up talking about how unfair it is you can only see them through the lens of a camera. Next thing I knew, we were back in the United States with Don shaking his head and saying I'm in charge of always talking to border control agents. We all need some skill. I guess that's mine.

PS: I later read the Northern Lights were visible from 49 out of 50 states (just not in Hawaii). Guess we didn't have to travel so far to see them, but based on my friends' pictures, we saw reds and greens and they saw pinks and less vibrant colors.

Christmas Decorations

Last year at this time Don and I were in Australia. While it was odd feeling and seeing signs of Spring in November, it seemed even odder that Christmas decorations were going up before American Thanksgiving.

There were enormous decorations springing up in Sydney, and smaller ones in airports and restaurants. There were still eight weeks to go until Santa arrives.

I chalked it up to their lack of Thanksgiving and their attempt at getting in the Season even though the weather was warm.

As the next 12 months unfurled I forgot about this. Then while walking around New York City this Monday and Tuesday, not even a week after Halloween, I noticed Christmas decorations are starting to pop up. There are big ones on Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue, which is understandable since you need big equipment to make that happen. Then I noticed smaller ones in restaurants and places that don't really need that much time to decorate.

Is this a new trend? Start decorating the first week of November instead of waiting until after Turkey Day?

Examples from rest stops in New York State:

November 11:

November 12:

Election News

Tuesday night, Election Night, Don and I saw 44: The Musical, otherwise known as The Obama Musical since it is a comic interpretation of President Obama's time in office as told through the eyes of VP Joe Biden as he remembered it. The show started with an announcement from the playwright that on this election night we are leaving politics at the door. It will be there when the show is over. 

44 is performed in an old bank located across the street from Union Square, an easy 10 minute walk from the 14th Street PATH station. The building shares space with Pen Pals, a show about two women who were pen pals for over five decades despite never meeting. The theaters share a ladies' room. With few exceptions, the white women of a certain age were seeing Pen Pals, whereas the Black women were seeing 44. We were welcomed in our 300-seat theater. It felt like a safe space. The Black woman behind me asked if I thought Obama would run for a third term. As wonderful as that would be, I told her I doubt it because he respects the office. Clearly she wanted a different answer.

The play was hilarious. Sarah Palin being portrayed as a stripper singing "Drill, Baby Drill" made me laugh out loud. Watching her and her Republican cronies nod their heads to say "thoughts and prayers" in response to Obama's desire for stronger gun laws sobered me. We've had chances to improve our nation and instead we are here.

The show started at 7 pm. Polls in New Jersey closed at 8 pm. There was no answer at intermission, but the Virginia polls closed at 7 pm and they declared the Democrat a winner in the governor's race. Can we hope?

Act 2 went on with more trips down memory lane. Obama ran for a second term and won. 

I turned on my phone and saw the news that Mikie Sherill will be our next governor. It wasn't even close. Literal tears started falling. A weight was lifted. I shared my screen with others (like I said, the room felt like a safe spot). Complete strangers were feeling hope together.

As we walked to the Christopher Street PATH station we learned Mamdami won the NYC mayoral race. Then we learned Prop 50 passed by a 2:1 majority in California. Just about every race went blue.

Such a change from last year.

For the first time in over a year I feel we might just get out of this mess. There is more work to be done, but I finally felt I was not alone, or in the minority, in the struggle.

With liberty and justice for all.

Sutton Hoo

Dan and I have become archaeology buddies. When one of us hears about a dig site, we message the other. Dan has gotten into archaeology more than I have. I enjoy the camaraderie with dig sites. The ability to disconnect with the rest of the world and just be in the moment. There is something soothing about playing in the dirt. That's why many people garden. I don't because I don't like the upkeep involved with gardening. If I could do it once and leave it alone, I would probably join in. I have no interest in weeding or keeping the deer away. With archaeology I can show up for part of the dig season, do my part, and go home until the next time.

But this about Dan. Dan has joined archaeology groups. He attends archaeology meetings. This week he gave a presentation to the Archaeological Society of New Jersey, Gloucester County Chapter. This is the chapter that has been instrumental in the Red Banks digs that exposed the graves of dozens of Hessian soldiers (think back to the Revolutionary War). That was the dig that reinvigorated his passion for archaeology. He tossed his name in the hat with Time Team to excavate the Sutton Hoo site in England. He was there for about a week, but it changed his life.

Dan gave an excellent talk that covered the history of the Sutton Hoo excavation site dating back to 1939 (months prior to England entering World War II) to the future of the site. 

As romanticized in the movie The Dig, Edith Pretty moved to a house Suffolk that was surrounded by mounds in the fields. She allowed her property to become the site of an archaeological dig. Her father was an avocational archaeologist. She hires Basil Brown, an amateur archaeologist to lead the excavation. Almost immediately he finds an intact ship dating to the early 7th century and 263 other artifacts, which she donates to the British Museum. Dan made a detour to the British Museum before heading to Sutton Hoo so he wouldn't show up as "that guy who hadn't seen the treasures."

World War II takes over everyone's lives. The site is covered until 1965. Many of the treasures are hidden in an unused tube station. They are processed using more modern techniques from 1965 to 1971.

Things start up again in 1983. They start excavating Mound 17 using new techniques. They discover a warrior and a horse burial, or rather "sand bodies" of them. This reminds the group of the "body shadows" of the Hessian soldiers.

Excavation continues in 1986 when a copper alloy bucket is found. Metal detecting is now used to locate more treasures. Over the centuries much looting had taken place, fortunately some things were not found.

In the late 1990s they recognize the need for a visitor's center. I'm hoping Don and I can add a visit here onto a future trip to London. Before the center can be built on what they thought was a safe piece of land, an excavation takes place. They find a cemetery with cremains and Bronze Age/Roman era materials. The work continues until 2001.

In 2022 the National Trust acquires 27 acres of adjacent land. Again, reminding the audience of what happened when Red Bank acquired a much smaller parcel of land and discovered a Hessian burial site. They found materials dating back to before Stonehenge -- the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras.

In the 1990s Time Team had three-day digs. They were renewed in 2024 due to technology. Here is where Dan compared what they do versus what those of us in the room do.

At Sutton Hoo they dug one meter squares, and went down four centimeters for each test pit. Unlike at Red Bank, they don't screen much. They do a sample screening and move on looking only for the bigger objects. This was my experience in Israel, too. He learned how to use a mattock instead of the gentler trowel we tend to use in the States. When he goes to dig sites he brings his own collection of tools, which has expended from a backpack to needing a wagon to cart it all.

The soil at Sutton Hoo reminded Dan of the soil at Red Bank. It often amazes me how much dirt varies -- rocky, sandy, clay, etc.

On their last day they hit the water table, but since they did not have powerful pumps (they were pretty far away from an electrical outlet) they called it quit for the season. There was some excitement when the dirt changed and they thought they found another ship, but it turned out to be an area for flax production, a flax retting pit that was 3 meters (10 feet) deep.

In another place they thought they discovered a crucifix shape, perhaps indicating the site of a church, instead they found a brick field where the bricks used in other local buildings were made.

Dan worked the third of four weeks. While stretching his legs he found a tiny piece of bone in a 10 foot spoil heap. It was the only bone found, and changed the course of the dig. The osteology expert put it on her tongue and declared it human.

Time Team returned in 2025. The season is over. They are working on condensing hours of footage into a series of videos similar to the ones when Dan went on his dig.

In 2027 they hope to have a replica of the ship that was found in 1939 and sail it.

Dan was on a team with 40 volunteers from around the world. He considers himself extremely lucky to be able to attend. It is a crowd funded project that seems to be gaining speed. 

Dan's test pit (#3) went down 40 cm, then again 20 and another 20. He was amazed by their technology. They cold create 3D scans in the field to send to experts not at Sutton Hoo.

Though the land has been used for over 7,000 years, they don't expect to find anything before 793 when the Vikings moved in, sacked, and melted the treasures they found. That's a shame.