There’s a short cut down the fabled back road. Fewer people know of it than of the back road itself. Just past the turn for the farm market is a row of mailboxes, all for a single yellow building on a big plot of land. It’s an old house and I always wondered if it was a farm-house many years ago. The “cut-off” is the very next right turn. I get this smug feeling as I turn and watch all the cars behind me continue straight.
Just as you turn the corner there is a huge field of millet. Now, in the fall, it is probably ready to harvest. It is a deep golden brown with the flower a chocolate brown. In the breeze it sways in waves. The road is possibly a mile long and on both sides are big houses and small farms. It is a beautiful little road, no sidewalks, just ranch fences. There’s a 4,000 foot log “cabin” with a very large barn. On the well-manicured lawn is a statue of a majestic horse, rearing up on its hind legs. There’s a newly built mini-mansion with a stucco finish and a lovely front porch, including built-in gazebo across the street. Another property has a small exercise area for horses complete with jumping fences. Further down is a quaint little ranch house with a corral in the side yard. The biggest white horse I have ever seen lives there. All the way at the end on the left is a fenced-in pasture where horses, mules, alpacas and of course, the infamous Jersey geese (f/k/a Canadian geese) graze, though not necessarily at the same time.
The homes and land are all well cared for and beautifully landscaped. The road empties out to a preserve with a huge lake. It makes me smile to imagine someone riding down the road towards the lake on horseback with a fishing pole sticking out of a saddle bag. It really is a timeless piece of Americana right in the middle of New Jersey.
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