Picture This 188 - Your Neighborhood

I live in a 44-square mile township which is comprised of seven small sections. Three of these sections are on the bayshore, including where I live. The township is semi-rural, with a busy highway running through the center. There are a lot of farms here, both produce and horse farms. There's a ton of parks, all of which I've visited and where I've taken a lot of photos. We've taken a few huge hits in the last few years. I think most of you know about Hurricane Sandy and the devastation it caused along the Jersey shore. This area was badly hit, and even now, 4 months later, there are people still not back in their homes, abandoned and destroyed houses still standing. As bad as that was, with the loss of personal property, what I think was worse was the loss of life from this relatively small township as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Thirty-nine people from this town died that day, and my first photo shows the Middletown Memorial Garden dedicated to each of them. Each person that died has a headstone engraved with their name, date of birth, and a photo etched into it and line a beautiful walkway through the gardens.


One of the many beautiful parks here is Thompson Park. Its probably one of the biggest parks in the township, and offers a ton of activities, both in the summer and winter. This photo shows the walkway over the lake that's a favorite of the fishermen/women. The good thing about the using the lake is that no gasoline engines are allowed. Its either paddle your own boat or have an electric motor



And for the section where I live, on the Bayshore, a photo I'm sure a lot of you have seen before of the marina down the street from my house. This marina was destroyed during the hurricane, the beach is a mess, houses right at the marina were washed away, but they've been working on getting it all back. It'll take a long time: