Back To Life?

Back to school, back to work. Back to life? Yes, the hiatus is over.

After what seemed to be like forever, but was only a matter of several, long, lonely months life is stumbling back. COVID19 arrived and stayed,  has made a mark on lives and businesses and created a new normal. Some places were ravaged, others not so much and it is hoped that friends, readers and followers have come through safely and securely.

In the quiet months of quarantine / isolation little was going on, but there have been some changes. While many were trying to figure out the new normal, how to work, and home school, and feed everyone and basically not lose their minds little change took place, many things were put on hold.

Labor Day has passed, election season is now in full swing, construction has resumed, weddings and social gatherings are taking place and changes are happening. It is time to get back to business.

While everyone was hunkering at home some small changes happened, or had just happened.

After a lifetime without any markers Montvale added a new sign clearly delineating where the town ends. On a certain street that heads into New York state and the curious town of Spring Valley. And where in the blink of an eye the neighborhood changes.

In Upper Saddle River a huge new traffic light has sprouted up on Lake Street, just before Franklin Turnpike preparing for the volumes of new residents heading to the Toll Brothers development. Except there is no one there yet, and people used to driving through now have to slam on their brakes and sit. And wait.

And Toll Brothers have apparently been busy. A few new homes have sprouted up. And maybe a new homeowner or two. But pity the poor resident of the development who might actually live there now. At night, alone, surrounded by nothing but mud, dirt, machinery. Not a great way to experience your new neighborhood.

Saddle River gave concerned people the hope that they were not going to continue deer hunting, and appeared to listen to offers of  studies of population control by others means. And then they didn’t. They are now heading into their 3rd year of culling – despite residents who voted against it.

Along Rt17 a welcome new restaurant and grocery store opened tempting weary home dwellers with new offerings.

And just across the border? Questionable behavior continued largely unchecked throughout the home confinement. Weddings, funerals, social gatherings and schools flouted local and state guidance, and despite complaints little was done.