It's the Food...
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Elon Gold, a Jewish Comedian, tells the following joke. “People basically want three things. Sex, food or money. What do you think Jews want most. Someone in the audience yells Money. Elon turns and says “ now. we know the anti semites in the crowd.” Of course the answer is always food. Except for some whose last name ends in s t e i n. Can we insert a cymbal splash here.
Food motivates every Wake and Bake hike. Nourishment is the ultimate material reward. Finding a moment of harmony, with the natural world, is the secret human reward. A weekly journey into the forest allows one’s self to be left behind. It is not easy to let go of one’s ego. What should I be planning for? What event is happening next week? Are you plugged in as you walk? Unplug! That is the first stage of letting go of your image out here. Walk along and begin to take in every sound, smell and sight.
Saturday May 30th feels like fall. That makes two weekends in a row. Puffy white and grey clouds disguise the clear blue sky. It is 56 degrees. The wind is blowing and gusting to twenty five miles an hour. The Wake and Bake bus is heading to Cushetunk and Sweet Melissa’s. The Round Valley Reservoir State Park is surrounded by Cushetunk Mountain and Round Hill. The Cushetunk hiking trail is 14 plus miles around this man made lake. Young ambitious hikers, carrying overnight backpacks, are common in this park. Sweet Melissa’s, on Route 31 in Lebanon Township, may be the best bakery in the state. Both destinations are worth the drive.
Headed onto the Red Trail from the South Parking lot this morning. The total walking distance would be 3.2 miles today. Early morning fisherman cast their lines along the shores. The sound of swaying trees in the northwest breeze are a constant today. Even the jets have a hard time competing with the trees today. The silence was only interrupted by squawking black birds stalking the next meal. They are omnivores! Does my grey head look tasty?
These early morning walks have an intended purpose. One might have had a great week meeting an old friend or playing with the grandchildren. One might have have had a lousy week arguing with a colleague at work or your partner at home. None of that matters in the next few hours. In about twenty minutes, the constant pace of your stride begins to calm the anxious mind. Listen to the breeze. Watch the cottontails sway in the ripples of the wind swept water. Smell the dogwood flowers. Feel the pine needles soften your step as you approach their insular grove. The Pines let you know when you are in their neighborhood.
Sometimes one can sense everything in the moment. Imagine this if you want. This trail we walk on is the result of 100 million years of erosion that produced forests, streams and lakes that we admire. Those hills around Round Valley Lake are igneous stones, covered by forest, that are immortal. Einstein famously said “the distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion”. The Lenape Indian, who walked here three hundred years ago, smelled the same dogwood tree as I did today.
Leave your self completely behind. Put all thoughts aside and simply see it all as one. Do not define any of it. Feel the moment around you. Our consciousness is directly connected to the energy one can feel. The forest is one big entire family. Every creature, including yourself, is connected at that moment. If you doubt that, look up the results of reintroducing wolves to the Yelllowstone ecosystem. It seems you need predators in a healthy ecosystem. If you can find a way into that right hemisphere it is possible to feel the energy that connects the earth to everyone. That happened today and it does not always happen.
There was this moment when everything became totally calm and peaceful. There was total gratitude for consciousness. Every single living organism plays a part. That is humility. That allows for windows of consciousness to open. A single deer waited along the trail. It was standing there, staring me down pretty hard. When I moved toward it, the deer moved out of sight. Most deer bound away. This one stayed and waited for me to approach. As I passed it was clear that this deer had something to say. We could have stood there for five minutes looking at each other. It was one of those perfect moments
.That moment drifted away as I drifted down the trail. The trail winds past the shoreline of Round Lake. There were grandfathers, fathers and sons watching the water waiting for their line to jump. Pockets of bright blue sky divided the stratocumulus. It was time to be rewarded for 3.2 miles and 375 feet of elevation gain. Burned 819 calories. All Trails tracks calories too. So the Wake and Bake truck headed to Sweet Melissa’s Patisserie at Payne Road and Route 31 in rural Lebanon Township.
Readers of this column can find other reviews of SM in the archive. This bakery has been voted in NJ.com as the best bakery in NJ for the last five years. There selection of pies and tarts is mouth watering. That will be another visit this summer. Today was another fantastic trip down sugar lane. What a great high after the morning epiphany. The truck left Melissa’s with the treats you see below. Every single bite was outstanding. The first bite made you shake your hand, throw back your head and close your eyes in ecstasy. I shared the treats with my dear cousin Mordy, who is visiting from Israel, and he was blown away as well.
We shared the Peach Crumble, Boston Cream Donut and Glazed Brioche Donut. The Crumble had the perfect crunch. The yellow cake was moist with peach sprinkled lightly within the cake. The glazed brioche melted in your mouth. We cut slices and could see the delicate layers of dough. This was not your ordinary donut. That was before we tried the Boston. This is one of the classics in donut lore. The size of the donut is generously tall. Chocolate frosting drapes the donut. The dough is layered like a bee hive. Waiting inside the hive is smooth and sweet creme. That first bite was as legendary as the Verrelli’s cannoli. Some people eat mushrooms and find the moment. I lean towards a hike and a Boston Creme.
Peace to Everyone….. Mordy Ferber with Tom Oren.. River of Life