Photo of the Day: Woodcliff Lake, Braddock Park, North Bergen NJ

A month ago, from the window of a bus going into New York City, I took the accompanying photo of James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park, in North Bergen NJ. 

(This park is named for James Braddock, a longtime Hudson County resident whose dramatic rise to become heavyweight champion in the midst of the Great Depression was chronicled in the Russell Crowe biopic, Cinderella Man.)

Photo of the Day: Arboretum in August

This weekend, I took the photo accompanying this post in the arboretum garden at the 167-acre James J. Braddock North Hudson Park in North Bergen, N.J.

I know what you’re wondering—where have I heard that name before? Yes, he was the famous heavyweight “Cinderella Man” who won a huge following in the Great Depression as he fought his way to the heavyweight championship of the world. A longtime resident of North Bergen, he died there in 1974, more than 35 years after hanging up his gloves for good—and is interred in Tenafly, one town away from where I live.

Anyway, this image from this love park shows something called a “Crippsi Spruce.” Nothing like an arboretum to help you identify the beauties of the natural world that you might have taken for granted your whole life, is there?