Today I had occasion to drive over the Bernardsville Mountain. Okay...I had to pick up sushi to feed the Brat and the Boyfriend, and it was sort of on the way to the airport, from whence I had to chauffeur them home from getting scuba-certified in St. John, in time to get back to campus for graduation of aforementioned boyfriend...

Anyway, the Bernardsville Mountain has quite a few famous edifices built a century ago, when wealthy New Yorkers maintained their country retreats here.




These homes have been largely invisible because they have been sheltered by mature avenues of trees. Not so much anymore! The brick mansion and carriage house that look barren in these pictures have been recently exposed to view from the road, because they have had to remove the thickets of trees that protected them from public view. The owners have rather optimistically planted new trees, but these will undoubtedly fare worse still, as the climate continues its inexorable march towards warmer and drier conditions.