Sayreville & Piscataway NJ Real Estate Blog

Courtesy of the Kilmer Family Archive

I remember being in glee club during elementary school and learning a what I thought then was a fun song. Looking back, I didn’t know who had written the words to the piece just remember thinking it was kind of nice.

It went like this:

I think that I shall never see,
A poem as lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed,
Against the Earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robin’s in her hair;

Upon whose bossom snow has lain
Who lives intimately with rain;

Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree.
–Joyce Kilmer

Penned by Alfred Joyce Kilmer (12/6/1886-6/30/1918), a New Brunswick, New Jersey native, it appealed to my interest in trees — though I spent more time climbing them then contemplating their beauty. Later I learned there was much controversy over what kind of tree inspire Kilmer and I did not see the logic of the controversy but marveled at the fact that one man could move so many to passion. Yes, in adulthood I still remember the song — fudging a word here and there; but every now and again I stop and really look at tree. It is then I appreciate Joyce Kilmer’s tribute entitled simply “Trees”.

On November 20, 1789 New Jersey was the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights — the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights provides for matters such as free speech, religion, press and assembly; right to bear arms; the notion of probable cause as the guideline for obtaining a warrant to search a home; speedy and public trials; and the empowerment of each state with power not specifically given to the federal government. The Bill of Rights not only shapes and preserves individual freedoms it also provides for the autonomy of the individual states.

What is not commonly known is that the amendments were originally twelve in September 1789, but by the time the ratification process was completed there were only ten.