The following article by artist and Down Jersey resident Cheryl Crews
was published in The Cumberland Reminder Newspaper in 2014.
An eagle perched along the Maurice River in Millville
Cumberland County New Jersey
(June 14, 2023)
Image courtesy/Joe Lamberti/For NJ Advance Media
Freedom and Vision. These are eagle attributes. When America's founders chose
a national symbol, Ben Franklin suggested the wild turkey, but the eagle received
the majority of votes. This deliberate choice was surely inspired by the lofty
eagles abounding in the wilderness when it was claimed
as a New World to settle and civilize.
This year marks the 350th anniversary of New Jersey's statehood into the union.
By now, much of New Jersey is paved with highways and byways leading to
industrial and commercial sites surrounded by cities and suburbs
crammed with workers and conspicuous consumers.
New Jersey's natural vital edge bordering the Atlantic Ocean continues to
be modified by short sighted planners and greedy developers who have
little regard for nature's design. They continue to make clumsy attempts
to restructure the environment without considering the forces of
nature which often humble human efforts.
It is a blessing to be a resident of *Down Jersey rather than a sophisticated
city dweller further north. This is a special place on earth. Eagles continue to
thrive here because much of nature's design remains preserved. Thanks to
sensitive citizens and activists who see that the eagle isn't merely an image
stamped on money, substantial areas of open space have been spared from
devastation for the sake of superficial material prosperity.
These good folks know that freedom and vision can't be bought.
It has to be experienced.
I have personally had the good fortune to experience many eagle sightings.
They usually correspond to some point in my life when I need reassuring
that I'm on the right path in my personal growth, applying the
attributes of freedom and vision.
I am blessed to live in the southern stretch of Down Jersey, not far from
the Delaware Bay, near the Cape. It's a dynamic spot. Although my home is
in a residential area, I have looked up from my garden to watch an eagle
soar way up in the lofty sky, carrying a sense of me with it.
Wow! What a view the eagle must have from its perspective! Standing in
awed stillness and silence, I sense my place as a human bridging heaven
and Earth. Humbled to realize my being was no doubt noticed long
before I spotted the eagle.🦅
* Down Jersey is a region of southern New Jersey, which encompasses the
rural communities near Delaware Bay and the Cape, known for their unique
folk culture, colonial, and maritime history, as well as natural landscapes
of vast woodlands interspersed with marshes, lakes, and rivers.
