Nature-Based Wanderings in Montclair, New Jersey

 Each section of Montclair — it’s a city with four different downtowns — is blessed with abundance green spaces.

In Upper Montclair, I wandered through a bucolic landscape at Yantacaw Brook Park where it’s easy to sit mindfully on one of the many benches just staring at the clouds and their reflections in the placid water.

In Montclair Center, the grounds of the bucolic Van Vleck House and Gardens are networked with shaded paths that course through dense woodlands. Well-placed benches beckon visitors to sit and stay awhile.

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Art and Nature in Montclair, New Jersey

The city of Montclair, New Jersey, is divided into several sections that are easily accessible by New Jersey Transit trains. But no matter where I wandered, I found Montclair, I found a delightful mix of art, cafes and nature-based venues. For example, in Montclair Center, creative outdoor sculptures, both figurative and avant-garde, dot the expansive lawns at the Montclair Art Museum.

In Upper Montclair, I followed a sign for the Mews and wandered down an ivy-coated, brick alley that ends at an atmospheric courtyard. There I discovered a Mediterranean Turkish restaurant and a contemporary art gallery.

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Curious Sculptural Works in Nyack, New York

 You never know what you’ll find at the Catherine Konner Sculpture Park when roaming about the lush grounds that are part of the Rockland Center for the Arts.

Barely two miles from downtown Nyack, New York, the grassy lawns and paths at this sculpture park are dotted with some curious works of art that are worth examining.

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Connecticut Wanderings

 One minute I was in a quiet Connecticut suburb (Trumbull) and the next, I’m on a bucolic trail, wading through fallen leaves and pine needles in the wooded Pequonnock River Valley.

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