Tag Archives: winter

Scene Around: Retired Knollwood Teacher & Grandkids Walk on Water

Retired Knollwood School teacher Eileen Kubaitis’ grandchildren cross the icy Navesink
Photo/Eileen Kubaitis

Why did the retired Knollwood School teacher cross the frozen river?

To teach her grandchildren to walk on water Rumson-Fair Haven area way? To get to the other side? Or, perhaps, to just celebrate a time-honored area tradition? Maybe a bit of all three.

Former Phys Ed and Health teacher Eileen Kubaitis, nonetheless, geared up, grandchildren in tow, and took the trek across the Navesink the other day when the water was frozen. How could one resist? When the weather is pretty frightful, but there’s such a simple adventure in the offing, the only thing to do is get walking — on water, or ice, as it were.

A lot of people in the area look forward to doing this when the water freezes, giving them a walking path across the river to the Middletown side.

Kubaitis and company were no exception. They were among quite a few others recently. Though, the retired Knollwood teacher tells us that they didn’t actually reach the other side, but came close. “We stopped about 20 feet away because at that point no one was in front of us,” she said.

Hey, they had fun and did their R-FH area civic duty to do their best to get to the other side!

Don’t try this at home, kids … at least until the ice freezes up again.

The big thaw has begun …

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will reach a high of 40 degrees today with a low of about 26 tonight. Tomorrow, weather will be about the same with mostly sunny skies and a high of roughly 39 degrees.

Eileen Kubaitis and grandchildren cross the Navesink
Photo/Eileen Kubaitis

Focus: Black & Blue Branching Out by the River

It was hauntingly comforting — the icy, howling wind and the stark hues of black and blue along the Navesink River in Fair Haven Wednesday at dusk.

The wind whistled, beckoned, and the air cut like jagged-edged glass.  It was a solitary, striking scene. Black branches jutting across a blue sky and seascape.

It was all so cold and clear-cut, yet still warm like a cup of cocoa. It’s home.

Take a look …

— Elaine Van Develde

Focus: Black & White Rumson Riverfront Nightfall

Then came the thaw …

After a warmer winter’s day, as nightfall hit along the Navesink riverbanks in Rumson, the sand slurped up the snow, the icy river waters dissolved, and the ducks glided across their glassy path.

Reflections in shades of grey gripped the low tide. Serenity seeped into the shoreline.

See for yourself …

— Elaine Van Develde