The Connections Bernards Ridge Edition November 2020

THE BERNARDS-RIDGE CONNECTION PAGE 26 NOV 2020 - JAN 2021 theconnectionsnj.com Follow us on Facebook & Instagram for Special Holiday Promotions. 1015 US-22 East Lebanon, NJ 08833 OldMountainFarmMarket.com 908.236.2604 HOLIDAY HOURS Monday - Saturday 8am - 8pm Our Sunday hours are 9am - 8pm FRESH CUT TREES • FRESH ROPING • CUSTOM WREATHS • HOLIDAY DÉCOR • FOLIAGE PLANTS POINSETTIAS • HOSTESS GIFTS • CANDLES • GRAVE BLANKETS & PLANTERS • EVERYDAY GIFTS OLDMOUNTAIN FARMMARKET AllThings Beautiful To Create Your Own Perfect Holiday Scene Valid in-store only. Must present this coupon to cashier at time of purchase. Coupon is good for one- time use only, is not transferable, is not for resale or auction and cannot be combined with other offers, gift cards, previous purchases, sales items or promotions. Excludes services. Coupon must be surrendered at time of purchase. No Cash Back. Limit 1 coupon per household/business. $ 10 00 OFF ANY CUTTREE CouponExpires12/23/2020 • Over 50 years of outstanding customer service and quality repairs. • Computerized unibody and frame alignment by ASE Certified technicians. • Expert, on site computer paint matching. • Foreign and Domestic vehicle repairs. • Free estimates. • Insurance claims specialists. • Paintless dent repair available. 57 Morristown Rd. • Bernardsville, NJ 07924 • 908.766.3588 dba Doug Lowrie Auto Body www.pacecollision.com Pace Collision License #00506A l For your classic car restoration needs, visit our friends at Somerset Hills Classics www.somersethillsclassics.com 908-221-1968 o o s w The title of this issue’s col- umn is French for Random Con- nections. Yes, there is a French connection in this article. It has nothing to do with Gene Hack- man, but it does pre-date the release of the film, The French Connection, in 1971. Before I get to that, an un- usual connection occurred re- cently involving my wife, Abby. She ordered a product from Seedsheets.com in April of this year (2020). She chose some different herb seeds which would be packed in pouches embedded on a sheet 12 inch- es in diameter. All Abby would need to do, is lay the sheet in a pot of soil and water it. Small stakes, used to hold the sheet in place, would also alert her, via a phone app, to water. Sound- ed great. But after a couple months of waiting, Abby simply forgot about it. In the middle of September, we were watching an episode of Jeopardy, which we normally record so we can skip the com- mercials. One evening, we were watching the actual broadcast. During the commercial break between the first round and the double jeopardy round, we started flipping. We stopped on CNBC to find a young man pitch- ing Seedsheet on Shark Tank (re- broadcast from November 6, 2017). Abby turned to me and said, “OMG, I just received my Seedsheet delivery today.” Now back to fall of 1967, Mesdames et Messieurs. I start- ed taking French in the 10th grade. As with a lot of language instruction at that time, our text- book had social dialogues, such as, “My name is so and so, what is your name? I live at so and so, where do you live? Is there a restaurant nearby? I like blue. Do you have it in blue? How much does that cost?” In one of our beginning di- alogues, a French speaker re- sponded that she lived at 45 Avenue Foch in Paris. I must have repeated this dialogue hundreds of times between the classroom and practicing at home. It is not surprising to find Av- enue Foch in a textbook, as it is a famous street, with gardens, emanating from the Arc de Tri- omphe. The picture shows it in modern times, but it was opened in 1854 during the reign of Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1929 it was renamed after World War I hero Ferdinand Foch. In the summer of 1968, I attended my final summer of sleep away camp. There were 150 campers, 148 Americans plus Richard from London and Bernard from Paris, both in my section. One day I was demonstrating to Bernard how I learned French in school, recit- ing dialogues. When I got the one on addresses, Bernard re- sponded, “You are joking, yes? 45 Avenue Foch is my address in Paris.” Incroyable, n’est-ce pas? CONNEXIONS ALÉATOIRES By Dan Rosenberg It is not surprising to find Avenue Foch in a textbook, as it is a famous street, with gardens, emanating from the Arc de Triomphe. The picture shows it in modern times, but it was opened in 1854 during the reign of Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. “You are joking, yes? 45 Avenue Foch is my address in Paris.” Incroyable, n’est-ce pas?