The Frog Ocean

United States 48 comments

“The past is a very determined ghost, haunting every chance it gets.”
― Laura Miller, Butterfly Weeds

You must exercise care when visiting The Frog Ocean. It is  a state of mind as much as  it is real, part of the marshy labyrinthine of not quite solid ground, in the southern most parts of the state of New Jersey.

Mad Horse Creek Photo: JoHanna Massey
Mad Horse Creek Photo: JoHanna Massey
Black Bottom Photo: JoHanna Massey
Spirits At Rest Photo: JoHanna Massey
Frog Ocean Photo: JoHanna Massey
Canton Green Photo: JoHanna Massey
Canton Green Photo: JoHanna Massey
Spirits At Rest Photo: JoHanna Massey
Mad Horse Creek Photo: JoHanna Massey
Photo: JoHanna Massey
Frog Ocean Photo: JOHanna Massey
Spirits At Rest my Grandmother told me. Photo: JoHanna Massey
Frog Ocean Photo: JoHanna Massey
Canada Geese Migration Photo: JoHanna Massey
Photo by: JoHanna Massey
The Frog Ocean Photo: JoHanna Massey
Spirits at Rest Photo: JoHanna Massey

Peace and Blessings.

48 comments

  2. Thank you. The Frog Ocean really is just one of the most beautiful places to be in the Fall. Many people are very surprised to know it is in New Jersey USA as it does not fit the popular visual stereotype.

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  4. I do not have a band! Have a ‘clan’ ….family members. I do like music though.
    But there was actually a local NJ band who took the name Frog Ocean Road way back in the sixties or seventies. They played covers of popular music. Don’t know what ever became of them, but they would be very old men at this point!

    As always, thank you for stopping over for a morning visit. Let’s have a great weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Meant to be so. It is Part 1 of a 2 part post on The Frog Ocean. I got the Pic Monkey software to celebrate having 400 followers, and am teaching myself to use it by playing with all the ghostly Halloween Options. It is silly and fun and a good way to learn the software. Will be posting Part 2 next week for Halloween. Having way too much fun!

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  12. These were taken with a Nikon N80 film camera. 400 speed film.
    Lens: Nikon AF Nikkor 28-80mm 1:3.3-5.6 G

    The light at Black Bottom has never quite been of this world.
    A haunting place no matter what the time of day.
    I fell into Black Bottom through the ice once,
    but that is a story for another day.

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  15. Yes it is…but it drifts in and out of current reality/time sequence. By choice.

    Years ago, there was actually an activist movement afloat for Southern New Jersey to secede from Northern New Jersey. It was over taxation and lack of services…but I always thought it was really over geography and lifestyle. The movement failed miserably, but there remains those pockets of the southernmost areas that are truly something quite unique and separate from what is known as New Jersey.

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  25. Thank you for your kind words. I consider the Verde Vally to be where I am ‘home.’ A high desert environment that could not be more different than The Frog Ocean. But come Autumn, my mind and heart turn to The Frog Ocean, which is where I am from and where many family remain.

    All my best to you, and thank you for choosing to follow JoHannaMassey.com. I appreciate it and enjoy your feedback and comments so much.

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  26. Your photography is outstanding and your message meaningful to me. It sent me out for a walk in my mind. To Blue Limestone park, we go there often. Last time there were lavender asters with a pale pastel tinge to the water. I am neither a writer or photographer but dabble in these, along with poetry and art. I enjoyed your post this evening. ~Robin

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  27. Autumn evokes throughout these photos! Frog Ocean seems to bring back sweet memories for you. I have such a place at my Lake House. There to is family! But here in the valley… is my home! And guess what… I get to go visit my “Frog Ocean” for the holidays! I can say I have a win-win kind of situation in my life! Two fabulous places of my own!

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  38. Just the names, “The Frog Ocean,” and “Mad Horse Creek,” would be reason enough to never leave! A town by any other name would not be the same. Are they both in the same place, or are they of two different vicinities? Either way, your photos are gorgeous!

    It’s odd, but I never appreciated my home town, (NYC) until I left.

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  39. Oh, all of the names used in this post…Black Bottom, Frog Ocean, Mad Horse Creek, …are all real names and within ‘spittin distance’ as my Grandmother would say. And I have not even gotten started yet! See, the place really is haunted and I must tiptoe into this speaking out loud of them, to see how the ghosts are going to respond before going full tilt boogie on the telling of their stories. Thank you for your visit!

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  40. Names carry their own music. I believe all places carry the finger prints of those who came before; the foot steps we hear echo as we wander through. The ancestors remain, and it’s a matter of whether we take time to listen or not. Respecting what came before is important, I agree.

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  45. Dear Johanna, I seem to have read your posts back to front. Now I realise that Frog Ocean is indeed somewhere. I am here to ask you to allow me to nominate you for ‘The Creative Blogger Award’. I will be posting an article called ‘Laborde:Little house’, which includes my nominations on Sunday 1st November. I hope that is alright with you.x

    Liked by 1 person

  46. I did Part One of The Frog Ocean and then realized just how much fun it would be to use the PicMonkey features to haunt the place, take the same words from Part One, but rearrange them..it was just a fun thing to do for Halloween, while learning how the PicMonkey works.

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