b'Data driven, personalized service in an ever changing real estate market. Day, the creator of Greenwood Gardens, eventually commissioned neighbor, friendServing Essex, Union and Morris and architect William W. Renwick AIA (1864-1933) to design a grand 28-room Italianate mansion with extensive formal gardens and a gracious entry sequence coming to thecounties since 2007.front door. Photo by Strohmeyer Studios, and from the Greenwood Gardens archives.It was a solitary life, but not a lonelythe garden, which he describes as les- Regula Ehrlich, ABR, CNEone, as Blanchard remembers it. Im- sonsinimmersiveobservation.ALicensed Real Estate Sales Associatemersioninthenaturalworldmeantjournal is something like a diary butM: 973.715.0039 | O: 973.310.6816that there was rarely room for a dullinstead of looking inward, the subject1200 Morris Turnpike, Short Hills, NJ 07078or even a lonely moment in the day. looks out, exploring and carefully ob- Regula Ehrlich is a real estate salesperson affiliated with Compass. Compass When walking the old bridle pathsserving the natural world. In a videois a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws.and narrow trails that had seen so muchontheGardenswebsite,Blanchard history within them, he writes, I couldspendsaspringmorninginMay readily imagine myself in some earliersketching a small cherry seedling. The time.Abendinapathwaymightprocess is both a lesson in interactingYOUR LOCAL CPA FIRMbringmefacetofacewithaLenapewith our world and in reflecting on it.TAX SEASON IS QUICKLYscoutingpartyorwithaplatoonofAlthough it has most often involved Hessians attempting to flank colonialdrawing,heisexpandingittowrit- APPROACHINGmilitia occupying Short Hills. ing. And he encourages participants to Even today, one of his favorite plac- incorporate what is happening in the es in the garden is a spot in the park- wider world as well, so that the journal ing lot from which its possible to seedescribes a moment in time, a day in a copse of old growth trees in the res- a life.ervation. Looking there, he says, youI feel so strongly about it that I could be back in the 14- and 1500s. think it should be required in college, It is no wonder that after studyinghe says. Colleges ask students to take biology and art history at Princeton,anymannerofcoursestograduate. he got a degree in forestry from Yale. But, he adds, Youre never encouraged An appreciation for that lost natu- to be quiet. Or reflective. asimpler,We offer contactlessral world wasnt all that was nurturedBlanchardsdesirefor in those walks. Histax services!interestinobser-vationandexplo-Contactless meetings & fee estimatesrationledhimto Contactless document intakedrawingandpaint-Contactless tax return filinging,apassionthatCall us today to set up your virtual tax meeting! Nelson Couto, CPA, CFP and Anthony DeFranco, CPA, continues to occupyCFP, MS (Taxation)Partners; Couto DeFranco, P.A. him. Many of his oil paintingshanginCOUTO DEFRANCO, P.A.the house at Green- CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS & ADVISORSwood Gardens. leadsA shady grotto is enhanced by richly colored RookwoodOffices in South Orange & West OrangeHealsoglazed faence tiles and sunny lawns surrounded by beds of coutodefranco.comjournalingclassesatpeonies, iris, and mixed borders. Photo credit: Vicki Johnson. 973.378.3300feature story/19'