When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.

    People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems ­­blurry. Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near-sighted. People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm's length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.

    Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people's eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.

    Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object's relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distances as people with two eyes.

New Jersey Botanical Garden Membership

    It's easy to join New Jersey Botanical Garden (NJBG) Membership or renew your membership online, by phone or by mail. And it's so important to the Botanical Garden! Your membership dollars help to improve the Garden, and provide educational and recreational (娱乐的) activities for the general public. Thank you for your support!

    To join or renew, please click on the appropriate section and membership category below for safe and convenient online payment processing by PayPal.

If you prefer to join by phone or mail, call the NJBG office at (973) 962-9534 or download and send in our membership brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF file).

★ Join NJBG Today

★ Renew Your Membership

    The Botanical Garden started life as Skylands, a large area in the grand manner. It is famous for a 44 -room Tudor Revival granite (公馆) designed by John Russell Pope. Skylands has 96 acres of formal and naturalized gardens and is surrounded by over 1,000 acres of meadows (草坪) and woodlands. Purchased by the State in 1996 and officially named as the New Jersey State Botanical Garden in 1984, the gardens contain approximately 5,000 species and varieties of trees and flowers.

    For you, the NJBG is an exciting and beautiful place to visit where you may enjoy each season's best. Members enjoy special events, festivals, lectures, and rewarding educational opportunities for both city and country gardeners.

    Your NJBG membership offers you discounts at participating nurseries, garden centers and other fine businesses. Simply present your NJBG membership card when beginning your purchase:

    Goffle Brook Farm and Garden Center, (201) 652-7540

10% off your purchase

    Metropolitan Plant Exchange, (973) 683-7613

12% off your purchase

    Rohsler's Allendale Nursery & Florist, (201) 327-3156 15% off your purchase

    Sooner or later, many families will face the situation of moving. The experience can be very bad for kids, who may not be a part of the decision to move and may not understand it. You can take steps to make the entire process (过程) easier for everyone.

    Many kids like to stay in familiar places. So as you consider a move, weigh the benefits (好处) of that change against the comfort that neighborhood, school, and social life give your kids. If your family has recently dealt with a big life change, such as death, you may want to put off a move to give your children time to accept the fact.

    The decision to move may be out of your hands, perhaps because of a new job or money problems. Even if you're not happy about the move, try to keep a positive (积极的) attitude to it. During the move, a parent's attitude can greatly influence kids.

    No matter what the results are, the most important way to prepare kids to move is to talk about it. Try to give your children as much information about the move as possible. You can ask kids to join in the planning such as house-hunting or the search for a new school. This can make the change feel less like it's being forced on them. If you're moving across town, try to take your children to visit the new house and the new neighborhood.

    A move can have many problems, but good things also come from this kind of change. Your family might grow closer and you may learn more about each other by going through it together.

    ①About 43.5 million Americans are taking care of aging relatives and friends, sacrificing(牺牲) time, money and sometimes their careers and personal health. They are doing the work of professional caregivers, who spend years training for the job. As baby boomers age, the demand for unpaid caregivers is rising. Meanwhile, the number of them is dropping rapidly thanks to smaller family sizes, higher divorce rates and increasingly demanding jobs. This November, actor Rob Lowe offered to tell his story and send some encouragement to the millions struggling to care for a loved one.

    ②I had my first experience with unpaid care giving fairly early. My father, Charles, was diagnosed(诊断)with lymphoma at age 50. I was 26. Luckily, he was financially successful and had a loving wife, my stepmother. It was challenging, but she was there from taking care of my father.

    ③In my late 30s, my mother, Barbara Hepler, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. That was when I was introduced to the front lines of what so many millions are experiencing. She did not have a husband or a significant other, so it fell to me and my two brothers to handle everything from her initial diagnosis to doctor shopping, treatment options, driving her to appointments and, finally, the end of life-which was profoundly difficult, obviously.

    ④At the time, I was starring in and producing a network television show, The Lyon's Den. It was fighting for its ratings life. If I took time off, the show would be canceled, I was responsible for 150 crew members, so I had to find a way to do both.

⑤Besides, there is the negotiation of medical coverage, which requires phone calls, weeding through paperwork and talking to insurance companies and doctors. I remember thinking, Jesus Christ, if I were sick and had to do this on my own? I don't think I could get out of bed in the morning.

    ⑥The people we are talking about-the friends and family members who are out there doing important work-are unpaid. Watching a loved one go through an illness, possibly ending in death, is stressful and depressing. Add economic and scheduling burdens, and the load for caregivers is heavy. To them I say, "Don't forget about yourself. When you get on an airplane, the crew says, Secure your own mask first before helping others.” Why? Because without you taking care of yourself, you can't take care of anybody else. That's why I've partnered with EMD Serono andEmbracingCarers.com, where you'll find invaluable information regarding everything you'll be, or are, going through.

    In our daily life, some people prefer to hold on to the past and play it again and again like a broken record. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. However, those with no regrets let go of the past and live joyfully at present. They also live by the following principles.

    ⒈Following your unique path leads to greater achievements.

    We all have passions and inner guidance. If you follow your passions and inner guidance, your life will take on deeper meaning and fulfillment. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    ⒉Let your interest guide you, not societal pressures.

    We all know the feeling of being interested about something. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. But too often we allow societal pressures to control our feeling. To check whether your interest is guiding your life, start doing what you want to.

    ⒊Understanding happiness is a choice.

    We often think we will be happy once we get that job, or finish that course. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Everything outside of you is temporary(暂时的). Once it goes, so will your happiness.

    ⒋{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    We support others by our words and actions, while receiving others' support and love back. Expressing heartfelt feelings allows us to have no regrets for whatever tomorrow may bring. It may also be exactly what others need to face their current challenges.

A. Don't think twice about expressing love and appreciation

B. Try living according to what your inner knowing guides you to do

C. What is right for one person may not be right for another

D. They, in turn, live with regret, anger, and fear

E. Don't settle for less than what you want

F. The truth is that happiness comes from within

G. It guides what we are doing

    "Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move," said David Belle, the founder of parkour.

    Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.

    Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the barriers in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.

    Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see parkour much more than that.

    Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back in your life, to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said, "I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything."

    Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself.