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new hampshire

A collection of 35 posts

February

We made it. February. Now the year can really begin.

Wood Heat

Heating with wood is a complex business . . . one manufacturer described the process as more art than science.

Independent, Inching Forward

Independent, Inching Forward

Soon you have the sense you are talking about the same things, which is when it hits you . . . you have only inched forward.

June

Huckles has developed a problem: he visits the neighbors.

Tractor Pull

I interview everyone with a tractor and they say the same thing: I love my tractor.

Mozart on Norway Pond

Mozart on Norway Pond

Mozart was with us that day, regretting every other invitation from the concert halls of Europe and around the world.

Nothing Much Happens

Nothing Much Happens

If you had to pick one thing to describe rural life, it could easily be that nothing much new ever happens.

Power to the People

Power to the People

I wonder how far it will be in the future when the notion that we delivered electrical power around the world by stringing wires over hill and dale will seem archaic.

Just Like That

Thanksgiving, and just like that our inboxes are full of Black Friday offers. The world is released to fill the airways with carols, string holiday lights, and buy Christmas trees.

Thanksgiving

It is hard to feel wistful for the long hours and seven-day work weeks. But we are thankful for having been innkeepers in many small ways and, sometimes, as you see, in big ones.

Crunch Time

We can imagine fifty thousand acorns hitting the ground in front and another fifty thousand more behind. A total of one hundred thousand acorns scattered across our parcel in the woods.

Docks Out

Notice has been given by the nice people that handle the in and out of our dock that the time for out is upon us . . . This is usually when remorse settles in about how little time we spent during the season on the pond.

Fiddleheads

Hancock’s Fiddleheads Café reopened Memorial Day weekend after a winter hiatus, during which time owner Sherry Williams continued her search for a buyer to fulfill her retirement goal, having worked might and main at the business for eighteen years. Ownership events occurring with small, rural businesses in New England

Sentimental Lights

Sentimental Lights

I can conjure an argument for why our collective imagination, the state of romance, and all the poetry in the world have suffered since the advent of incandescent light.

Winter

If you want the real deal when it comes to New England, you must come in winter.

They're Baaack

The black flies came early this year. The adage has been Mother’s Day through Father’s Day, but I think they were here right after Easter. We live in the woods by the water, prime conditions for the little bloodsuckers.

Getting Out More

Getting Out More

An ocean person will point to an island on a map and say, I have been there. Mountain people will stand at the base and respond, I have been to the top. Each always has thoughts of returning.

Beneath the Canopy

Beneath the Canopy

Beneath the canopy, very little grows straight. Every bit of ground is contested. Every angle of sunlight is made available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Everywhere there are predicaments

Thank you, Puppy

I have a lifetime to try and make good on my obligations to humankind, but the dogs are never around long enough to even the score.

Spring Feverish

Spring Feverish

God help us; it is March, and we are beginning to think about spring.

Snail Salad

It is entertaining to imagine myself at the table with my grandchildren, bargaining with them to finish their snail salad.

Ice

A couple of people went through the ice last week on a nearby lake. They were rescued, thankfully, but it always sends a shock and a reminder.

Happy New Year and a Half

Happy New Year and a Half

New Year feels more like the middle of the year to me. The feeling derives from measuring time in school years and the passing of summer vacations.

All Bluster. No Snow.

All Bluster. No Snow.

The sun is weak against the dark and cold right now. It is powerless to rescue young sprouts out when they shouldn't be.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer