New Hampshire

The Bench that my Friends Rescued

Sept 4 - at Diane’s

I need to do laundry, and I need to run, so I combine them both. The campground has good washers and dryers, 3 of each, so I fill them up and start running. One loop around the campground is about .80 miles. After the first loop I put the clothes in the dryers. Then I have time for 2 more loops before the clothes are dry. I thought I might do another loop or two after folding and putting away the clothes but nah.

It was expensive, $15. We have enough sheets and towels so I won’t bother to do them until we get home. I’ll need to do laundry one more time on this trip.

Around 11:30 we head to Diane’s. They have moved into her parent’s old place since we left. I didn’t see the inside of the house but the outside is pretty wonderful. A huge yard for the dogs, good fences, a barn, a pasture for her goats and the horse. Our dogs were in heaven. Harper was SO happy to see Diane! Every time I looked over Heather was in Dennis’ lap! Cosmo got along just fine with the other dogs and wasn’t at all interested in the goats and the horse. They all ran around like crazy all afternoon.

Dennis and Heather

It was great to see everyone. All the Westie crew were there, except Stephanie and Ryan, but we’ll see Steph next week. We just sat around and talked and smiled and ate and drank. We got to see the new puppies too. There are 2 litters, one set 3 weeks old with their eyes just open, the other not even a week. We got to hold the older ones but not the newborns. Vinca, their mama, is still way too protective to allow strangers near her puppies.

Sept 5

In the morning I went running with Paula on the Rockingham Recreational Trail near Massabesic Lake. We used to run on this trail together occasionally when I lived here so it was like old times, except! Paula has improved as a runner so much! When I first met her she was just starting to run and I was younger than I am now, and faster than her. Now the tables are turned and she is the one slowing down for me. I haven’t slowed down that much, but she has gotten much faster! It’s kind of thrilling to watch her thrive as an athlete!

This trail has these long dark tunnels of corrugated steel. You need a headlamp (or the flashlight on your phone). It also goes through some really remote areas where no houses or people are visible for miles. Paula doesn’t like to run on this trail alone and I don’t blame her! She was running 18 miles and I was only up for 8 so we put my truck on a road with access to the trail 8 miles out and Paula met me there. Then we drove to the trailhead at the lake and started our run.

When we got to the truck Paula’s husband met us on his bike and he rode with her the rest of the way. Rich is such a nice guy!

In the afternoon Lee and I drove to Lowell to eat at the Vietnamese restaurant we used to love, Pho 98. It was good, but I think I had it elevated in my mind because it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Then we drove around southern New Hampshire running various errands, finally driving past our old house and along Arlington Pond. You can’t see our old house from the road, and the driveway was pretty overgrown. It didn’t feel like home anymore, and that was good in a way. We’ve moved on with our lives, and Minnesota is growing on us, slowly.

We finished the evening with Rich and Paula at T-Bones, which still has good food, great cocktails, and comfy booths. I was so tired and we were late getting to bed, but I still woke up at 5 and forced myself to lay there until I finally gave up at 5:30. Ugh!

Sept 7

Yesterday we left Auburn and went north. First we went to the coast and had lobster rolls at Marky’s in Hampton Beach. Once again the traffic going the opposite direction from us was horrible, as people were going home at the end of Labor Day weekend.

When we got close to North Conway, our destination for the next three days, the sky turned dark and rain poured down, just as we were getting ready to check in to our campsite. Bad timing! It didn’t rain very long, but still our proposed campsite was pretty muddy. Lee scouted around and found a different site that was dryer. It was available so we moved there.

There was plenty of room to set up the rug, the screen tent, and the chairs around the campfire. Nice! The only flaw in our design is that the screen tent does not work as a substitute for a dog fence. Unfortunately I guess we need both, because they can get underneath the screen tent without any trouble at all. At one point someone walked their dog past our campsite and Cosmo and Harper took off after them. Cosmo nipped the dog and we were mortified. Fortunately the man was nice about it  and Cos didn’t do any damage otherwise if he had wanted to make a stink we would have been in a lot of trouble. From that point on when they were outside they were on a leash.

Joe and Carol came over to our campsite and ate dinner with us in the screen tent. That’s a nice thing about it, as long as it’s not too cold or too hot we can actually have people over to the RV now. After dinner we sat around the campfire until it got dark. Then they went home and we went to bed.

It was chilly last night and the dogs were hogging the Westie blanket so I was cold. But I slept in, after 6 am! Carol had warned us that Diana’s Baths gets very crowded so we decided to go there early and I would do my run after that. Diana’s Baths is a bunch of waterfalls. It’s a short walk from the parking lot and at this time of year it’s easy to clamber over the rocks to view the streams of water.

Then we went back to the RV and I did my run. I was supposed to do 6 miles but I settled for 5 since I had already walked a mile. Call that my warmup. I did a loop around the campground and then headed out on Hwy 16 toward North Conway. Big long hills, up and down. At around 2 miles I came upon a wildlife refuge so I dipped into it and ran until I had 2.5 miles and it was time to turn around.

We went into town for lunch. A lot of places are closed because it is after Labor Day and they are having staffing issues. But Lee found a taco place that had good reviews so that’s what we did. Not bad for northern NH! We walked around North Conway a bit, slipped into REI and LLBean and then went back to the RV. 

Later in the afternoon we went over to Carol’s, let the dogs play, and chatted. Sebastian wasn’t used to having visitors but he did pretty good. He and Harper got into a tussle over a the toy, just like little kids, “Mine! Mine!” But other than that it went fine. We did make Cos wear a belly band, and he did mark but with the belly band on it didn’t matter.

Sept 8

We decided we needed a day off so we’re not doing much of anything today. Lee is worried about the rain coming tonight and tomorrow, as well he might be, so he put away all the outdoor stuff today, so it won’t get wet and he doesn’t have to try to do it in the rain tomorrow morning. 

I did my run this morning in loops around the RV park, so flat. I could make one loop into 1.5 miles, so I did it 4 times to get to 6 miles. One mile warmup, 4 miles at MP, one mile cool down. I was working pretty hard for that MP, and my toe was sore at the end. I took some ibuprofen and it will get some rest for the rest of today and tomorrow, so hopefully that will take care of it.

Sept 9

In the evening yesterday we met Carol and Joe at a restaurant in North Conway, the Muddy Moose. I tried their burger and onion rings. The burger was pretty good, the onion rings okay. I like them bigger and juicier, these were small and crunchy. It was busy, but not too bad and we sat in a booth. Their booths have floor to ceiling wooden partitions, which Carol said was new, so COVIDwise things felt safe.

It was nice to get to see them one more time. Joe is funny. He has such a dry sense of humor. If you didn’t know him you might wonder if he is kidding or not sometimes, he can be so deadpan. Hot tip: he’s kidding, lol.

It rained last night, starting around 1 am, just as predicted, and rained off and on til morning. Then we got a break, enough to walk the dogs and break camp. It’s going to pour this afternoon probably off and on until Friday morning. We’re on our way now, crossing our fingers that we get a dry window in which to set up camp. 

3:28 pm

We got here around 2, the same campground in Auburn where we were before, in just enough time to set up camp and walk the dogs. They got pretty gritty so we had to rinse them off in the shower, and right after that it started POURING. I mean REALLY pouring. We are watertight, and dry inside here, but it’s noisy. We’re in a good campsite this time, higher ground and much more level. Water is literally running down the sides of the camper. It’s been going on now for almost 45 minutes. I won’t be surprised if this causes some flash floods. 

Sept 10

Amy, Heather, Nessie, Duffy, Harper, Cosmo, Bentley!

We went over to Chris and Amy C’s around 4:30 pm yesterday. It was still raining, and it rained the whole time we were there. Their new house is really nice. Our dogs all played nicely together, and our dogs were happy to be able to run around a yard, even in the rain.

It rained all night, finally stopping around 3 AM. When we got up in the morning portions of the campground were flooded. The creek that runs through it was over its banks, flowing over a little bridge and flooding a couple of campsites. No actual campers were flooded but for those people it’s a mess.

I did laundry again, running in between loads. Each time I went over the little bridge my feet (and legs) got wet. I didn’t mind, too much anyway. We went to an Indian restaurant in Manchester for lunch. It was ….fine. Lee loves Indian food, and I used to, but sometimes it doesn’t agree with me, which kind of reduces my enjoyment.

This we came back to the RV and hung out. I finished crocheting the baby sweater and the little stuffed duck I was making. They were both a lot of fun. I’m sure I’ll make more stuffed animals, they’re so cute!

Sept 11

Met all the Westie ladies at the Backroom in Manchester for mudslides and hugs, smiles and a few tears. There is some joy and some sorrow among us. Life throws people curves sometimes that are so unfair. As always I wish I could fix this, make it better, but maybe I’m finally old enough to know I can’t and to be ok with that. Maybe.

Paula is a Snapchat pro and she took some great pictures of us with filters. 

And the hostess took one more.

Til we meet again!

Now on this 20th anniversary of 9/11 we are on the road, stopping in Shelburne Falls for lunch with Shirin, one of my cousins, and then on to Catskills, NY for a few days with Eugenie and Ken. What better way to honor this anniversary than to spend it with friends and family that we love.

A Visit to New England

I hardly took any pictures on this trip, sorry!

In the spring my cousin Sheila’s oldest son died of a brain tumor. He was only 37 years old. He had been diagnosed in 2014, went through treatment, and did well for a time, but eventually it came back, as these sorts of tumors so often do. 

There was no funeral, but a couple “celebrations” one on the west coast where he and his wife Miriam lived, and one on the east coast, in Watertown, a suburb of Boston. I really wanted to go to the east coast one, not only to support my cousin, but also as an excuse to visit my Westie friends. So that’s what I did.

I flew into Boston on a Friday. I landed around 11:00, plenty of time to grab my rental car and head to the North End for a lobster roll. There was one catch. I had mistakenly rented a car in downtown Boston, not at the airport as I thought. So that’s why it was such a great rate! Oh well! I grabbed a taxi and he took me to Atlantic Ave without too much fuss.

Then I ran into another problem. I had applied for a Minnesota drivers license on July 26th. At the time they said to expect it to take 6-8 weeks to receive my new license and in the meantime I’m driving around with a slip of yellow paper indicating that I have applied for a Minnesota driver's license, plus my voided New Hampshire license. Of course in order to fly I brought my passport, but National didn’t want to rent me a car without a valid driver's license! The Minnesota Driver's License website was indecipherable, and they weren’t answering their phone. He finally figured out a way to rent me a car but it wasn’t pretty.

By this time it was after noon and I was getting pretty hungry. I drove over to Lewis wharf, parked the car and headed to Neptune Oyster. As usual there was at least an hour wait, except for the fact that I was a single person. There was a  stool available at the oyster bar and they let me take it. Yay!

I told the waitress I didn’t need a menu. Lobstah roll with butter, fries, and a Diet Coke. So good! They are huge and I ate it with a fork, but I managed to eat most of it. The marathon runner’s hunger is real!

I staggered back to the car. Next stop, Finesse Pastry in Somerville. I had an old gift card I had never been able to use from when they were still in Manchester. I got a dozen French macarons, and a chocolate torte. Delicious!

A quick stop at the New Hampshire Liquor store and then I drove the rest of the way to Amy Dion’s house. I got there before her, but let myself in and said hello to the dogs. Before very long she was home, and soon after that Carol arrived too. Bill was out of town and it was time for a girls night. It was like I never left. Diane, Paula, AmyC, only Stephanie was missing because she had to work. We talked and laughed and it was great. I even stayed up all the way to 11 pm!

Next day I had a 14 mile run to do, 10 of it at marathon pace. I drove over to the rail trail in Salem, New Hampshire, and parked in the Tuscan Kitchen parking lot. As I got out of the car I realized that I had forgotten my Garmin! Damn! Well no help for it. I used my Fitbit to figure out the distance, and I counted my steps, to do some sort of run/walk ratio for 3 freaking hours! I have no idea what my pace really was but I’m sure I got the distance in, or something close to it. 

Then it was back to Amy’s, a quick shower and into the car and over to Diane’s, to meet the new puppies and Mr Whiskers, her new kitty. It’s been a long time since I’ve been around Westie puppies. They are so much fun, so energetic, curious and affectionate. Mr Whiskers was inside away from all the crazy dogs, but I went inside to pet him. He’s very sweet and he has weird double paws too, with an extra toe on each.

I drove back to Amy and Bill’s and then we turned around and hopped back into the car. We all met at The Common Man in Merrimack for dinner. We sat upstairs in the bar while our table was getting ready. I ordered an Uncommon Manhattan which was delicious and very strong! I got drunk on my ass! I had a great time, but wow. Good thing I wasn’t driving.

I had their meatloaf for dinner. I’d been craving it and it did not disappoint. And we split the ding ding dong cake and the ice cream tollhouse cookie sundae for dessert. It was all so yummy! 

An Inebriated Me and the Ding Ding Dong Dessert

Strangely I didn’t have a hangover the next day, and I’m glad. It was the day of the celebration for my cousin’s son Sam. I drove to my cousin Mark’s house in Newton first. Mark is a child of my father’s sister, Aunt Ray, and Sheila is the child of my mother’s sister Ruth, but when we were all kids in St. Louis we all played together, a lot. I was the oldest cousin on both sides of the family, and when I was little I felt a lot older, often too old to play with all those babies, but when we grew up the difference in age didn’t matter as much, and many of us have stayed close.

I didn’t know Sam well at all. I met him a couple of times when our kids were little, at a wedding, and later at a bat mitzvah for one of our kids. But the only time I met him as an adult was when Sheila had a little family reunion in Ogunquit, Maine a couple of years ago. I managed to show up for that and it was nice to hang out with Sheila’s kids. Her brother David and my Uncle Hank were at the reunion too. By that time Sam had received his diagnosis but he was in remission and doing great it seemed. We had a nice afternoon in the sun along the beautiful Maine coast.

Last spring however Sam’s illness came back, with a vengeance. This time the treatment didn’t work, and it wasn’t long before he was gone. 

The celebration was held at the Hibernian Hall in Watertown, MA. There had to be at least 150 people there, friends and relatives of Sam. There were friends from childhood, high school and college, friends from Massachusetts and San Francisco, relatives from all over the country. We talked and hugged, and ate and drank. The food was plentiful and there was an open bar, but I stuck to water and coffee.

At around 1 pm people started to tell stories and remembrances of Sam. They talked about his story-telling abilities a lot. Apparently Sam was a writer even before he could actually write. They talked about his value to them as a friend, cousin, brother. At the end my cousin took the mike and spoke. I don’t know how she did it, but what she had to say was so powerful, it has stuck with me, and likely always will. She talked about how privileged she felt to have been Sam’s mother, and how grateful she was. She said it was such a gift to have been allowed to see him take his first breath, and his last. 

After that Mark and I said our goodbyes and headed over to his house. His wife Amy was home and we decided to go for a walk around their neighborhood in Newton. We walked through the woods near Boston College, past a pond that used to be used as a skating rink in the wintertime. We even walked up Heartbreak Hill, since their house is so close the the Boston Marathon Route. Heartbreak still doesn’t seem like that much of a hill to me.

It was getting close to dinner and we decided to find something close to their house. We found a place called the Shaking Crab in Newton that they had never tried, but that got good reviews on Yelp. Its was good, messy and different! You order your seafood, adding things like corn or potatoes or mini shrimp, a sauce, and indicate how spicy you want it. Your dinner comes in a big plastic bag with plastic gloves and a bib for you to wear. Amy got crab legs, I got a lobster tail, Mark got mussels. It was all very good but you definitely  needed the bib and gloves!  After that I said goodbye and headed back to Amy and Bills for the night. It was a long day, fun, emotional and sad all at the same time.

On Monday Paula drove with me up to Madison, NH to visit Carol. First I had a track workout to do so I headed over to the Pelham High School track right by Amy and Bill’s house. I thought this would work out great but unfortunately their track was closed for repairs. Luckily the school had a huge parking lot that was pretty flat so I made the best of it and ran around the parking lot for almost 7 miles, doing a warm up, a cool down, and 1K repeats at 10k pace in-between. 

After my workout I cleaned up and then drove up to Paula’s in Manchester, with a stop at Dunkin for an egg sandwich. Then we headed to Madison. Its too bad it was a little early for the leaves to be changing, but its still a beautiful drive, just kind of long. It was great to see Carol and hang out with her and her doggies for a couple hours. Ruby and Pia are both 14 years old now. Pia is really showing her age, but she actually didn’t seem as bad as I had braced myself for. She has a lot of arthritis in her legs and walks unsteadily. They really do have a little red carpet for her from her bed into the kitchen where her water bowl is situated. She doesn’t like to walk on the bare floor anymore! Ruby seemed really good, a little slower than before but still pretty spunky.

Carol made us delicious (and HUGE) sub sandwiches for lunch. They had everything on them and they were great! After lunch we went outside and sat in the sunshine. Pia could walk better outside, and Ruby was wandering all over, sniffing and generally enjoying herself.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye and head back to southern NH. We decided we needed one more dinner out, this time at Tbones. Paula and Rich and Amy and Bill came and it was really nice. 

On Tuesday it was time to head back home. I had hoped to be able to drop the car off at the airport but no, they would have charged me $200 to make that change! So it was back downtown and back in one more Uber to get back to the airport. I made it back to Minneapolis without any problems.

I’m so glad I did this trip. It was great to see my friends, great to spend time with my cousin Mark and Amy. And I’m really really glad I was able to go to Sam’s Celebration. Its not much but I hope my presence there cheered my cousin, at least a little bit. 

I don’t know when I will get back to New England again, but I’m sure I will, and if nothing else I’ll see everyone on our Alaskan Cruise next summer!

Obama Comes to Southern New Hampshire

A week ago I got up early and drove to Windham High School, a couple of miles from my house. I had a ticket to see President Obama speak at the school that morning, and althought the weather threatened rain, I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass me by.

I did have misgivings though. I'm not the most patient of persons, and I'd heard that seeing a president or another candidate for the office speak could involve a lot of waiting and standing around. How badly did I want to do this?

Badly enough, apparently. I drove along Hwy 111 and that early on a Saturday morning there really wasn't much traffic. But when I got to one of the elementary schools where it was suggested that we park there was a large crowd waiting for a shuttle bus and I decided to turn in there.

I was glad that I did. When the bus turned on to London Bridge, the road in front of the High School, a line of cars stretched almost all the way back to 111. It didn't take very long for the people on the bus to decide it would be a good idea to get off and walk.

It didn't take very long to walk the rest of the way to the High School. In short order we were given our instructions, put into lines, and the crowd of people settled down to wait. We watched the Secret Service stop every single car that drove up to the High School and use dogs to conduct a search. So that was why the line of cars was so backed up! I was very glad I had taken the shuttle bus.

The atmosphere had a festive carnival air. People selling campaign buttons and tshirts presented their wares. All kinds of people stood in line, young, old, hippies, button-downed, blue collar, white collar, red neck, country, city. Many different New England states were represented, from Rhode Island to Maine.

I listened to the stories as the people around me chatted. Some people were experienced campaign followers that had seen many different presidents and candidates in person. Just as many were like me, first-timers at a presidential event. Several of us "older" folks could remember seeing John F Kennedy campaign when we were little, including me. I had a vague memory of a smiling, handsome man in a convertible, passing by as we stood on the sidewalk in St. Louis. I think I would have been in 1st or 2nd grade, 1960. My how times have changed.

At 10:30am they opened the doors and let us into the building. After a quick run tothe bathroom I entered the gym and found a place to sit on the second row of the bleachers, fairly close to the stage. Windham High School does not have a very large gymnasium. I wondered how many people they would try to cram into this space.

Pretty many, it turns out. We were packed in, the doors were shut, and it began to get very, very warm. All we could do was think cool thoughts and hope that it wouldn't be too long before the president appeared.

Well, 2 and a half hours later, he strode into the gym, waving and smiling. In spite of the heat, the crowds and my exhaustion, I found myself exhilarated and excited as soon as he walked onto the stage.

One of the first things that drew me to Obama was his speeches. Of course there was his electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, but, in addition to that there was his wonderful victory speech in Chicago, his speech on race in Philadelphia, his speech on the Middle East in Egypt. Obama's speeches were intellectually stimulating as well as thoughtful and inspiring.

The speech at Windham High School was a standard campaign speech. There was no nuance, no thought-provoking considerations. Republicans - bad for the middle class. Democrats will save Medicare and Social Security. The affordable care act will help the uninsured and save money for all.

It's not that I seriously disagree with anything that Obama said. It's just that he managed to set a very high bar four years ago and in the early years of his presidency. I miss the intellectually challenging and thought--provoking side of Obama. It's too bad that modern campaigning precludes that sort of rhetoric.

Four years ago I was so relieved and glad to see the Republicans out of power and the Democrats back in. I would like to see him re-elected; I'm also worried that the economy and all the negative advertising will make it very difficult for him to win again. I'm also suspicious of many of the traditional ways of garnering votes. Canvassing door-to-door and phone calls are big in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is a swing state so both parties are vying for every vote out there.

But it seems to me that such tactics have a minimal impact compared to Television ads and news reports. I have had plenty of people here in New Hampshire, however, explain to me how important personal contact can be in this very small state where every single vote counts. So what do I know.

I do think that the key to either party winning this year has everything to do with how many of the voters on their side of the ticket will actually bother to vote. This is another place where I'm worried about Obama's chances. So many people that were excited about his candidacy 4 years ago are now disillusioned and disappointed. Maybe he wasn't able to turn the economy around as quickly as they had hoped. Maybe he didn't close Guantanamo, end the wars, promote gay rights. Whatever their personal issues might have been, Obama probably turned out to be more moderate, less effective, and more hampered by Congress than they expected. Will those people still take the time to vote in November?

I'm also in the process of reading Richard Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson. I've just finished the part about how he stole the 1948 Senate election. The extreme corruptedness of Texas politics at that time, and Johnson's absolute obsession with acquiring and keeping power, are influencing how I look at this year's election.

I know that it is a mistake to idealize politicians. Politicians would not do what they do if they did not have an innate hunger for power. Neither Barak Obama nor Mitt Romney are exceptions to this rule. The superficial motives of an individual politician may differ (why do so many of them seem to have daddy issues?) but if they did not have a huge need for the power that electoral office brings, they would not run.

Elections invite fraud. I hope we are beyond the days of the kind of fraud that occurred during the 1948 election, that involved the blatant "counting" of voters that never even went to the polls, by political bosses and machines that had their own personal reasons for wanting to see Lyndon Johnson elected. But I suspect that fraud still sometimes occurs, because another basic truth about elections is that the hunger for power influences the morality of politicians. That need to win allows people to justify actions that they could not otherwise condone. I don't think that sort of behavior can ever be entirely eliminated.

So I find myself looking at this year's election with a cold and clear-eyed scrutiny. Does this mean I will vote for any Republicans on the ticket? Nah. I may be feeling a little cynical, but I still tend to come down on the left side of most issues. And yes I will vote, in spite of my misgivings about possible fraud. Voting is something I still idealize. It bothers me that so many people in the US don't bother to vote, and when I fantasize about doing something that would make a difference in this country I would work on voter registration and education, and getting people to the polls on election day. With an educated responsible electorate what kind of country would we be? We can only dream.

A Big Tree Fell on It

Sunday morning on Hilton Head we got a call from Daniel, who was back in New Hampshire taking care of the dog. “A tree fell on the house last night. A big tree. A REALLY big tree. Water is pouring into the attic and down the wall in the hall.” Yikes!

We call our homeowner’s insurance company. “Due to extremely high call volume in your area, please call back later.” Well, we have had a lot of wind storms recently. I give them ten minutes and then call back again. After twenty minutes I manage to get someone on the line to report the damage. In the meantime Lee finds a tree removal service in Salem and calls them. They promise to come right out and get the tree off the house and make some temporary repairs so that the water will stop getting in, until we can get the roof fixed.

View of Big Tree from the Front of the House

Pine Branches Piercing the Roof from the Attic

Apparently Saturday night there was a huge storm in Salem. One of the giant pines trees in the wetlands in front of our house, its root system weakened by all the snow and rain we’ve had, fell over. Five of the tall spiky branches on the tree pierced the roof. The tree was so large that it came across the entire house and the top of the tree fell on the deck behind the house.

The Part of the Tree that Ended Up in the Back Yard

This all happened in the middle of the night. Daniel heard it fall, but just thought it was lightening. Fortunately it was at the opposite end of the house from where he sleeps. He got up in the morning and took Harper outside, but didn’t notice the tree. He fell asleep on the couch for awhile, got up and took Harper outside again, and THEN noticed the tree. Well it WAS raining pretty hard at the time, but if you look at the picture above, the door from the kitchen to the deck where we normally take Harper outside, is right next to where the top of the tree landed. Maybe the boy needs to start drinking coffee...

When we get back to New Hampshire we are impressed by the size of that tree. Suddenly the  remaining huge trees in the wetlands in front of our house take on a menacing quality. Will another one decide it wants to fall over and squish our house again? Its not a comforting thought.

Wetlands in Front of the House, Where Many More Trees Reside

Fortunately the insurance adjuster comes quickly and is very accommodating. Service Master comes and starts drying things out. Lee finds a good contractor through friends at work and they start on the necessary repairs.

Everyone up here to which we relate this story just laughs and says “Welcome to New Hampshire!” Hmmm…