Right Out of Psycho

Hi Family;

Coming here to this quiet isolated part of NH from the GTA engine has been discombobulating. So many streets in surrounding towns are graced with enormous clapboard houses, but many are in need of paint. I would love to have been here in different times. The area was wealthy at some point in its history, for sure.

Yesterday we decided to try a climb of Crotched Mountain. But Dad wasn't up to it. So we drove to Antrim, the nearest town, hoping to find a food store. But Antrim is very sleepy. So we drove to Hillsborough, shopped and then searched and searched for a coffee shop. (Dad needed a latte and date square.) We were fussy. No coffee made at 10 am and stored in a thermos would do. So we drove an hour west to Keene and found a funky organic coffee house. Then we searched for a gorge that sounded picturesque. We'd left the resort at noon, gotten lost a bunch of times and by then it was five and getting dark. Finally arrived back here at six thirty. Must have been out of our heads on the road for four hours after eleven the day before.

The Francestown ski hill collapsed in 1989 at the beginning of a recession bringing this resort and 15-18 buildings under construction down with it. These derelict buildings hover over us, some with roof holes, looking like the set of "Psycho." The ski hill, reopened in 2003 and the guys working on a new lodge deck said that snow making begins in two weeks, that the the temp goes down to 0F in winter. Hard to imagine as we walked around in the 70 degree air.

Today we climbed Crotched Mountain where on a clear day there's a view to Mt. Washington -- also where 20 years ago or so hiked from hut to hut with Janet and Ted. Remember Liberty Springs Trail, Jan? Remember Ted purchasing a scarf and the diminutive hut master daughter of the American surgeon general carrying 100 pounds on her back? Another lifetime ago methinks. The wind was ferocious today, gusting to 70-80 km./hour, scattering clinging leaves in its wake.

We're enjoying ourselves -- a different part of our little world.

Love Mom

Hiking in New Hampshire During the Moose Hunt

Hi Family:

Crotched Mountain Resort is nestled in a forest just outside Francestown about and hour and a half west of Boston. The secondary roads in Vermont and New Hampshire are much smoother and better maintained than those in Ontario and because we’re further south, we’re catching the tail end of autumn, our second autumn. The hills are cloaked in russet, yellow and the occasional red. For the last four hours of our eleven hour jaunt here, we wound through huge hills, stopping every now and then at the top of a mountain for a view that spread forever.

The receptionist at the desk last night said, “You’re hiking? Then you’ll have to wear a vest.” Dad said, “A 303 can shoot a mile.” Ugh. Keeping company with hunters wasn’t my plan. But there’s a school at the top of Crotched Mountain and that’s where we’ll head today for a short hike at least.

After three days, Dad’s fever was down this morning. But he’s still coughing and not too frisky so it’s lucky we have a two bedroom suite and yes Mark, we have plumbing and even granite countertops!

Will post again when we have more to relate. Photos to follow. All is well. Love Mom/Lynda

Chill in the Air

Hi Family;

Here is the underpainting for a new painting based on a series of Massassauga Park photos. If I could change the URL name of this blog, it would be Come Fly with Me. That would be more engaging.

All our deck plants are snug in a new and improved plant room -- new cedar table, refinished cabinets and more room to saunter. The first plant room view is from the massage table.

When the sky is dark and ominous with sun peaking though the clouds, the view of our kitchen window Aspen (last photo) is magical.

I'll write again from Francesville NH. Be well. Love Mom

A New Journey

Hi Family:

I'm venturing back into the blogging world with photos and thoughts about our next little caper into the States. We always find surprises along the way. This leaf sat on our deck one morning after a rainfall. The droplets I think will become part of a painting I'm working on now, a combination of Massassauga rock formations and the mysterious world contained in a droplet of water.

This blog is for our family only. Someday, I might merge it with the last blog of our 2004 flight west. We leave for NH early Thursday morning I'll send photos of our trip and perhaps over the next few months, post my paintings as they emerge. I want this next year to be a creative one -- both in writing and painting. Who knows where I'll end up.

Love Mom