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Portsmouth Herald today: Parents recall children lost to Mideast war
NORTH HAMPTON - Flags were flying in North Hampton over Memorial Day weekend as residents honored fallen heroes, including two with connections to the town.
My same story, the original version, in the Hampton Union today: Honoring America’s fallen heroes
Welcome, seekers of WHS Prom photos.
Pics are a short way down the left sidebar, under Photo Albums. Or click here: WHS Prom.
Click on thumbnails to enlarge.
Small Pond column today: Pageantry of the prom
Youth and beauty were on display at Faro Gardens in Hampton Falls on May 20, as Winnacunnet Junior Prom-goers promenaded past the flashing cameras of the paparazzi and mamarazzi.
Signs of summer
THE BEACH PLUM 17 Ocean Blvd. North Hampton, NH Telephone: 603-964-7451Stop for lunch here, a little seafood shack directly across the street from the North Hampton State Beach, and enjoy a lobster roll under a grove of cool pines. ($-$$) Open late May-late Sept. 11 a.m..-10:30 p.m.
But really it's all about the ice cream.
Named for the native shrub or the plum spot across from the beach?
High tide North Hampton State Beach, today
My current favorite flavor is Maine Black Bear...
Red Raspberry Ice Cream With Chocolate Chips And Chocolate Covered Raspberry Truffles
Lining up to order at the Beach Plum
Now here are some dedicated tasters down on the Cape: The Cape Cod Ice Cream Challenge: Finding the Best By Trying Them All
This looks like fun: Hood Launches Taste of New Hampshire Contest
Are New Hampshire ice cream lovers ready for their first tastes of Granite State Caramel, Lake Winnipesaukee Walnut, Mount Washington Cherry Fudge Chunk, Presidential Primary Pistachio or Kancamagus Krunch Ice Creams?Any of those New Hampshire-inspired ice cream names could be the winning flavor chosen this July in the first-ever "Taste of New Hampshire" Flavor-Naming Contest. Due to popular demand, the contest, open to all New Hampshire residents, will climax with the August 2006 introduction in New Hampshire supermarkets of the first-ever New Hampshire flavor – part of Hood's 18-flavor New England Creamery Ice Cream campaign.
Hmm, how about New Hampshire Black Fly, plain vanilla with lots of raisins?
North Hampton's Old Home Day, to be celebrated for the 15th consecutive year Saturday, June 17, 2006, will kick off with a healthy event for the whole family, a 5K Road Race at 9 a.m. followed by a Kids' Fun Run around 9:40.
There are awards for all categories and the top team, plus raffle prizes.
All children who register and complete the Fun Run will receive a medal. Come for the excellent regional competition, just for fun and fitness, or to cheer on your neighbors.
Old Home Day 5K Road Race registration form
First 100 preregistrants receive a free t-shirt.
UnionLeader.com: Remembering the state’s newest war dead
As Memorial Day approaches, the New Hampshire Sunday News offers a look back at the men of New Hampshire who gave their lives in service to their country.
NHPR The Front Porch: Memorials in the United States
Whether we drape them in flags or lay flowers at their feet, war memorials -- and all memorials in this country -- are undergoing a transformation.
Friends went away for Memorial Day weekend. They needed a Petsitter.
Filmed in a North Hampton backyard this morning.
Winnacunnet in finals of Granite State Challenge
DURHAM - Winnacunnet High School in Hampton has advanced to the Super Challenge final match of the Granite State Challenge on New Hampshire Public Television.
Zach, Victoria and Lisa are from North Hampton.
Another great blog from Janice Brown, creator of the NH history and geneology blog Cow Hampshire!...
New Hampshire Blogging: A listing and critiques of New Hampshire blogs and bloggers.
I am humbled by her kind review of Atlantic Ave.
I rearranged the sidebars this morning, and added more blogs n stuff. Waste some time linksurfing Atlantic Ave!
NORTH HAMPTON - A complimentary decibel clinic to make local motorcyclists aware of how they rank in relation to the permissible 106-decibel limit will be held today at Seacoast Harley-Davidson on Route 1 in North Hampton.
Kindergartners at the school's Memorial Day observance this morning
At 10 a.m., there will be a parade in North Hampton on Atlantic Avenue, followed by a service at Town Hall.
Monday is Memorial Day.
NORTH HAMPTON - School Board member Sharon Narsiff has resigned, effective after last Thursday’s board meeting. Narsiff is relocating with her family to another state.The board will appoint her replacement at its next meeting, June 22. The new member will serve until the March elections, when a one-year position will appear on the ballot.
North Hampton inventor follows in Edison’s footsteps
“This Room is Equipped With Edison Electric Light,” reads a small placard. “Do not attempt to light with match. Simply turn key on wall by the door.”The light bulb — and the integrated system for generating and distributing electric lighting — was a bright idea we now take for granted. But just over a century ago it was an invention that inspired awe, and sometimes confusion.
Lilacs
Crabapple
My two favorite photos I took yesterday.
The smallest flower is a thought, a life answering to some feature of the Great Whole, of whom they have a persistent intuition.
- Honoré De Balzac
The earth laughs in flowers.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yes! NH skips school makeup days
The New Hampshire Department of Education has excused more than two dozen school districts, including Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, Portsmouth, South Hampton, Seabrook, and Winnacunnet, from making up school days that were lost to last week's flooding.
Last day of school for North Hampton School students remains Friday, June 16. It's an early release day and kids will be dismissed at 12:20 p.m.
M is for mead, a wine made of fermented honey and water, sometimes flavored with spices.
I went to the health food store to find some of our local mead. The new owner didn't want to renew the liquor license so the nice lady at the counter couldn't sell me the last bottle of Piscassic Pond Autumn Traditional Honey Wine– she gave it to me.
Weekend taste test: pale gold, tastes like strong white wine with honey and some flavorings I don't recognize. Worth trying at least (or maybe just) once.
For some reason I thought it would be like thick sweet beer. And bees would buzz around my head.
M is for meme, a sort of mind virus. (More definitions.)
Janice at Cow Hampshire is propagating a meme – this one a ten-words-starting-with-the-same-letter writing prompt – and has given me the letter M. I must write ten words starting with my letter, and explain why I chose them.
So far, mead for trying something new, and local, and writing about it, and meme because... we're in one. Eight to go!
M is for Manchester, England. My husband the airline capitan departs Logan at 20:35 tonight and will arrive in Manchester at 07:55 tomorrow. The three-letter signifier for Manchester is MAN.
M is for music. Just tonight, after the girls' piano and voice lessons, I was driving home from dropping Anna off in Seabrook to record a CD with the high school chamber singers. I was listening, very loudly, to a song by Mindless Self Indulgence (really) when the flashing lights caught my eye in the rearview mirror. For... me?
Did I know why he pulled me over? Absolutely no idea, honestly. Did I know I ran a stop sign? No. (You mean if no cars are coming you can't just cruise into a right turn?) Did I know how fast I was driving? Did I know what the speed limit was?
Do they teach police the Socratic method?
I got a ticket for the stop sign but he cut me a break on speeding. I apologized for being a halfwit. He looked at me like he had never heard someone use the word halfwit before.
Last time I had a ticket was about 20 years ago. Must stick to the calming influence of Mozart in the car. Or maybe The Magnetic Fields.
M is for megrim, a marvelous word, from the Middle English migrem, variant of migraine. Use it in a sentence? Why of course I can.
I shall lie upon my couch and suffer megrims as I contemplate my $100 traffic ticket.
Megrim is also: An impulsive, often illogical turn of mind: bee, boutade, caprice, conceit, fancy, freak, humor, impulse, notion, vagary, whim, whimsy.
M is for M&Ms a delicious candy invented to allow one to indulge in the gobblement of fistfuls of chocolate without having it melt in one's hands.
And it uses up two Ms.
M is for motherhood, the opposite of mindless self-indulgence and the reason I sometimes need some.
M is for Medieval Bestiary
Bees are the smallest of birds. They are born from the bodies of oxen, or from the decaying flesh of slaughtered calves; worms form in the flesh and then turn into bees. Bees live in community, choose the most noble among them as king, have wars, and make honey. Their laws are based on custom, but the king does not enforce the law; rather the lawbreakers punish themselves by stinging themselves to death. Bees are afraid of smoke and are excited by noise. Each has its own duty: guarding the food supply, watching for rain, collecting dew to make honey, and making wax from flowers.
M is for May flowers, a short movie I made using photos I took today.
Any bloggers want a letter?
Selectmen mark 22 acres for conservation
NORTH HAMPTON - The Board of Selectmen agreed Monday night to authorize the purchase of a $250,000 conservation easement for approximately 22 acres of land on Atlantic Avenue between Post Road and Route 1.
State bestows historic mark on Old Town Hall
NORTH HAMPTON - The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources has placed the North Hampton’s Old Town Hall on Atlantic Avenue on its register of historic places.Constructed in 1844, Old Town Hall was the site of town meetings and functions for 160 years as the village grew around it.
The town’s 1815 Paul Revere Bell hangs in the clock tower. Built with recycled timbers from North Hampton’s 1734 and 1761 meeting houses, this Greek Revival style landmark is now closed and waiting for repair.
Message from North Hampton Firefighters:
Anyone wishing to report Individual Storm Damage or Loss from the Spring Rain Storm of 2006 is advised to contact the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management at 1-800-458-2407.
New Hampshire Department of Safety Bureau of Emergency Management
Repairing Flood Damaged Property
CENTENNIAL HALL YARD AND BAKE SALE will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the green, at the intersection of routes 111 and 151 in North Hampton. Proceeds benefit the restoration of Centennial Hall into an arts center. 964-8870
From North Hampton resident Laurel Pohl:
North Hampton's Planning Board is seeking volunteers to serve on this year's Long Range Planning Committee. The committee plans to meet monthly, at least through the budget season (November/December). This year's priorities include: updating the Capital Improvements Plan and conducting a municipal needs assessment for facilities and capital spending initiatives. Interested parties may contact Laurel Pohl via email: laurelpohl@earthlink.net, at 964-8360, or by attending any meeting. The first meeting is this Thursday (5/25/06) at 4:00 PM in the Mary Herbert Room at the town offices.
There are also openings now on the town Cable TV committee – write to selectmen if interested.
School Board member Sharon Narsiff resigned to relocate with her family to another state. The board will appoint an interim until the March elections. Express interest in writing to the assistant superintendent, Ralph Minichiello.
La Promesse, by Rene Magritte
Funnel cloud topples truck on interstate
PORTSMOUTH - Will weather wonders never cease?
No, they will not.
Successful prom weekend. Lovely lasses and handsome lads, en masse like the biggest bouquet of spring flowers.
I took lots of photos but haven't done much with them yet, what with writing deadlines and life administration.
Lacrosse victory for the youngest Away in Bedford yesterday morning. Husband home from England. Lax scrimmage tonight.
Today is sunny and windy and cool. Bright white clouds are racing west to east. The shadows are sharp edged.
There is a single white rose on the kitchen counter, hot clean laundry ready to fold, hot white empty page to write on.
My days are chasing each other like the clouds.
NORTH HAMPTON - Think of it as art gallery meets the starship Enterprise.On June 1, North Hampton School student art work will appear on multiple six-foot projection screens at HoloDek, a video-gaming company in Hampton.
The digital display of student art in a large screen "gallery" is a first for the school. Art teacher Inger Gregory has been photographing student art work for two years, and is creating digital portfolios.
The First Tee of the Seacoast is a junior golf program with a difference.Kids ages 5 through 17 are taught chipping, putting, bunker shots - basically all the skills and rules necessary to play the game. But advancement to the next level requires a mastery not just of golf skills, but life skills as well.
Specifically, instructors emphasize nine "core values" of respect, responsibility, honesty, sportsmanship, confidence, integrity, judgment, courtesy and - this one is especially important in the game of golf - perseverance.
"Golf is a game you never really master. You always struggle with it," says Tom Buswell, director of marketing and development at The First Tee of the Seacoast.
Instructors aim to make that struggle a little easier by weaving values instruction into their coaching. They believe emphasizing character development will serve the kids well in golf - and in life.
"How you behave is as important as how well you play," Buswell says.
The spring sessions are gearing up at The First Tee, which is located at Sagamore Golf Center in North Hampton, with satellite locations at Pease Golf Course in Portsmouth and The Ledges Golf Course in York, Maine.
Back on the ark, everybody
Concord – It really was a 100-year flood.Preliminary estimates of the magnitude of this week’s flooding show the highest-ever floods recorded at 12 rivers in central and southern New Hampshire, the U.S. Geological Survey said yesterday.
Rain returns, flood advisories by county
* FROM 6 AM EDT THIS MORNING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT * LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST THIS MORNING WILL MOVE NORTH...PASSING WEST OF THE REGION TODAY. THE RAIN SHIELD ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION FROM SOUTH TO NORTH TODAY. THE RAIN WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES TODAY...BEFORE TAPERING OFF THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. * AT THIS TIME...BETWEEN ONE AND TWO INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE WATCH AREA. THIS MUCH RAIN FALLING ON ALREADY SATURATED GROUND WILL RESULT IN SHARP RISES ON RIVERS AND STREAMS...POSSIBLY PUSHING THEM OVER THEIR BANKS. A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING BASED ON CURRENT FORECASTS.
Expecting rain, the profile of a day
Wears its soul like a hat....
- John Ashbery
Complete Flood of 2006 Coverage at SeacoastOnline.com
I walked to the cemetery and back today. There's a line of flotsam washed up past some of the grave markers.
At home I told John and he said, "and what about jetsam?" I said flotsam and jetsam are different and I definitely meant flotsam. Then I walked away before he asked about the difference and I had to remember.
Here it is: flotsam and jetsam. Since it was mostly dead vegetation and broken reeds washed up, which have no monetary value (unlike thousands of rubber ducks), I guess it wasn't really flotsam either.
Dropping thousands of rubber ducks into the Little River upstream would be an amusing prank, though.
Thank you, bees.
Armed with a few recipes and the basic ingredients for mead - honey, water and yeast - Smith began experimenting with the product, which is essentially honey wine. Three years later, he and his wife, Roberta, have built up a small home business making and selling four varieties of mead from their Piscassic Pond Winery, named for the Piscassic Pond, which they overlook from their home.
I think I'll pick up a bottle and give it a try. Mead taste test coming in a few days, in the merrie month of May.
North Hampton official seeks utility takeover
North Hampton – The chairman of the town’s water commission said he plans to appear at the June 6 state Public Utilities Commission hearing to oppose a requested 21 percent hike in water rates sought by the Aquarion Water Company.The increase, if granted, would affect residents of Hampton, North Hampton and Rye.
Henry Fuller accused Aquarion of “stripping” the local water operation, adding he would favor municipal ownership of the utility.
Sun = good.
Much drier weather today, relative to the past week.
I tried to speed up the course of my head cold by stretching out on the bleached wood deck, baking my head in sunshine, imagining every last bit of pink infected tissue burnt away by solar rays, imagining my skull bleached white, bone dry and virus free.
John went for a bike ride and said there's still lots of minor flooding in the streets. Some now is from people pumping out their basements, he said.
Sump pumps a hot commodity
State, doctors urge caution with cleanup
Updated road closings
Watching Mother Nature's display is latest pastime
The Sun, the hearth of affection and life, pours burning love on the delighted earth.
– Arthur Rimbaud
More good news for New Hampshire's only ocean lighthouse, and its kid keepers...
Foundation donates $25K to Lighthouse Kids
NORTH HAMPTON - The 1772 Foundation has demonstrated its support for the Lighthouse Kids once again, with a $25,000 gift to continue restoring the White Island Lighthouse Station.The Lighthouse Kids are part of the North Hampton School’s Community Service Learning program, in which seventh-graders have worked since September 2000 to secure the future of New Hampshire’s only offshore lighthouse.
SeacoastNH.com: Lighthouse Repair On Track
White Island Light at New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide
American Lighthouse Foundation White Island Lighthouse
Lighthouse Kids website
1772 Foundation: Featured project Lighthouse Kids
I've been following this story, and writing about it now and then for a couple of local newspapers and newsletters, since the Lighthouse Kids formed in 2000. (Here's one from Nov. 05.)
My older daughter was in the second year of the seventh-grade Kids, and accepted federal matching funds with three other Kids when they were in Washington in eighth grade. We watched her on the news that night.
My younger daughter has written letters on behalf of the Kids, and participated in some of the projects this year.
I am amazed at how far they have come, under the leadership of their teacher and advisor Sue Reynolds, and board members like Jen King (who wrote the most recent release).
Sue is retiring from teaching this year, but will still operate the Uncle Oscar in summer, and be an advisor to the Kids.
Hey gang, another movie... with a soundtrack!
Filmed yesterday. Less than one minute.
Check out the Storm Total Rainfall. Click "Storm Total" under "Rainfall" on sidebar of that National Weather Service page. We're up to about 14 inches here!
Forecast: Today: Periods of rain before 8am, then periods of rain and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly between 8am and 1pm, then a chance of rain and thunderstorms after 4pm.
WMUR list of Roads closed across state
North Hampton
Chapel Road, Old Locke Road, North Road between Birch and Lafayette Road, Woodland Road at Little River, Atlantic Avenue and Woodland Road. Also use caution on Pine Road, Atlantic Avenue, Ocean Boulevard, and Willow Avenue
NHDOT 511: Traveler information
School closings. All our local schools are closed.
New Hampshire isn't out of the woods yet
The storm has been roughest on the Seacoast, which soaked up more than a foot of rain by yesterday morning. Hampton received about 12.5 inches. Portsmouth may have received as much as 13.2 inches, according to Gray meteorologist Eric Schwibs."The ground is just completely saturated and everything is running off," Schwibs said. "It was just like taking a wet sponge and squeezing it."
A state submerged: the flood in photos
Seacoast’s sewer and drainage systems causing flooding
Many departments urge motorists to heed the warnings of signs marking high water and seek alternate routes. The surge in calls has forced the departments to forward most motor vehicle rescue calls to individual towing companies. However, if citizens are stranded in their homes and require a boat rescue, local fire and rescue will help.“If you see barricaded areas do not cross it. It’s dangerous,” said Fenerty. “The last thing we need is to displace our rescue teams for things that could have been avoided.”
With more rain in the forecast for the next week, the situation will only get worse. As a result most schools in the seacoast have closed due to the inaccessibility of roads and thruways for students and faculty.
SeacoastForum: Share flooding stories and photos
(When I wrote this column last Thursday I had no idea some of us New Englandahs were going to need boats to travel the flooded roads. This Small Pond is dedicated to Noah and his wife.)
Column: Small Pond
Hampton Union, May 16
"The mole and the water rat had been up since dawn very busy on matters connected with boats and the opening of the boating season; painting and varnishing, mending paddles, repairing cushions, hunting for missing boat hooks, and so on . . ."
- From “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
On Monday, May 8 – the only sunny day last week – our little boat, the 17-foot Howahya, had its first dip of the season in Hampton Harbor.
My husband backed the trailer down the state launching ramp in one smooth motion. He’s my hero when he does that. When I get brave enough to take my turn, people sitting on the porches of those fancy new condos will have a good laugh.
A lobster boat was angling up to a dock, traps rattling in the stern. On board the Starfish, the crew was prepping for a season of party-boat fishing and whale watching.
Boating is a pleasure. The exceptions to that rule eventually turn into good stories.
Now we laugh about the time I was casting for schoolies and hooked him in the back of the hat. And the time he forgot to put the drain plug in and might have sunk his entire family, slowly, in the middle of Great Bay.
I think marriage is a little like being stuck in a boat with one other person for the rest of your life. You have to learn to get along in a small space. Sometimes it’s cozy. Other times you want to jump overboard and swim for shore.
Everybody who’s been married awhile already knows that.
We had one Mars-Venus moment on this trip.
I thought “let’s go for a little boat ride” meant puttering slowly up into the marsh in the bright sunshine, paper cup of coffee in hand, feet propped on the console. We would chat companionably about the weather, maybe our feelings. Or at least our feelings about the weather.
“This sunshine makes me feel languorous, my love.”
“I am positively giddy with spring, my sweet!”
My husband thought “a little boat ride” meant extensive fiddling with the new baitwell pump then blazing up the Hampton River at 22 miles per hour. In an open boat, over 52-degree water, that makes 55-degree air feel like about 35 and I said so.
“I told you to wear a coat,” he said, companionably.
My coffee splashed onto my anorak and my hat blew off and hung from the strap around my neck.
“Can we slow down please?”
“I have to burn the oil off the cylinders. I fogged the engine for the winter.” I think that’s what he said. He was looking at the horizon.
When the oil was vaporized I took a turn at the helm. We puttered up a snaking branch of the Hampton River.
“Red right return,” I reminded myself. Then the navigational aids were gone and we kept an eye on the depth finder. At 2 feet we tipped up the engine a few inches.
The marsh was still winter brown. Wooden duck blinds sat weathering in the same spots as last year. Here and there low circles of wooden posts jutted where, in olden days, haycocks of marsh grass were piled after scything to dry.
The salt hay was used for mulch, insulation and cattle fodder. Its nutritional value was said to be excellent; farmers didn’t need to buy supplements, or salt licks.
A man in an orange coat and hat was walking two dogs out the railroad causeway. Our dog whined once then returned to being a conscientious crew member. He divided his attention between his people and the seagull-speckled horizon.
In the midst of the populous Seacoast the marsh felt like a wilderness of fresh air, good earthy muck, and cool blue ribbons of water.
We rode in companionable silence, two afloat in a little boat.
Mill Road, north of Atlantic, earlier today.
Still raining, not quite so hard. Adding insult to injury, there's a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon.
Outside the diningroom window drenched pinky-red crabapple blossoms hang like tiny wet skirts.
Yesterday's scratchy throat has turned into today's hacking, painful cough and violent sneezing. I feel lousy.
I could put up a little sign on my face that says Flooded Sinuses.
Little River over Woodland Road
USGS Little River gage height and discharge • Seacoast.com Flood Photo Gallery • Foster's Historic Seacoast Flooding photos • Flood tips • Portsmouth area emergency teams busy with flooding • Unusual weather pattern responsible for deluge
North Hampton -- NH 111: closed from Mill Rd to Ocean Blvd.
North Hampton -- Chapel Rd: closed
North Hampton -- Old Locke Rd: closed
North Hampton -- North Rd: closed
North Hampton -- Lovering Rd: closed
North Hampton -- Ocean Blvd: closed from Atlantic Ave to Willow Ave.
North Hampton -- Mill Road: Flooding north of Atlantic Avenue
North Hampton -- Woodland Road: Flooding north of Atlantic Avenue
North Hampton -- * STATE * NH Route 111: Road closed from Mill Road to Ocean Boulevard (NH Route 1A)
North Hampton -- * STATE * NH Route 1A (Ocean Blvd): Road closed from Atlantic Avenue to Willow Avenue ]
Union Leader Flood Newsblog • Watches and warnings for NH
Still raining. No school today. The governor has declared a state of emergency.
Here's a roundup of flooding in New Hampshire, at NHPR. They linked to my Flood Chasers video! Multimedia is the future.
On the south side our pond, the woods and the red maple swamp have become one, joined in a vast shallow lake.
Lynch declares emergency, flooding washing out roads
CONCORD, N.H. -- Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard on Sunday as torrential rain washed out roads, flowed over dams and forced scores of people from their homes _ all while forecasters predicted more heavy rain on the way.
A deluge of woes for region: More to come after record rain triggers floods, evacuations, emergency decrees
A day of rescues and evacuations
"It's a very serious situation," Lynch said, noting forecasters were predicting 12 to 15 inches of rain in parts of southern New Hampshire by the end of the storm."It continues to change and the situation continues to worsen," Lynch said.
It's the wettest May on record. No kidding.
Hey I'm a vlogger! (That's video blogger.)
One minute 42 seconds of high water today. Anna filmed, I drove and reported – ok, pointed. (I'm not afraid to wear a dumb hat on camera.) Then I edited with iMovie.
It's a .mov and Quicktime seems to take a while to load, so be patient if you want to see a world of wet.
Scenes: Little River coming over Woodland Rd. and Atlantic Ave.; Little River Marsh; North Hampton Beach; Bass Beach Marsh; Locke Rd. by the golf course; and Love Lane in Rye.
I had a few more good shots but ran out of memory. Ain't that the way of it.
They sure did make big cars in the 1940's. My husband IDs it as a Pontiac, by the hood ornament.
For Mother's Day I'm posting this cool old snap of my (petite) grandmother holding either my mother or my uncle, somewhere in the sandy wilds of South Jersey.
I love the way she's got her foot up on the fender and the baby propped on her leg. She looks like she knows what she's doing, somehow.
Families stuck together growing up in North Hampton
Motherhood is full-time work. Training is on-the-job. There is no sick leave or retirement. Thankfully, there are coffee breaks. And friends."We always had time for coffee together, anytime there were two people free," Louise Testa said. "The bus would come, the neighborhood emptied out, and we’d sit."
Testa, a mother of seven, is one of a group of women who raised their children - lots of children - in the small Forest Edge subdivision in North Hampton in the 1960s and ’70s.
The women remain friends to this day, as do many of their children. It’s a small place, but over the years many have called it home.
Storm total precipitation, so far
Union Leader: Rivers are flooding across NH
New England's rivers can't hold all this rain -- and it won't stop for at least another 24 hours.Flood warnings are posted from the White Mountains to the Cape Cod Canal. Major flooding is forecast on the Merrimack from Manchester to Haverhill, Mass. Many roads are closed.
A wide area of New Hampshire running from Grafton County through Manchester to the Seacoast has already received up to 8 inches of rain. More heavy rain is rolling towards the state from the Cape Cod area. Additional flooding is expected...
Concord Monitor: Drenched already, communities brace for more rain
Three Concord families were evacuated from their homes yesterday as bands of rain from the Atlantic Ocean stalled over southern and central New Hampshire, flooding streams, roads and basements.Greater flooding is expected by noon today in portions of south central New Hampshire, as 2 to 4 inches of rain were predicted to fall by this evening, according to reports from the National Weather Service last night.
"Any recession of flood water that may occur this evening will be brief," the flood warning stated. "A major flood event may be unfolding for portions of this region."
Boston.com: Plainly, the rain mainly stays: Deluge expected to continue through Tuesday
More rain -- 2.03 inches, the equivalent of 20 inches of snow in wintertime -- soaked Boston in just 12 hours yesterday than had fallen in the city during the month of April, said William Babcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. The rain was predicted to continue through Tuesday and dump at least 5 more inches across Eastern Massachusetts.Yesterday, pedestrians became silhouettes cloaked in fog, hidden under umbrellas; stone walls hosted flowing waterfalls, and thick clouds that shrouded the tops of skyscrapers swallowed the skyline in downtown Boston.
Forecast. Stay tuned, I'm going out to take photos or video later today.
NORTH HAMPTON - A war of words over water is developing in North Hampton.There are charges of high rates and poor maintenance, meetings being held to consider the matter, both public and non-public, and a petition drive asking the selectmen to consider a buyout of the local water company.The controversy began in August when Aquarion Water Co. of New Hampshire, which provides water to about 25,000 people in Hampton, North Hampton and Rye, filed a request with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission to raise its rates by 21.23 percent. Since that time, Henry Fuller has led the charge of the North Hampton Water Commission in fighting the proposed increase.
Gallery of Weird New England photos.
Monkey see, monkey dial: Squirrel monkeys at the London Zoo snatch visitors' cellphones, forcing handlers to deter them using mustard.
Dolphins 'have their own names'
Video: Tomcat tribute
Long before I'd had any thoughts about the importance of ceremony, I understood the nature of a cup of tea.
Slideshow: Yoda travels to Ireland
It's been raining for days.
The seventh-grade girls who dined and prettified at our house last night before the annual semi-formal dance dashed for the door of the school in order not to wilt like flowers and melt like icing in the rain.
Jane called and said, "I have to get out of the house," so we went to the Old Salt. I had a couple of hefeweizens with lemon wedges that were bright sunshine in a glass. If I swallow the seeds will a lemon tree grow inside me?
Rain bands coming ashore from the Atlantic now, beating time on the roof. I dreamed I was playing high school lacrosse in a torrential downpour. After I scored the other team said, "It's not fair, she played in college." But nothing could stop me continuing to fiercely challenge the goal, over and over, for years, in my dreams.
Heavy rain and flood watch through Sunday morning. Ample opportunity to check if the rewaxing of my old green Barbour coat holds up.
Hoping Laura's U-15 lacrosse game in Hanover, two hours away, on Mother's Day morning, is cancelled. Breakfast in bed would be nicer.
NOAA says, in alarmist CAPS: BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...WITH AS MUCH AS 6 INCHES POSSIBLE IN SOME LOCATIONS. THIS MUCH RAIN WILL RESULT IN RAPID RISES ON SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS...AS WELL AS URBAN FLOODING AND FLOODING IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. IF 4 INCHES OR MORE OF RAIN FALLS...FLOODING OF LARGER STEM RIVERS BECOMES POSSIBLE.
Gale warning for coastal waters. Beach erosion and splashover expected at high tide early this afternoon.
"We gotta go down to the ocean in our rain suits," said my husband. Why are we so drawn to observe these extremes?
Beloved teacher to depart after 40 years
NORTH HAMPTON - After nearly 40 years at North Hampton School, Judy Waterman will retire in June. She has always taught first grade."I just love that age. They are enthusiastic, positive, and they want to please," said Waterman. "It’s so easy to have them excited. I love it when they come in in the morning with big smiles."
It was very nice to get a call from Mrs. Waterman this morning. She said she had read the article and thought it was wonderful. "You got everything right."
Hm, she is encouraging!
NORTH HAMPTON - Aquarion Water Company defended its maintenance of 480 hydrants in the three towns it serves in a letter sent out to customers last week.Larry Bingaman, senior vice president of operations for Aquarion Water Company, sent the letter to clarify the company’s position.
Aquarion is in a rate-hike fight with North Hampton’s Water Commission.
I can't wait for the hydrant beautification!
The Winnacunnet Drama Club will present its annual '10-Minute Plays' tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Winnacunnet Community Auditorium.
Thirty Drama Club members will showcase their talents as they act in original plays they have written and directed.
Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Proceeds will benefit the Drama Club.
Fun stuff...
Lorianne blogs Morris dancers at Amoskeag: Spring in their steps.
Janice on the incredible Bulkie.
TJ links Tom Lehrer singing the periodic table to the tune of "Modern Major General" from the Pirates of Penzance.
Lileks blogs Target at The Bleat.
Video of talking cats.
Bluets II
Ain't this the truth...
Teens Need More Sleep than They're Getting
A recent nationwide study by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) confirms and provides fresh insights into what many teachers and others who work with teenagers already know: American teens don't get enough sleep.
Adolescence brings changes in brain chemistry, they say.
Teenagers’ late-to-bed, sleep-until-noon habits may seem related to stereotypical adolescent defiance. However, brain scientists tell us that teen brain chemistry differs from the chemistry of both adults and younger children. Teens start to secrete melatonin, a hormone that helps to trigger drowsiness at the end of the day, up to two hours later than younger children. This normal hormonal shift causes teens to feel more alert later at night and to wake up later in the morning.
Officials at odds over ‘needs’ plan
NORTH HAMPTON - One selectman called it an "alarmist" document. Its presenter said it was "a call to action." The document in question? The North Hampton Capital Improvements Program, which was presented at a joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee Monday night.
New link! Check out the North Hampton Youth Association website. Also linked in the sidebar under Neighborhood.
Link thanks to Sandy Dewing, NHYA president.
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