Sedimentary Stuff

My husband is looking for something at the moment; this is not unusual. He currently can’t find it, however, and that’s not unusual, either. This time, though, it is NOT my fault. It seems like I spend a great deal of my time tidying up, almost as much time as he spends looking for things. I wonder if there is any correlation? It’s a known fact that I hate clutter; I’m forever moving things to their ‘proper’ locations. Since Dana has a different sense of order than I, (the gene for which our kids have unfortunately inherited), that usually means I am organizing most of his stuff (theirs, too) … and there’s the rub; it gets me into trouble every time. For what it’s worth by the way, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks … and in this case, I am the old dog. He’s finally trained me (did it only take 40 years?) to leave his stuff alone. It’s off limits now; I don’t touch it. How is this working? Well, it’s a compromise, like many things marital. I don’t let anything of his into my little log cabin in the woods … and that way it stays organized and neat as a pin 24/7. He puts his stuff all over the Lodge, and I try to turn a blind eye. This is not a problem in most of our private spaces; we’ve worked it out. Where it does cause friction, though, is in the office and at the front desk. I’m a stickler for clean surfaces and good first impressions; Dana’s a master of ‘paper piles’, ‘stuff’ and ‘sticky notes’. We are the ‘proof of the pudding’ that opposites attract. Yesterday, out of sheer desperation, I came up with a patent-able idea, proving once again that necessity is the mother of invention. The table in the outer office (behind the front desk) unfortunately has 792 square inches of horizontal surface; and apparently it just begs for donations. Yesterday, being the beginning of our official lodging season, we were BUSY; in fact, we were straight out. All 32 rooms were rented, families were everywhere, the phone was ringing off the hook, and being a tad ‘rusty’ after the slowness of mud season, there was a bit of a learning curve for me to get back into the swing of things again. The 792 square inches of accumulations were definitely a distraction; (my blind eye had waaaaay too much vision). ‘Don’t touch his stuff, don’t touch his stuff’ became my mantra; ‘Get it out of here, Get it OUT’ argued the voice in my head. Clearly we were on the verge of war. My brilliant peacekeeping solution to the problem was too simple for words. All I did was find a pretty tablecloth! I folded it neatly and draped it over all the “stuff”. Voila! (Where’s George Carlin when you need him? ‘Just love his “Stuff” routine!). Anyway, without moving or touching a single item, everything was instantly covered … out of sight, out of mind. Overnight, however, the table, like a magnet, attracted MORE stuff, and this morning the surface of the tablecloth was covered yet again, now it was TWO layers thick! But no problem; ANOTHER cloth did the trick as well as the first. ‘The Sky’s the Limit’ might just be as far as I can go with this technique! The next time my old fossil is looking for something, it will almost be as exciting as an archaeological dig. In fact, with such layers of ‘sedimentary’ stuff, it will actually be possible to “carbon date” some of the artifacts!

Don't Call Me ... I'll Call You!

The Do Not Call Registry was a brilliant idea, but it didn’t go quite far enough. For instance, I found out the hard way that it does not apply to businesses. Here at The Lodge at Jackson Village we get at least 5 telemarketing calls a day, and that's a conservative estimate. Some are real-live people, trying (just like the rest of us) to make a living. I feel sorry for these guys; after all, what more disagreeable job can there be out there? I don’t usually hang up on them; at least not so loudly that it puts my phone’s receiver in physical jeopardy. Other calls turn out to be recorded messages, and they really tick me off. But I’m sorry to say that more than I care to count are from half-way around the world, from people who can barely speak my language. How many yellow page listings can there possibly be out there that need updating, for goodness sake? One day I got a call from a very pushy domestic telemarketer, and English was his native tongue. So was ‘Obnoxious’; he reeked of it. I was really annoyed, because I was right in the middle of something important. These calls come in on my reservation lines, also taking me away from things that are part of the daily operations of a busy inn. This guy raised my hackles within the first half second, so I told him that I was on the Do Not Call list and to remove my number immediately. He then informed me that a law exists which makes businesses exempt from this list. I have my doubts about the validity of that statement, but told him in no uncertain terms that MY law does NOT require me to listen to him. Slam!!

Today is a holiday weekend … well, at least for most people it is. For me it is anything BUT, and already today I have received two of these calls before 10 am, which is why I am on my high and mighty horse about this topic right now. What to do? Well, we have a huge national debt, right? Many states are on the verge of bankruptcy? Every municipality and school district is trying to balance their budgets? Here’s the solution: Tax the Telemarketers!! In addition to their normal phone charges, every call they make should be charged a flat rate of at least $1; and every telemarketing call coming in from oversees should have an added surtax of another dollar. In fact, to help balance our personal budgets, for every telemarketer call we receive, $1 should also be taken off our personal (and business) phone bills! Period. We’ll either be flush by the end of the year, or the annoying, frustrating, obnoxious calls will stop. Either way we win.

Tom Mabe has it all figured out. He’s a guy with a great sense of humor who has it out for the Telemarketers, and frankly, after listening to him, they don’t stand a chance. Tom is a nationally recognized comedian with countless CDs, DVDs, and YouTube shorts, who has been known for getting revenge on the telemarketers. In fact, he is one of the Top Ten downloaded people on the worldwide web! He calls himself “90% Troubleshooter, 10% Troublemaker”, and is now taking aim with this well-focused revenge campaign to cover junk email, bad customer service, high gas prices, and anything else that ticks off Americans. Check him out! (http://www.tommabe.com/) Until real solutions to these annoying problems make life more bearable, at least there is always Tom to get us rolling on the floor in hysterical amusement.

It's Almost 'Ducky' Day!

It's a beautiful day in Jackson ... and we've got all our ducks in a row for the Big Race! Plan to spend the day over at the park tomorrow for a great line-up of family fun! Here's the low down on how the day will be shaping up:

Big Ducks Post Time is 1:45 PM
Regular & Olympic Duck Race Post Time is 2 PM
The Parade starts from Flossie’s at 1:30 PM
Purchase Duck Tickets and Duck themed items from 8 AM - till sold out or 2 PM
Silent Auction from 10 AM - 2 PM
Kids Games & Challenges at 10 AM - 4 PM
Jackson Fire Department presents their Obstacle Course & more at 10 AM - 4 PM
Home Baked Goods & More at 10 AM - 4 PM
Share your Talent on the “5 Minutes of Fame” stage from 10 AM - 2 PM
Local and Visiting Food Vendors from 10 AM - 4 PM
Pony Rides from Black Mountain Stables in the Park from 10 AM - 4 PM
Enjoy the sounds of the “Swing Tones” from 1 PM - 2:30 PM
Jackson “Cake Boss” Competition from 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Winners Announced and Prizes Awarded 2:30 PM

Plan to get there early and spend the day. See you there!!

Summertime is a STATE, Not a DATE

No matter what the calendar says, I consider Memorial Day weekend to be the beginning of summer. There may still be snow on Mount Washington, but it is definitely the time to switch gears mentally. That’s easy to do if you visit us in Jackson this weekend, as there are so many wonderful activities and outdoor things to keep you busy. For starters, on both Saturday and Sunday at the Whitney Community Center, you can go to the annual Library Book Sale, which is ALWAYS fabulous! I got a first edition, leather bound Henry David Thoreau there one year for about $1, and if I didn’t have to work this weekend, I’d be there every minute combing each and every book for other such treasures! Then, you can walk across the street to the old Town Hall, the new home of the Jackson Historical Society. In addition to seeing a display of our town’s colorful history, you’ll want to check out the newest Art Gallery, called River Arts. This weekend is the last opportunity to see the original show which opened the gallery earlier this month.

If you're wondering exactly what's been going on inside the magnificent new library barn in the village just through the covered bridge, stop by for an 'open house' tour either day between 1:00 and 3:00! With strong support from the Jackson community, the construction of our new library is steadily moving forward. The radiant slab is in place, interior walls are taking shape and color, rough electric, security and plumbing are in, and much more. The modern and historic elements of this unique building are coming together nicely. Come take a look!

Three special things are happening in town on Sunday only:
· The Memorial Day Parade starts promptly at 9:30 on the green.
· At the town park for the Wildquack Duck Festival, the Ducks will be launched at 2:oo pm sharp, but there will be activities all day long, starting in the morning. Stop by for food, music and lots of activities for kids and families.
· The Bake and Plant Sale will be held at the church after service, starting at 11:30. Come early to stake out your favorite Duck Race Viewing Spot, and to help pass the time, stop by the church to get the best selection of coffees and sweets, as well as plants for your garden. Proceeds will benefit the Church’s partner church in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

The Dog Days of Springtime

Holy Mackerel it’s hot! … and this sentiment from a person who is ALWAYS cold!! I mean, I’ve barely even been warm, ever. (When I used to get hot flashes in the middle of the night, my husband was the one to suffer. He’d get up, sweating, to open a window, while I lay there comfortable for the first time in my life!). The 90-degree temperatures the last few days reminded me a lot of April a year ago when Chris and I put the new roof on The Lodge. We had a only small window of opportunity between rainstorms, so we had to take advantage of it. It was hotter than Hades, and it never approached those temps again the whole rest of the summer! … 120,000 square feet of roofing shingles on which you could not only fry an egg … but roast the whole damn chicken!! I still have tan lines from that project, and I’ve barely been out in the sun since!

Yesterday’s tropical blast sent me rapidly to my cellar to dig out the screens. Off came the storm windows, and within an hour my rustic cabin in the woods was feeling a bit more civilized. In the afternoon I had a field day at the local garden center. The early summer-type weather gave everyone else the same idea, too. I’d suggest buying your greenery before Memorial Day weekend if possible, (which basically means TODAY), as things are getting pretty picked over even now. Once the weekend is over, (don’t forget, it’s the BIG Duck festival here in Jackson on Sunday), I’m all set to plant my flowers and decorative shrubs. I’m just itching to get diggin’ in that dirt ... it doesn’t take much to amuse me.

Today is cooler and breezier, really just the perfect summer day! A few things started out my day in a spectacular way: 1) I was awakened by the melodious flute-like sounds of a wood thrush; 2) I discovered a perfect Pink Ladies Slipper wildflower in full bloom, only 2 feet away from my cabin; and 3) I saw a huge lime-green Luna moth in flight! It landed in a pine tree. Magnificent. What sights and sounds to start one’s day! God is great, and Life is good!

Historical Jackson: Continuing to Make History

I love history; in fact I positively adore it. I didn’t in high school though … but that was because of the teachers, not the subject. (Once a friend and I went into our 9th grade classroom earlier than scheduled, and we discovered our history teacher’s false teeth sitting on his opened book! That was THE single most exciting thing that ever happened in that class, I can tell you!). Today, however, I find the subject fascinating… and very much ‘alive’. If you do, also, you are definitely going to want to pay a visit to the Jackson Historical Society while you’re visiting us here at The Lodge. No dead collection of artifacts, this organization! Wow ... What they have accomplished -- huge projects, all of them -- is nothing short of incredible! Take a look at some of the things the JHS has accomplished just this year, the summary of which just came to me via e-mail:

“This past year the Society achieved a truly significant milestone. We moved into Jackson’s historic Town Hall, which is now our permanent home. Not only is this a great benefit to the Society, but this move benefits the Town as well, since we have assumed the responsibility for renovating the badly deteriorated building.

Jackson is fortunate in having many non-profit groups and individual volunteers who work for the betterment of the community. The Historical Society is particularly proud of what we have accomplished over the past several years to make us worthy of becoming caretakers of the Town Hall and of your support. Our projects have been varied and widespread throughout the town. We have partnered with many other organizations: the Jackson Grammar School, the Jackson Public Library, the Conservation Commission, the Eastside Walk Foundation and several others.

As we move into the future in our new home, it is time to take stock of what we have accomplished and to “toot our own horn” a bit. Following is a random list of some of the Society’s achievements:

· Catalogued and created an archive of nearly six thousand items (documents, photographs, books, etc.) relevant to the history of Jackson. These are listed on the web site we created. We are continually adding new artifacts as well as current news of Jackson’s citizens and events, which will become tomorrow’s history.

· Completed the first phase of restoration of the old Town Hall: installed a new roof, repaired the foundation, restored the interior wainscoting, refinished the floors, added storm windows, painted the exterior façade, added a glass railing for the stage. Over $100,000 has been spent to date renovating the Town Hall. A study for the second phase of restoration of the Town Hall is underway. This would include a new heating system, new foundation, new exterior clapboards, etc.

· Created The Jackson Museum of White Mountain Art in the refurbished old Town Hall, featuring fifteen 19th century White Mountain paintings on display. In addition, more than three dozen exhibits highlighting Jackson’s history are on display with written informative guides.

· Made a permanent space on the stage of the Town Hall available to River Arts Gallery, a new group of Jackson artists and artisans, for the display and sale of their work. Their first show & sale was held May 1st, 2010, which was attended by over 150 people.

· Dismantled the 150 year-old Trickey Barn and donated the timbers to the Town for re-erection as the new Library. Cost was $85,000.00.

· Contributed $25,000.00 cash and raised over $100,000.00 from Society members for the new Library.

· Organized Jackson’s bicentennial with many varied programs and celebrations throughout 2000.

· Spearheaded the listing of 17 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places as the Jackson Falls Historic District – a two year-long project.

· Restored the Pinkham Bible, a rare copy of the 1816 Carrigan Map of NH Towns, and the original 1844 hand-drawn map of Jackson’s Iron District.

· Commissioned a replica of the Town’s Boston Post Cane. This cane honors the oldest living citizen. The replica was made to be held by the current honoree during his lifetime. The original, with its solid gold head, is a valuable historic artifact and is now kept in a locked display case in the Selectmen’s’ office.

· Created a memorial path and garden at the Town Office with a plaque to Jackson’s earliest residents.

· Restored Jackson’s old snow roller and partnered with Conservation Commission to create a historical park on the Wildcat River near the Wentworth.

· Partnered with the Eastside Walk Foundation to erect a plaque to the Benjamin Copp family, Jackson’s first settlers, near the village fire pond.

· Installed a memorial plaque honoring Korean War Veterans.

· Purchased 120 chairs for the Town Hall – now moved to the Whitney Community Center.

· Paid for paving the Town Hall parking lot.

· Provided annual maintenance of the site of the First Church in Jackson. This 1.5 acre site, where the Free Will Baptist Church was built in 1803, is owned by the Society and is located at the junction of Black Mountain and Wilson Roads.

· Had the Wormeley horse trough moved to a public site on the village circle walk and added a bronze memorial plaque.

· Assisted the Jackson Grammar School kids create a twenty-year time capsule, to be opened in June 2027.

· Published three new books (Jackson History – Part 1, Oldest Houses Still Standing, Letters from my Grandmother), a souvenir program of the bicentennial and re-published three books (Jackson Reminiscences, Yesterdays, Dolly Copp).

· Published several issues of the Jackson Villager, a multi-page historical news letter.

· Sponsored a Jackson Grammar School teacher for a conference in Saratoga Springs, NY put on by the National Council for History Education.

· Sponsored two years of M&D Production’s summer play series in Jackson. Net proceeds were shared among local non-profit community groups.

· Created the Trickey Barn calendar with Jackson Grammar School kids providing the art with forty-six pictures of each student’s depiction of the Barn before it was removed. A quilt, now hanging in the Community Center, was made from these pictures.

· Staged six major multi-day White Mountain School of Art shows. One featured works by Jackson and Bartlett school students. The students of both schools visit the shows with their art teachers.

· Held three major exhibitions of works by local artists: Veikko Hurme; Ann Garland and June McLeavey Weeder.

· Raffled a donated 19th century painting that raised $6,000 for the Conway Historical Society’s Salyards Museum.

· Held dozens and dozens of monthly membership meetings with speaker programs.

We consider our greatest achievement to be saving two of Jackson’s oldest buildings – the Trickey Barn and the old Town Hall. Had the Society not stepped in, the Trickey Barn would have been lost and the Town Hall would have continued its deterioration.

You will note that we have done much to highlight Jackson’s history through the placement of historic commemorative plaques throughout the village. This adds to the enjoyment of both residents and visitors. Our emphasis on art provides outreach both to the community’s artists and artisans as well as the students of the Jackson Grammar School. Both the Jackson and Bartlett schools use our 19th century paintings and those on display in our annual shows as part of their history courses.

The Society has made a positive impact in this great community. We intend to continue doing so in the years ahead.”

'Green', Sustainable, Ecologically-Friendly, Environmentally-Safe, Organically Home-Grown, Locally Supported, Community-Oriented, BioDynamic, Grass-Ro

Okay … are there enough buzz words in that title to make you feel squeaky clean … and proud to be a bio-degradable American? (That last part of my title was supposed to say "Grass Roots Lodging" ... but I ran out of room). If I had a little more time, I’d even think up a few other adjectives for good measure, too. It cracks me up to see descriptions like these adorning most products and their advertisements. But its all part of the ‘green-washing of America’ … riding that wave of educated and conscious consumerism, which is now a BIG Business in and of itself. Sadly, the greenest thing about most of it are the bottom line profits. As a result, we become numb to such eco-spin, as we discover that these adjectives have little or no meaning in the real world. For example, this past weekend we learned about an eco-friendly “soy based” Styrofoam insulation … something we would probably all want to buy should we ever find ourselves in the market for such a product, right? Upon closer investigation, however, there isn’t enough actual ‘soy’ in an entire production batch to fill an edamame bean! I’m sure sales went up, however, when those 3 little letters were added to the product’s trade name. And this is why we see so much of this kind of blatant exaggeration of the facts regarding such things. Truth-in-advertising seems to have as much jurisdiction here as the “Do Not Call Registry” has on telemarketing calls on business phone lines. But that’s a blog better left for another day!

Here in Concord today, however, is the second New England Eco-Hospitality Expo – and this is a group with not only the best of intentions but with excellent follow-through as well. These folks, headed up by manager Michelle Veasey, put their money where their mouth is! The New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, of which we at the Lodge are members, has a program to educate and help lodging properties become more “Sustainable”. After all, it is a process … and we can all get better at it! But what does this mean, and how does it translate into real terms? Tourism is New Hampshire’s second largest industry. Many hotels, B & Bs, resorts and restaurants in our state recognize the importance of preserving our natural resources for our visitors, both now and in the future. We continually evaluate how our operations affect the environment and look for ways to minimize their impact. Sustainable Lodging & Restaurant certified facilities develop goals and identify people in our organizations to find new opportunities to improve their operations through education, employee ideas and guest feedback. Being green is also financially good for certified properties. By saving energy and water, reducing waste and eliminating toxic chemicals, green properties lower our operating costs, which allows us to provide enhanced services to guests and a healthier environment. The program thrives by sharing our love for New Hampshire with our guests, and the staff our industry employs

The Expo this year had a new layout, which made better use of the opportunity to network with industry peers and green product and service specialists. The Eco-Cafe' luncheon, for example, has given more opportunity for us to meet like-minded folks to discuss challenges, ideas and trends with peers and experts.

This year there are 3 concurrent learning/teaching sessions from which to choose. Some of the titles of interest to me were: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Basics for Hospitality; Green Marketing Efforts; Getting to Zero Waste – Source Reduction, Recycling & Composting; Case Studies in Advanced Energy Efficiency; Fostering a Values-based, Environmental Work Ethic; Green Power Options – Local Renewable Projects; How to Effectively Track Your Environmental Efforts; and
Green Weddings, Meetings and Events. Wow … it was frustrating to have to choose.
Also new this year, the NE Eco-Expo is a ZERO waste event, which I think is pretty amazing! The Conference Center where the expo is being held, has reduced its source waste first with plans to then recycle and compost the remainder after the expo. Pretty neat!!

Queen Victoria, Bob Dylan ... and me!

What do Queen Victoria, Bob Dylan and I have in common? They were born on my birthday, May 24th! (Being the youngest of the three, however, I suppose it should be more rightly said that I was born on theirs) … Semantics aside, we nevertheless entered the world on the same date (and all Geminis … Yikes!). This year I am actually a year older than last, a common occurrence on one’s birthday, you might be thinking … however last year I turned 55 for the second year in a row. For an entire year I had thought I was 55, only to discover (once I did the math) that that was NOT the case. (Then again, I must tell you that I’m the homeschool mom who never really knew, when asked, what grades my kids were in. It was always embarrassing at the time the question was posed by someone, but totally irrelevant nonetheless. Some things are a state of mind, after all!

For all the negative press I’ve given Facebook lately, I must say it was amazing (and kind of nice) to get all the well wishes from my facebook friends today ... most unexpected! (Many thanks to my sister who, knowing that months often go by without me checking my page, told me it might be a good idea to just log in and take a peek today). Thanks to all for the happy thoughts.

Dana and I spent my birthday at the Business Expo at Bretton Woods, sponsored by the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce. The best part is usually the networking stuff … seeing all our business friends in a social, ‘play-hookey’-type setting,and such was the case today. At lunchtime we sat with our friends from Great Glen Trails (Loved hearing about Howie and Sue’s recent trip to the Galapagos!). On Dana’s other side was our State Representative (and fellow innkeeper) Ed Butler. (‘Talked long and hard with him about this new tax they’re considering down there in the State House. Don’t get me going on THAT one). The breakout seminars this year at the business conference were okay … I found the Social Networking to be the best of the bunch … but the Keynote Speaker, Mike Kline “The Entrepreneurologist”, was more than worth the price of the lunch and admission! Absolutely FANTASTIC … and more inspirational and motivational than Tony Robins! Mike is one of my very favorite people. Telling us his life story at the end, I can safely say that “No Excuse” should be the motto of every living person who puts the blame for their ‘lack of success’ on someone other than themselves. What a story … but I’ll leave that for when his book comes out.

It was a magnificent day. and we spent the evening having a backyard cookout with my remaining children (Chris now being in Pittsburgh; Zia was working at the Thompson House Eatery). We played round after round of BananaGrams, but somehow, Noah managed to get the better of both Joshua and me. Even so, it was a lovely day!

Tumbleweed, Part 2

This was Day 2, or the final day of Jay Shafer’s Tiny House workshop, and today’s focus was on designing our own tiny Tumbleweed house. After the morning session, in which Jay shared some of his design principles, many of us liked Jay’s own designs so well that we will most likely buy one of his ready-made sets of plans. Perhaps we’ll make small departures in some of the details here and there to make them more ‘our own’, but many of us felt no need to depart from one of his basic designs. I fell into this category, as did about ¾ of the class. While the remainder of the group designed their own plans, the rest of us opted to meet in the adjacent room. Our purpose was to share with each other our ideas and the time frame in which to build one of these extraordinary structures. It was a relief to know that I am not the only person who has been totally obsessed with this concept; between 35-40 people had enrolled in the weekend program! There was such an enormously wonderful energy in this diverse group of people, that it’s hard to believe that (with the exception of a few couples and friends who had come together), as of yesterday morning, none of the rest of us had never met one another before! However by the time we said our goodbyes late this afternoon, many of us felt like fast friends, and had planned a re-union here at The Lodge in October, for what will be the first east coast Tumbleweed house-building extravaganza! By rough estimate, between 4-6 tiny homes on wheels will be created in our parking lot over a 10 day period. Jay will be here as well to oversee the event, lend his expertise, and possibly lead another workshop. It will be the ‘first’ of hopefully many such small house events on the east coast and around the country. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting new development! Plan to visit during the second half of October to discover what this ‘self-reliant’, environmentally sustainable lifestyle is all about!

Tiny House Workshop, Part 1

As we were driving down to Massachusetts yesterday to the hotel where we are attending Jay Shafer’s Tiny House workshop, I realized that the last time I was actually in Boston was when our oldest, recently-engaged son Chris (now 24), was still in a backpack! We had walked the Freedom Trail and gone aboard the USS Constitution with him. This weekend I am enjoying ‘freedom’ of another sort, but it is just as liberating as when the colonists rejected the oppression of ‘mother England’. My obsession with Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed tiny houses is part of a Revolution no less significant… the revolt against unnecessary consumerism, McMansions, and other forms of environmentally insensitive living. It is scaling back from living on as BIG and wasteful a scale as possible … to distilling life to its essence and living lightly on the earth. This workshop, which I signed up for half a year ago, was a present to myself … the most wonderful thing I could think of to celebrate my birthday on Monday. I have been wanting to meet Jay for many years, and to hear him speak about the tiny house movement he started (and has been living first-hand) for more than a decade. Today’s program, Part 1 in a two day series, was a fantastic introduction, and exactly what I was hoping it to be. I was surprised at how many others were there, feeling just as I do about living intentionally in a minimalist sort of way. There were many interesting attendees at the conference, some of whom are in the process of building their own; many others who plan to do so in the near future. Check out Jay’s website at http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/. Later next month one of his Tiny Houses will be taking up residence at The Lodge, where you will be able to see one up close, and even have the opportunity to rent it for a night or two!! Stay tuned for more details!

Lodge Lady Heads to Boston

If today is any indication, it is going to be an absolutely spectacular weekend here in the White Mountains. It is the perfect pre-summer day ... and I think you should seriously think about planning a trip up here! I’ve been amazed by the stars here in Jackson the last few nights, which have been as bright as jewels … and the pine-scented night-time air has been just heavenly. I love this time of year. Unfortunately, I will be in Boston this weekend and will miss all of nature’s glory … but FORTUNATELY, it will be for my long-awaited workshop with Jay Shafer and his Tiny House-building Seminar!!! I’ve been madly in love with Jay’s tiny Tumbleweed homes since before we moved to New Hampshire. The above photo of him in front of his 96-square foot home-on wheels was recently the cover story in the April 30th issue of Parade Magazine, the Sunday newspaper supplement. (Jay has been living in this home, which he designed and built, for the last 12 years). Great exposure for a great product! Soon, we will also give Tumbleweed tiny homes some exposure. We’re getting one here at The Lodge and will be giving tours of this affordable, sustainable housing option. You’ll even be able to rent it out overnight! You can read about these tiny homes which you can either build yourself, or buy directly from Tumbleweed, at his website: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ . As the weekend progresses, I will blog about what I’m learning.

I Believe ...

Here are a few things that I believe:
I know that the world can be a lovely place.
I do believe that it is a wonderful life.
I have known some beautiful people who might, for all I know, have been angels in disguise … who have restored my faith in human beings…

… but I have also seen a lot of unkindness where there was no call for it. I’ve seen meanness and littleness of spirit. I’ve seen people hurt one another over the smallest of issues. I’ve personally been crushed a few times by uncalled-for criticism. We’ve even been cheated by an unscrupulous uncle and cousin ...

How can we best react to adversity and injustice when it strikes on home turf? How can we deal with dishonorable people without damaging our own integrity or personal wellbeing? These are questions about which I have thought long and hard. We can certainly never stoop to their level. Try as we might to be the best we can be, there will always be someone who will find fault or have no qualms about cheating us. Fact of life: No matter what we do, or how well we do it, it is not possible to please everyone, or guarantee that others will always treat us as we have treated them!

Question: What makes people selfish and mean? And how can we deal with them gracefully without becoming embittered or just like them? One way I have dealt with it has been to buy a professional punching bag!! I know it sounds crazy, but once I learned how NOT to break my wrist while unloading my frustrations on a bag of sand that weighs more than I do, I have found it good therapy and a non-assaultive way to release pent up anger.

Another way is to ‘not sweat the small stuff’…. and as the book of that same title says: It’s ALL small stuff! This is easier said than done, of course, but learning to put things in their proper perspective is a valuable life lesson. My grandmother used to put it another way. She’d say, “In 100 years none of this will matter.” Well, maybe that IS true, but we’re living in the here and NOW, and quite frankly, it IS important to me today! This is especially true if it is an unkind remark that has been hurtful to someone. I bought the above little magnet at Flossies the other day. It has a message that I believe in to my core. Seeing it reminds me that any little kindness that I perform, no matter how small, will make the world a better place … and that is one of the things I believe in most!

Launching Day

Today is Launching Day: the day my oldest peep has finally fledged the nest. Since the moment that Chris was born, I knew that this day would eventually come. In fact, his whole life has been lived in successful preparation for it … yet somehow it always seemed so far away. But now here it is … a 24-year blink-of-an-eye later, and the Big Departure Moment has finally come and gone. My husband reminds me that we’ve been luckier than many parents, in that we’ve had Chris in our household for 6 years longer than most families get to enjoy their children’s company. At the age of 18, Chris chose to become an entrepreneur and has been an integral part of our family business here at the Lodge. Not only that, but as a home schooled family, we have spent nearly 24 years of uninterrupted quality time with him, experiencing some outrageous adventures together. Our family motto, emblazoned over the Lodge door, reads: “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Yes, it has been … and it still IS! When families share such meaningful and wonderful experiences over so many years, the act of finally ‘letting our children go’ is, contrary to what you might think, actually a very easy and natural process. Such as when I said good-bye last fall to Noah, who was starting his first year at Johns Hopkins University. It was actually a joyful, happily anticipated moment, knowing that he was meant to be exactly there and that this was the next step in his amazing young life. Noah however, will be migrating home tomorrow for the summer, unlike Chris, whose departure this morning was a permanent, never-to-live-home-again, Milestone Event. He will be getting married this time next year to a wonderful woman named Elizabeth, and we couldn’t be happier with our soon-to-be- new daughter and their commitment to one another.

In light of all this, there is much occasion for joy here today. So why am I feeling so weird? I can’t explain it! I’m actually pretty surprised by it, in spite of the fact that it was definitely time for him to fly. Long past that time, I might have said quite often over the last several months. In preparation for this separation from the home apron strings, nature’s instincts kicked in, and Chris and I have recently had some uncharacteristic differences of opinion … some battles even. It was virgin territory for us, but I see it now as part of that inevitable separation process, the defining of ‘self’ that young people must go through on their way to becoming autonomous adults. Maybe the closer you are to your children, the harder the separation process. Recently on Mother’s Day Chris told me exactly what was in his heart, and what he really thought and felt about me. It was powerful stuff. Sigh …

Today our family’s population may have declined by a member, but we have raised and launched an amazing person. He’s also given us another (soon-to-be) daughter-in-law. The whole world lays before him. But who am I kidding?! While I may try to puff up some fancy words about how easy it was to say good-bye and about how great I’m feeling right now, I find some other stuff going on that's symbolic of a bit more pain than I anticipated. For the first time in more than 2 years I think I am beginning to get sick; I feel the early signs of a cold coming on. Also, a cold sore has suddenly taken up residence on my upper lip; an itchy red rash is adorning my forehead, and for some reason my eyes won't stop watering. Then there's that bout of eczema that has just flared up on my elbow … and we all know that Eczema speaks louder than words! I think there's more going on here than meets the eye!

Losing Face, Saving Face

Here’s where I stand with Facebook. A couple of years ago I decided to start my own Facebook page. The real reason, (I admit it), was to surprise and impress my kids. I wrote up a profile, uploaded a photo … and didn’t say a word; I just sat back and waited. It wasn’t long before one of them wrote on my wall: “Whoa, Mom! You’re on Facebook??!!!!” For me, it was a ‘Mission Accomplished’ Moment, one worthy of being savored, as such moments come so rarely these days. Once I impressed them with my uncharacteristic technological savvy, however, all four kids signed up wanting to be my friend. Funny thing was … I thought we already were! After that momentary ‘high’, which I’d now have to get up pretty early in the morning to top, I didn’t have much more to do with Facebook one way or the other. ‘My’ page was still out there somewhere on the internet, but I rarely checked it. Except occasionally. Like when one of the kids would mention that they’d ‘sent me a message’. The spoken word, however, still works best with me. When I got on there recently I saw that there were 94 people I know just waiting to be my “friends”. Oh my … I wonder how many friendships break up over such neglect? And the most pathetic thing of all, was that during the long wait to be acknowledged by me, one of them had actually passed away. Not good. Really not good.

There is a legitimate reason, however, why my presence on Facebook is both rare and fleeting. In a word, it is: FEAR. I did purchase Facebook for Dummies, but I know firsthand some really embarrassing, unintentional faux pas that have happened to my fellow ‘over the hill’ crowd of friends who have dabbled dangerously in the Facebook World. One is a dear sweet Christian woman I know and love, who wouldn’t hurt a fly. One day she accidentally clicked on something that sent a “swift kick in the ‘groin’” (well, not exactly that, but if you use your imagination you’ll get the general idea). It went out to her complete distribution list, including her entire church congregation and her pastor. She was beyond mortified, especially when a normally nice gentleman at her church sarcastically said “Gee, thanks!” to her the following Sunday. She had no idea what he was talking about. Then there was the friend of a friend, the CEO of a really huge business I know of, who had been to the “Apple” store in Boston, just killing time while his wife and daughter went clothes shopping. He went in to check out the new laptops, and while there he decided to check his Facebook page. When his family finally came in to retrieve him a little while later and take him out for lunch, he left, forgetting to log out of his account on the store’s computer. This of course was an open invitation for some other patron with a quirky sense of humor to have a field day at his expense. He is still having to explain to HIS entire distribution list, which includes his many corporate clients, that he has not really ‘come out of the closet’ … and in fact, was never ‘in’ it to begin with!

Like all computer related stuff, Facebook can be a good tool, such as when long lost friends reconnect over time and space. However, there are a few of my own missing-in-action friends I’ve been trying desperately to find, and Facebook has been of no help whatsoever in locating them. The ‘lack of privacy’ issue also really bugs me. If I write something on my Facebook page, I do NOT want everyone I know to be notified of it. That’s just plain embarrassing and annoying, and it was actually happening there for awhile, though just how or why I never quite figured out. Now it’s one thing if someone decides to log onto my page and read what I’ve written; but another entirely if they are interrupted during the course of their busy day to find out that I’m ‘...currently contemplating the state of my navel’ or some other such nonsense. Recently I discovered that I am a ‘fan’ of 35 things. How did this happen? And why these particular things? I admit it’s all a bit over my head at this point.

The final blow was that somehow I ended up with TWO Facebook pages. Don’t ask me how, but there have been two since last fall. The original one has my profile, my photo, and an old defunct email address. But since it also contains a lot of the folks I’ve added as my ‘friends’, as well as their comments, I decided that this one should stay. The second one however, had no photo, no profile, but it had my name and birthdate (and now everyone on the planet knows that I am going to be 56 years old next week). It also had my current email. Last night, FINALLY, I figured out how to delete a Facebook account, one of the Great Mysteries of the Modern World, and I boldly decided to delete my Faceless Facebook page. Poof! One swift click (as they say) and the one without my photo was gone. With only one account now, and life much simpler, I went in to my one remaining Facebook page and tried to change my email from my old useless one to the new. And guess what? Even if you delete your account, they still save it for you in case you change your mind. I was told “That e-mail address is unavailable. It belongs to another user.” Aargh!!!! That’s ME, you idiots!! So I give up… This is my Last Will and Testimony against the frustrations of Facebook. All in all, I think its not worth it. For what its worth, here, in a nutshell, is all you need to know about me:

1. My real email is LodgeLady@ilovethelodge.com and you may write me if you wish.
2. You can read about my family and me on the innkeepers page of our website at: http://www.ilovethelodge.com/innkeepers/index.php
3. My personal blogging site is: http://ilovethelodge.blogspot.com/
4. I am soon to be the Mountain Farmgirl blogger for Mary Jane’s farm. You can read about it in her newsletter at: http://www.farmgirlsisterhood.org/newsletter/2010-05-01.pdf
5. We won a contest, and we’re about to get a Tumbleweed Tiny House from Jay Shafer’s Tiny House Company. You can see it at http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
6. I am working on a creative, exciting and challenging project: Women’s Weekend Workshops at my little Lodge Cabin, and will soon have them available here.

And now that you know most of what’s worth knowing about me, and I know how to delete my account, I think I will soon be another faceless name in Facebook history.

Life is Too Short to be a Martyr

I belong to some wonderful organizations; one of them is the Mountain Garden Club (http://www.mountain/

gardenclub.org/ ). I’m convinced that it’s one of the most active, organized and best community-oriented groups going! Being a busy business owner, however, has kept me from attending most of their meetings the last couple of years. Then last winter I had an epiphany about this. I’ve been an active person all my life … and with any luck that will continue until the day I die of old age. People like me are ALWAYS busy; that’s why we get so much done!! … but that’s no excuse to be martyrs and never have time to do those things we love to do. Life is just too short to put on hold indefinitely! Once I came to this obvious conclusion, I made some changes in my life. Despite my ‘busy’ schedule, I followed my dreams and became very proactive. I got involved with Mary Jane Butters and the Tumbleweed Company, two things I’ve been obsessively interested in for years. I also decided to be active again with a number of clubs I have been a member of since I moved to New Hampshire, the Garden Club being one of them. Today’s meeting confirmed for me how important it is to get involved with things we feel strongly about. In addition to some great networking, I learned how to make a ‘Living Wreath’. It was such a unique and beautiful idea, I want to share it with you. It’s the perfect project to undertake on such a beautiful spring day such as this!

Living wreaths can be hung inside to brighten a room, or outside to add interest to a patio or garden. They can be made with all sorts of green plants and flowers. Our speaker today used succulents, such as hens and chicks. These unique wreaths are wonderful conversation starters and they are also incredibly easy to make. These simple instructions will guide you through the process of making a 12" living wreath. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 12” Concave wreath form
3 lbs. Sphagnum Sheet Moss (you will probably have some left over)
Bucket or tub for soaking moss
Non-porous gloves
1 16qt. Bag of Potting Soil
1 Spool (also called a Paddle) of Fine Gage Floral Wire
2 Packages of Floral Pins (25 pieces per package)
Long Tweezers or Chopsticks
Spray Bottle (optional)
Some Great Plants!
If you are interested in saving some money, it is possible to start your living wreath with just a few healthy plants, by training them to fill in the wreath form over a period of time. If you would rather have a fully finished living wreath, simply use the size of the wreath form to help determine the number of plants needed to fill it. However many plants you decide on, remember that choosing an odd number will help to keep the design of your living wreath well balanced. With such a wide variety of suitable plants to choose from, finding something that fits your style shouldn’t be difficult. Look for plants that sprout roots quickly such as ivies and philodendrons. Some flowering plants such as violets, pansies and alyssum can be used as well; in fact many flowering plants will accommodate the structure of a living wreath. Succulents come in many shapes and colors and most make great living wreaths because they are so easy to care for. Mint, thyme, rosemary and many other herbs can also be used. The important thing to keep in mind when you are choosing your plants is that they should all have similar growing requirements. Make sure that each plant you choose shares common soil, water and sunlight needs. Be sure to pick up potting soil that is appropriate for the type of plants you will be using. Succulents for instance, prefer a sandy quick draining soil, while violets thrive in fertile nutrient rich soil. Be creative with your selection and try mixing plants with different colors and textures. If you can bring yourself to part with your finished project, these also make great gifts!

Once in a Blue Moon

I am a rather quiet person when it comes to speaking, but the written word is another matter altogether. However, there is a first time for everything. I think the best advice to follow when you find yourself with nothing to say, is: “Don’t”!

Luxuries, Necessities ... and Hobbit Holes

When Dana and I were in college, we fell in love with the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Coming from a land of plenty, where Americans were surrounded not only by abundance … but by opulence, gluttony and the over-accumulation of “stuff”, we became fascinated by the concept of Voluntary Simplicity; and after reading Walden, we, like its author, wanted to “reduce our lives to their lowest common denominators”. The goal of our youthful idealism was to simplify our lives to the barest necessities, then gradually re-introduce certain parts of them back in, as we understood their usefulness to us and made conscious decisions to do so. It was one of the most valuable exercises we have ever undertaken. Dana and I became so obsessed with trying to distinguish which things in our lives were ‘luxuries’ and which were ‘necessities’, that for many years during this process we lived with neither running water nor electricity in our quest to find out. Two of our ‘guides’ (or heroes) during this time were Helen and Scott Nearing, Pioneers of the ‘Back to the Land’ movement, and authors of “Living the Good Life”. We had the good fortune to meet them many times in the 1970’s and early ‘80s, and modeled our own lives partly after their lifestyle at their Forest Farm, in Maine.

Today, forty years later, Dana and I are the owners of a 32-room, 3-Star upscale hotel and destination resort in the White Mountains. While we are a “Green” business and certified in NH as a Sustainable Lodging facility, continually making strides to reduce our environmental footprint here, we cannot (for obvious reasons) be as ‘rustic’ here as we are in our own personal lives. ‘Up on the mountain’ in our cabin, my goal is to someday be totally self-sufficient and ‘off the grid’; and it was with this in mind that I have been looking forward all year to attending yesterday’s annual Farm, Home and Garden Show, held at the Fryeburg fairgrounds in Maine.

I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately, thinking about our ‘old college days’, and how, during this second half of our lives, we will be able to sustain ourselves during retirement. This is a tougher job than it was back in college. We want to be good environmental stewards, that goes without saying! But we also need to finish putting 4 more kids through college and of course, there are going to be those upcoming weddings to finance as well. And so, 4 decades later, I have come back full-circle to thinking about “luxuries” and “necessities” again, how to personally spend as little money as possible, simplifying to the extreme. In short, we need to put our lives on a diet. I thought I had it all figured out, again, too, until yesterday at the Farm-Home-Garden show. There I was scoping out the booths displaying solar panels, windmills, sustainable greenhouses, super-insulated windows, worm composters, composting toilets, woodburning kitchen cookstoves … all things I consider absolute “Necessities” in my Environmental Retirement Plan. I was being so disciplined! I passed right by the lady selling her sea salt lavender scrub selling for $30, knowing full well I could make it for about 35 cents at home. But then I saw ‘IT’ … and my definition of 'Luxury' and 'Necessity' blurred beyond recognition. As I rounded the corner past the ‘wood-fired stone oven guy’ who wowed me off my feet with his home built bread-&-pizza-oven last year, I was stopped dead in my tracks by something I had never seen before, but which in the space of a mili-second had just made it to my “Must Have” list. (Have you ever seen the film “The Gods Must Be Crazy”? In it, a careless bush pilot chugs down a Coca-Cola and throws the little green bottle out of the open cockpit. A tribe of primitive aborigines see the plane and its vapor trail, mistaking it for a flatulent God, who has just thrown them down a ‘gift’ from the heavens. Suddenly, this ‘thing’, the coke bottle, which no one had ever seen nor needed before, now became something EVERYONE had to have! And because there was only one, fights started breaking out amongst these previously happy and docile people). Yesterday was my own personal “Gods Must be Crazy” moment; and there, in front of the Home and Artisans Exhibit building, was a real-life, sod-roofed Hobbit Hole, complete with round door and all the charm of the Middle Earth Shire! There was just no way I could possibly live my life without one!!

I guess in reality what I was seeing was actually a very funky, VERY creative kids’ play space. But that didn’t prevent me from going inside, imagining it relocated to a place deep in the woods near my log cabin, a permanent, unobtrusive part of the landscape. And in my minds eye, there I was: writing prolifically from my laptop within its rounded sod walls. In a word, this Hobbit hole was the CUTEST thing I had ever seen in my entire life! The end to the story? Well, NO, I didn’t buy one (darn it!). But like the allure of Eve’s apple in the Garden of Eden, I saw firsthand the overwhelming power of temptation in its most unguarded light! How quickly, in a moment, we can crumble from staunch, unbending discipline to quavering weak-kneed, all-caution-to-the-wind desire. It was an eye-opening experience, to be sure!

A Stitch in Time: The Jackson Sewing Club

I enjoyed a change of pace yesterday, when I went over to the Jackson Community Center to meet up with some of the local ladies at the monthly sewing club meeting. I’ve been a member of this group since I moved to New Hampshire, but it’s been a while since I’ve been able to carve out enough time for myself to be part of their activities. I’m glad that came to an end yesterday, because it was a wonderful combination of ‘socialization’ and ‘productivity’, as we taught each other new knitting techniques and shared local and personal ‘news’ with one another.

The group has quite a long and colorful history. Since 1917 the Jackson Women's Sewing Club has provided a gathering place for the ladies of the village who wish to help their neighbors, and this group has been such an integral part of the social history of Jackson. Their original mission was to do something on the home front for the "Jackson boys" serving in WW I. The founders decided to wrap bandages and to knit mittens, socks and scarves to send to the troops serving overseas. They also started making aprons - this was a popular item because, at that time, most women wore aprons while cooking and cleaning, a tradition I think should be re-instituted!! (I don’t know what I would do without my aprons! They’ve been part of my own personal ‘wardrobe’ since I was in my 20’s!). Anyway, over the years, the ladies took turns hosting the meetings in their homes. As the group became larger, they began meeting at the parish house, which is now a private residence overlooking the Wildcat River in the Jackson Falls Historic District. The annual apron sale became quite an event! All the aprons were hung on a clothesline, which was strung up behind the Jackson Community Church. One hundred aprons might be sold during a successful sale day!


The club today has many members and sewing is no longer a prerequisite for belonging. Many handmade items are offered for sale at the annual Christmas Silver Tea, Farmers Markets and Art Shows. In 2001, the JWSC published a recipe collection entitled THROUGH THE COVERED BRIDGE, which has sold out. All proceeds from the Christmas Silver Tea bazaar, cookbook sales, raffles, bake sales and other projects are used to help the people of Jackson - especially in case of fire or other catastrophes. The Priscilla Bissell College Scholarship is given to a Jackson student each year. Also, Christmas gifts are purchased for local children through the Angels and Elves, a non-profit organization in the valley. The ladies meet on the second Monday of the month and graciously welcome new members. Being part of the “sewing circle” yesterday reminded me how important local grass-roots associations of women can be, and how important it is to carve out even just a few hours a month to be part of such a gathering!

Pride and Prejudice

Okay, I admit it: I’m proud of my kids, and yes, I may be a tiny bit prejudiced. Our son Noah (our “Website Guy’) was born at home, and also homeschooled since birth, and so it wasn’t until last fall (on his first day of classes at Johns Hopkins University), that he actually stepped into a real “official” classroom for the very first time. The academic year has gone by at warp speed, and Noah loves the college challenge, giving it more than the ‘old college try’! He took the maximum number of credits allowed, and finished up with a 4.0 average for the year, making the Deans List each semester. The press release in the paper said:

“Baltimore, Maryland.
Noah Belcher of Jackson, NH, a freshman at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has made the Dean’s List with a 4.0 average. Noah, whose family owns the Lodge at Jackson Village, was chosen Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce in 1996 for his website design company, Granite State Internet Marketing. In 1997 he became a Software Engineer for Animetrics, Inc., where he has continued to work part time from school. Noah, a member of the Class of 2013, is pursuing a dual Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. He was homeschooled for his entire pre-college education. He is an avid bagpipe player, chess player, and as a child won several National Chess Championships, as well as the Gold Medal for the US Chess Team in Brazil. At the age of 10, he was the youngest International FIDE Chess Master at that time. Belcher plans to return to the area this summer to work at Animetrics until school resumes in September.”

Noah will be back home next Thursday, one day exactly after his older brother Chris will have moved to Pittsburgh, (the absence of an overlap being the result of an unavoidable, snarkly scheduling snaffu). As you can see, there are some major household changes afoot here … proving once again that the only thing certain in this life is change itself. We are so looking forward to having Noah back home for the summer; we’ve missed him terribly … (not to mention the fact that now finally … we’ll be able to change from ‘Winter’ to ‘Summer’ on our homepage!!). Anyway, we’re so proud of him … continuously proud, each time that we receive a note from the Dean of Students or from one of his professors, as we did yesterday. This one was in regards to his final paper for his writing class in American Politics, and we nearly popped our buttons: “"Noah, This is a very rhetorically well-crafted essay. Your arguments have substance - to be sure - but your method of delivery and the subtlety of your language is outstanding. A pleasure to read. I must say, by the end of your essay (which seems like it would be very effective if delivered as a speech) I felt creeped-out by Obama's speech, which is a new feeling for me. Well-done, you really got into my head. (Just so you know, this was the highest grade for any of the final papers.) - Dr. P"

The paper in question was an expose of our President’s re-definition of the word ‘Liberty’, as contrasted with the definition that our Founding Father’s used, the one used in Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”. I found it to be a really interesting read, and rather startling. Individual liberties rarely get taken away boldly, all at once. Like morals and personal integrity, they erode imperceptibly on a small scale, drop by drop, so that they are hardly even noticed at all. But then one day, when viewed collectively as a whole, we discover that all the drops of water, over the proverbial dam, have changed the flow and course of the entire river, and it will never be the same ever again. That’s how it is with our freedoms, too. Once we give them away, they’re not coming back. Click here to read a copy of this essay.

Pilgrimage to MECA

A few weeks ago we took a pilgrimage to MECA … that is, the Maine College of Art. It’s located in Portland, Maine … an absolutely wonderful city, about an hour and 10 minutes from The Lodge. Our daughter Zia (who’s almost 18) is an artist, and she was the reason we were there. It was Dana’s and my first time, but Zia had been there twice before and thought it would be a good fit as the next piece in her educational puzzle. My husband had arranged for us to get a tour of the school and dorms, as well as a personal portfolio review of her work by the Admissions Department. Our impressions of everything there were wonderful.

As parents of teenagers and a couple of ‘twenty-something’ young men, I have found it to be good parental advice to ‘pick our battles carefully’. Fortunately for us, disagreements with our children have been extremely rare and infrequent, though very occasionally we do have differences of opinion. Our boys have all been relatively easy from the get-go; but raising a daughter is a much more complicated endeavor. As an artist, Zia naturally steps to the beat of a different drummer, and the artistic temperament you hear so much about is very real. Most definitely she has different circadian rhythms than the rest of us, up all night and sleeping during the day since long before she was born. I think that turning 18 is an especially tough time of self-discovery; I know it was for me. Don’t get me wrong; Zia is one of the loveliest women I have ever met: beautiful, intelligent, articulate, creative. I am very much in awe of many of her talents. But exploring one’s life options and re-defining oneself as an autonomous adult as opposed to a homeschooled child is hard work, and sometimes it gets a bit bumpy. Recently, as part of that redefinition process, she legally changed her name to that of her paternal grandmother’s, ‘Alida’ (a positively lovely name to be sure, but hard to get used to after 18 years of not calling her that). Then came the cutting and dyeing of her long blonde hair (now short and VERY DARK!!!!), the black nail polish, and yes, the pierced stud in her ear and the appeal of Vampires….

As we headed out the door that week for the interview, my first- impression glance in her direction created, I admit, somewhat of a gasp from my lips. Fortunately I only thought - not said- the words: “What? You’re going THERE like THAT?” I thought them very LOUDLY, though, and my husband noticed, casting me the tiniest little glint of a smile for my self-control! Whatever I might have been thinking inside my head, outwardly I played it cool; so I guess I’ve been growing up, too. I will defend to the end our constitutional freedom of self-expression, even if that ‘expression’ is somehow part of my daughter’s head. But despite some individualized outward appearances, Zia is very much a woman of substance and amazing in so many ways, that I really do need to choose my battles and understand what’s important and what is not. Hair color fades, nail polish wears off, earrings come out, (or not, as the case may be), but what remains underneath is a special person whose honor, integrity, character and happiness are all that really matters in the end. And, after all, we were going to visit an art school for goodness sake! As it turned out, she looked right at home there; it was we, her parents, who were obviously out of place!

If you’ve never been to Portland, you’ve really gotta go check it out! What a fabulous city! The closest I had been to it in the last 5 ½ years was the International Airport and the crummy old Super 8, and believe me, they don’t count! There is a lot of culture in Portland. It offers more than 2,000 art events each year, more than half of which are free. Portland recently ranked 4th among the “10 most perfect places to live in America”, and I can see why. It offers all the cultural and entertainment amenities of any metropolitan area but on a much more livable scale. It has a vibrant arts district and a traditional working waterfront, all balanced with the ease and friendliness of a small town … and it is VERY clean! We strolled the cobblestone streets and explored a few galleries, shops and historic landmarks. While Zia was at her interview, Dana and I and discovered Longfellow’s house just a block away; a charming and aptly poetic brick building built in the 1700’s. The museum shop next door was to die for … I wanted absolutely EVERYTHING in it, but seeing how we might soon be spending $50,000 a year on art school tuition, with no earthly way to pay for it at the moment, I bought nothing but a $1 button which said, “Well behaved women seldom make history”. My husband chose not to notice. He did notice, however, when I tried on an enchanting little hat in the shop up the street, that was SO totally me I absolutely HAD to have it, until we both noticed a price tag of $225. Oops … it was not THAT me, I’m afraid!

There are about a zillion restaurants in Portland; it was just teeming with them. We eventually got hungry and ate at a nice little Thai place across from the school. There is even a Whole Foods grocery store in Portland, which is so amazing it’s overwhelming. I discovered that this city was named one of the country’s top 25 art destinations by American Style magazine. What a great place to have an art college! It supports a vibrant community of visual and performing artists plus a changing array of exhibits, festivals, concerts and museums. Of much less interest to the mother of an 18 year old daughter was the vibrant night life and live music scene they boast about in the Old Port; but the city does have its own professional baseball and hockey teams, and the stadiums are just down the block!

Before we left the Maine College of Art, we discovered that the school offers a one-month Pre-College summer program, and we went home and promptly applied for it. This 4-week session of ‘college-before-college’ would give Zia the chance to experience the school, dorm, college life, professors and courses prior to 4-year acceptance, receive 4 college credits for her efforts, as well as an automatic $1200 credit toward each of her four years. Good deal! We all thought it a wonderful opportunity. Today we were notified that she has been accepted to attend starting mid-June! Although I was happy to come back home to my little town of Jackson the evening of our visit, I have to admit that this country gal was surprisingly impressed with the ‘big’ city. What an exciting opportunity awaits our daughter! Our Pilgrimage to MECA turned out to be a very spiritual one, at that!

Health is on Everyone's Mind

Health is on everybody’s minds these days … not only the physical act of being well, but also the politics of health care. Last week the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council held a seminar on “How the New Health Care Bill Will Affect Small Businesses”. It was well attended, as we are all anxious to know its implications and ramifications. The Health Care bill is LONG and complicated, sort of like the IRS tax codes; and after attending the seminar I think its safe to say that no one really knows for sure what either of them are all about. Yesterday I attended a much more tangible (& interesting) Health symposium. It was the 19th Annual North Country Women’s Health Conference, sponsored by the Littleton Hospital. I’ve been attending it for the last 5 years and it is always extremely interesting and a wonderful ‘girls day out’! I meet so many interesting women, have a fabulously healthy lunch, shop from some really neat vendors and get mini-massages, reflexology and Reiki treatments. There are also various Health Screenings and I learn a lot. There is always an excellent Keynote Speaker, as well as various breakout sessions on a wide variety of health-related topics of interest to women (from specific medical topics of a technical nature given by surgeons and other health care practitioners … to more New Age-y topics such as intuition and alternative health options such as acupuncture, auras, hypnosis, etc.). The Keynote Speaker this year was Dr. Joanne Manson, a Physician; Professor of Women’s Health at the Harvard Medical School; a Professor of Epidemiology in the Harvard School of Public Health; and Chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I just looked her up on Wikipedia and her credits would take 10 minutes to type, so I won’t … but she spoke on the importance of exercise as the Number One thing that any of us can do to improve our health and lower our risk of disease. Her talk today focused on her latest book, “The 30-Minute Fitness Solution – A Four Step Plan for Women of all Ages”. I also attended a session called “A New Point of View”, an exercise for approaching any problem from an ‘Out-of-the-Box’ state of mind. One of the other workshops I went to was on Self-Defense Tactics for Women given by a NH State Trooper, Tim Stevens. Tim reminded me of Teddy Roosevelt; he was so passionate about his topic, and totally committed to preventing any possible threat we might encounter by giving us practical information and tactics. He was really entertaining to boot! Conferences like this one keep us on our toes, arm us with good information, and help us lead more productive lives. I’ve looked forward to it for months … can’t believe it’s over for another year!!

The 2010 U.S. 'Senseless': Stand up and be Counted

Did I say ‘Senseless’? Oh, sorry, my mistake … what I meant to say, of course, was the U.S. “Census” … the official way of counting our national populace for reasons of allocating Congressional seats, electoral votes and governmental program funding. This process is now winding rapidly down to a close (thank the Lord). I’m relieved because my husband, Dana, was hired as a Census Supervisor in our area, and it has been a long road in more ways than one. (Inside joke: one of his workers had to take census information from a person whose only address was listed as:”Route 16, New Hampshire”! Lots of luck on that one, seeing as Route 16 runs from the bottom to the top of our state!). What we observed first-hand about this information-gathering process over the last few months has been very illuminating, to say the least. Of course it’s the “Government” who is orchestrating it, so that accounts for a lot of the ‘ridiculosity’ (how’s that for a term?!) of the process, which can basically be summed up in two simple words: ‘Inefficient’ and ‘Inaccurate’. (This is scary stuff, considering that this is the very same government whose main purpose is to protect us from foreign invasions. But in this case, the fact that different branches of the government seldom talk with one another may indeed prove to be a blessing). Anyway, the first full week of training to prepare Dana for his ‘senseless’ responsibilities was taught by a wonderful, perky young woman, and it was too boring for words, though through no fault of her own. It was a government-mandated curriculum, and it had to be followed to the letter. The first THREE HOURS (no joke, sadly) of it were spent just filling in the forms with the Census-taker’s names, addresses, and general contact information for payroll purposes … and it was done by the workers themselves, who presumably knew their own information. As owners of our own business, we are used to getting A LOT done in a relatively short period of time, and this slow start had my husband nearly crazed and bored out of his mind. That same morning he texted me the following message: “OMG … for every hour I sit here, I think I am losing 10 IQ points” … and this from a man who has never text messaged in his life, but figured out how to do it while waiting for everyone else to finish putting their names in the boxes provided on the forms! Ahhh…

As a supervisor, Dana is able to stay put here in his office, and the various other census-takers come to him with their information and data. The Lodge has thus become a regional Census headquarters for the duration of the project, and as I was just an onlooker, I got to sit back and enjoy the show! It wasn’t exactly a fun sight to watch, however. Everywhere you looked there was waste … waste of time, of energy, personnel, materials, you name it. The Wall Street Journal recently had an optimistic article about how employment was WAAAY up this quarter. I am convinced it was entirely because of all the census workers spinning their wheels. I can’t even begin to address the inefficiency issue; I will have to save it for the future book-length edition. Suffice it to say that the fiasco was akin to the $10,000 hammers you heard about in the 80’s, where contractors were selling things to the government for outrageous prices. Not that I noticed any dishonesty; people were amazingly accurate with their time sheets. Part of the inefficiencies arose with census workers couriering information physically, on a twice daily basis from one end of the state to another, when one simple email would have sufficed!

Now for some reason, the US Government never asked my opinion on how it should have been done. Too bad for them, because I could have saved everybody a lot of time and money. In my census taking method, everyone would make a Voluntary personal pilgrimage to a local Census office, just like in bible times, but there would be enough incentives attached to make people WANT to do it, and enough penalties incurred if you didn’t. Believe it! … people would be lining up to be counted! Here’s how it would work: You show up with your family members, and swipe your fingerprint on a computerized pad to register. This proves that you are really you, and that you don’t have any more or less children than you say you have. So once you’re ‘entered’ in the system, you fill out the census questionnaire, and for every man, woman and child who registers, you are instantly given $100. (I guarantee you that even if everyone in America got $100 cash, it would save the government tons of money by being cheaper than the census worker’s payroll under the current system. Next point on my personal system is that if you DON’T show up to be counted within a pre-determined period of time, then all benefits are immediately put on hold. This includes ALL welfare benefits and government subsidies; Medicare and Social Security benefits, tax return money, health care benefits, pensions, and paychecks. You either register or you don’t collect until you do (at which point, any money coming to you is retroactive). It’s as simple as that. For any people who are incapacitated for whatever reason, a Census Worker will come to visit you, but you will only receive half the incentive, or $50, to cover the cost of their time and transportation. Voila! It may not be a totally foolproof system, but I guarantee you it would be more accurate and less expensive than the way we do it now.

Happy Mother's Day

If you are a Mother or about to become one, I wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day on this amazingly cold, actually snowy day in Jackson. I must admit that my mom and I are not particularly sentimental about this holiday, however, which we believe to have been designed exclusively by Hallmark and the restaurant industry to increase sales. To give them the benefit of the doubt, though, the card companies may have originally had something slightly more noble in mind as a reminder to those distant (in more ways than one) children who need to contact their moms, if only once a year. But that sort of sentiment is sort of like changing the batteries in smoke detectors, and with just about as much feeling. My mom and I, on the other hand, think that the essence of Mother’s Day is ‘more attitude, less obligation’, and is measured over the course of the year rather than a particular day. And so while flowers, chocolates, dinners and cards are all okay in themselves, children’s love and appreciation are what it’s all about; knowing what you really mean to them, as Chris and Zia have shared with me this day. I have always thought motherhood to be the highest and best of callings, and it is so incredible to know the extent of the love they actually feel for me. I am totally overwhelmed today by my kids; and no matter what else may happen, this is a Mother's Day I will never forget. (A huge thank you to Noah for his sincere Mother's Day words!! His was a phone call that meant more to me than almost anything I have ever had said to me by anyone). Wishing you all the very best, this, and everyday!

It's a Wonderful Life

Today is May 8th … my father’s birthday. My dad has been gone since 1983, and unfortunately, that was so long ago that he never got to meet any of my children. Happily however, his twin brother (my Uncle Bruce), and his wife (Aunt Ruth), have been like second parents to me, as well as surrogate grandparents to my kids. They are two of the best people who have ever lived. This year, though, May 8th has been looming on my personal horizon as a day of sadness, because Uncle Bruce passed away on March 31. It was very difficult to say goodbye to him, almost like losing my father twice. But shortly after I got home from his very touching funeral, I got an idea that will help their memory live on today in a happy way for my family and me. Our little Jackson Community church, with its iconic New England steeple beyond the covered bridge, has a lovely tradition of ringing the steeple bells in memory of a special person (or in this case, TWO special people). This morning at 9:30 am, the bells will toll for them, and in fact, the church will be lighting the steeple each night for the entire month of May in loving remembrance.

Although Dad and Uncle Bruce were twins, and were close as brothers, but they were also as different as night and day. Dad was short and rather quiet, Uncle Bruce tall and outgoing. I always called them the Country Mouse and the City Mouse! My dad was the rural ‘country’ guy, and his dream (like mine) was to retire to a little cabin in the woods on the far edge of civilization. He heated our entire house with wood (we used to split and stack wood together), he loved buying antiques and farm implements from out of the way country shops, and he lived a very simple lifestyle long before it became the “green” hip thing to do. Uncle Bruce on the other hand, lived in New York City, until he retired after 30 years of faithful & loyal service in the petroleum industry. He was very methodical and precise, and he loved people. In fact, his funeral service reminded me very much of the final scene from one of my favorite movies: It’s a Wonderful Life. The ultimate Good Samaritan, he was considered a friend by all who were lucky enough to know him, and there were MANY. Outward differences aside, Dad and Uncle Bruce were both raised to be good Christian men, with strong values, honesty and integrity. They were men of character. Also, they both served our country during World War II; my dad in Europe in the Battle of the Bulge; Uncle Bruce in the Pacific. Next month, even after the steeple lights dim, the light shed in the world by these two wonderful men will live on and on, and because of this, May 8th will always be a happy day for me.

The Pickwick Society

Yesterday I attended the latest gathering of the North Country Society, a local ‘Pickwick Papers’ literary group of sorts, which meets sporadically here in Jackson. I use the ‘Pickwick’ reference with the greatest respect; not just because I am a big fan of Charles Dickens’ work, but because I also love the charming black & white version of the movie with the same name which came out in 1954, the year I was born. In reality, The North Country Society has absolutely nothing in common with the ridiculous (but charming) antics which take place in the novel; calling it that is purely artistic license, and the analogy totally whimsical. Our society is a private Jackson organization consisting of 12 members, and joining its ranks is by invitation only. Two or three years ago I was asked to fill a vacant seat when a long-time member moved away. I was thrilled to have been asked! At the time, I was the Jackson town columnist for the local paper and generally known throughout town due to my ‘Lodge Lady’ affiliations here. It was an honor to be asked, and I accepted with great pleasure. I love the whole idea of this small, loosely-knit association of community members; it’s a continuation of my strong belief in ‘lifelong learning’. I’m sure there must be plenty of other groups like it (an independent, quasi-academic/cultural salon of sorts) across the country, but I’ve never heard of any personally. Our North Country Society is made up of men and women of varying ages, interests and backgrounds, and it meets about four times a year. Each meeting is held at the home of a member who has previously volunteered to present a paper which they have researched and written on any subject of their choosing. The topics which have been presented since I came on board have been as varied as the people who present them, from the ‘History of Shaving’, the “Art of Rowing’, ‘Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language’; to historical subjects and detailed scientific works. Yesterday’s presentation was by one of my favorite people, a woman who has grown up here in Jackson, and her roots run deep. In fact, her parents and grandparents were natives of our town, and had a B&B/boarding house here. It was at that place where we met for discussion yesterday. The topic was about General Wentworth and his wife Georgia Anna Trickey, also Jackson natives of the mid-1800s-era, whose ‘Horatio Alger’ rags-to-riches-type lives form a remarkable and inspirational tale. We learned about how their two families were hard-working farm folk, whose hard work, a good measure of ambition, and a great deal of determination, created a fortune for the family, and a living legacy for Jackson which lives on today. (He donated 500 books to start the first library, as well as a sizeable donation after his death, the income of which continues to fund our library today!). General Wentworth was actually never a general at all; in fact he was honorably discharged from the Civil War as a ‘Private’. However his persona was much more of the ‘General’ sort, commanding such respect that the title stuck. He is attributed to launching the entire hospitality industry here in the White Mountains, and founded The Wentworth Hotel, still standing today. It was much bigger in its day, when an Orchestra used to play on the porch (to which well-dressed ladies and gentlemen could promenade). A handsome ballroom was located on the second floor; and Wentworth Hall, located behind the present day structure, sported an “attractive casino with a spacious smoking and billiards parlor”. One of the neatest things I learned was about the golf course, also still alive and well today. Back in the 1800’s though, the greens were kept ‘mowed’ by flocks of sheep … imagine that! I could go on and on about interesting snippets of local history I learned, but it is Friday afternoon, and guests are arriving, so I must go. But what I mostly wanted to share today is that the idea of a ‘Pickwick’ club is totally appealing to me, and I wish everyone (everyone who wants to, that is) could be a part of one. I’m not exactly sure when or where our next meeting will be, nor what my research topic will be about when it’s my time to be a presenter, but it will challenge all of us to continue to learn more and keep on growing!