Longfellow's Return

Longfellow

After a long hot summer, Longfellow, our seasonal resident here at the Lodge at Jackson Village, has finally returned. Each year after the hustle and bustle of the Labor Day weekend is over, Jackson’s Most Celebrated Pumpkin (and the Unofficial Mayor of the Pumpkin People) returns from wherever it is that he goes to the rest of the year. Right on schedule and not a day late, Longfellow has returned to The Lodge again just like clockwork. Always ready to lend a hand, you will see him out and about on our grounds at the Lodge until his official duties resume October 1 with the Return of the Pumpkin People. Stop by and give him a big “howdy”, and enjoy his company as he tells you of his whereabouts since he made his last appearance! You can even send him an email at Longfellow@ilovethelodge.com. Longfellow is also on Facebook! Sign up to be his friend today.

High Anxiety: Sleeping with One Eye Open

Would I call myself a nervous, high-anxiety person? No, I would not, but this is just another example of how my husband and I have differing opinions on things. There is ONE area of nervousness, however, that I will, and DO, admit to, and that is the fear of oversleeping into the Breakfast hours here at the Lodge … the daily preparations for which I am solely responsible.

I am without a doubt a Morning Person and always have been. Although I’m well into middle-age I could probably count the number of mornings I’ve ‘slept-in’ till 7 a.m. in my entire life on 2 or 3 fingers. In the 6 years that we’ve owned The Lodge, I have never ONCE overslept or missed making a breakfast -- or even come close, a pretty good track record really, considering that encompasses nearly 2000 mornings so far. And yet it is an irrational and ever-present fear, and is why, for the last 6 years, I have found myself waking up all night long to see how much more time I have before it’s time to get up! I know, I know … that’s crazy. Yes, I DO set an alarm clock just in case, although it brings me little comfort, because I am afraid it won’t go off! (It never HAS gone off, by the way … I always wake up well before the alarm rings). So to confront my fear with some self-therapy, I ask myself: What is the WORST possible thing that could happen if I overslept and didn’t get breakfast out in time? Being greeted by 99 angry guests in the lobby, all booing and hissing and threatening to write Trip Advisor about what a bad Lodge Lady I am? This preposterous scene makes me laugh, but doesn’t give me any more peace of mind. Did I mention that my husband calls me obsessively compulsive? Where could he get such a notion?

Today was the closest I’ve ever come to that worst nightmare of mine, and to make matters worse, it was Labor day weekend, a FULL house, swarms of people. I set my alarm … two of them, actually … a WestBend kitchen timer, and I set it NOT for the time I want to be awakened, but for the number of hours and minutes I want to sleep. Two alarms, set to go off 5 minutes apart, just in case! Granted I was exhausted last night when I set them. It had been a HUGE, full-house weekend, after a HUGE, full-house month, but I KNOW I checked and double checked that timer before I went to sleep. At 6 am today I awoke with a start … not from the sound of the alarm, but a full hour after said alarm was to have rung. YIKES!!!! I hate to feel rushed in the morning. How did this happen? 6:00 still gave me plenty of time to get the entire breakfast out a whole hour early … Uh, I'm not saying my husband is right, but maybe I am a little more anxious than I truly need to be …

The Start of Birthday Month

Today is our son Christopher’s 24th birthday, but now that he lives in Pittsburgh, it is the start of a new era in the Birthday Department. Almost everyone on both sides of our family has a September birthday, and it has always been quite a month, with Christopher traditionally kicking it off and making the biggest splash. Without him here this year there wasn’t a Strawberry pie AND a Peach/Blueberry pie, a giant feast requested or a huge stack of presents to be wrapped. Hmmm, after years of stressing out in September, I could almost get used to this. Since both of our mothers have stopped celebrating their yearly milestones, those are two more to check off the dwindling list; and with Noah away at college, that’s one more cake to bite the dust. Of course Josh has been considerate from Day 1, making his grand entrance on the exact same day that my husband was born … didn’t that make it easy? … AND they both like the same kind of chocolate cake! Years ago when my kids were small and I had so little time for such things, there were actually 8 birthdays to celebrate in September. One year in the spirit of efficiency, I tried to celebrate them all on the same day with one big bash, because truthfully, by the end of September, not one of us could look at another slice of cake. This brilliant idea of mine went over like a lead balloon. But this year, I think one birthday is all we’re actually going to get to celebrate: Dana and Josh’s on the 17th. Now that I got my wish, I’m not sure whether I actually like that or not. I guess I’ve only got a few years to wait until grandchildren come along, and undoubtedly they will uphold the famous Belcher tradition and be born in the month of September! (P.S. Happy Birthday, Chris!)

A Very Considerate Hurricane

Hurricane Earl turned out to be all bark and no bite … at least here in the Mount Washington Valley area, thank goodness! He was also a very polite storm, giving us absolutely NO wind and confining his brief but torrential rains – moisture we desperately needed -- to a short period during the night. By breakfast this morning the river was running higher than we’ve seen in many months and the sun broke through the clouds to bring us total sunshine and crisp air (what a relief!!); in short, a perfect weekend for the Labor Day holiday. Once again we have a full house, having to turn dozens of spur-of-the-moment travelers elsewhere for accommodations. Temperatures are quite a bit chillier than we’ve experienced in some time … so plan to bundle up tonight, it is going to be down in the ‘40s. Even Mount Washington has had a sudden and drastic change – nothing unusual for them. The 64 degree summit temperatures of a few days ago have been replaced by a wind-chill of 17!

Upcoming Commemorative Walk

September 11 is fast approaching and once again our little town of Jackson, NH will join a nationwide program launched by the Department of Defense for a commemorative walk for victims, survivors and their families of September 11, 2001. It’s also a show of support to our military men and women who serve this great nation as well as our Police, Fire & Rescue Personnel, many of whom will be staying here at The Lodge that evening. The Jackson NH walk will begin at the same time as our nation’s capital in Washington, DC, starts their walk... plan to join us on Sunday, September 11th at 5:30 PM. As in years past, the walk will begin at the Jackson Covered Bridge.


Participants should meet at 5:30 PM and be ready to complete a one mile walk around the Jackson, New Hampshire loop. The walk will begin promptly at 6:00 PM with a moment of silence and then we will walk as a united people proudly saluting our heroes. The first 40 people to sign in will receive a complimentary T shirt, American Flag and a candle. Once again, immediately following the walk, there will be a complimentary BBQ for all active Military, Police, Fire & Rescue Personnel. Family and friends are encouraged to come as well for a minimal price per item purchased.

The Whole Ball of Wax on the Big Wind

As the big Labor Day weekend approaches, we’ve been getting lots of phone calls from guests who are understandably concerned about Hurricane Earl. I’ve only known one other Earl in my life, and he also was full of hot air. But then you don’t need to know about him. The Meteorological update is that weather currently is a bit hotter than we’d like up here in the mountains, but we’re just chalking it up to summer’s last-ditch effort before the crisp autumn temperatures return as my favorite season of all approaches. Today, in fact, is a cloudless blue sky day with a gentle breeze. We may get some showers Friday night into Saturday according to the Mount Washington Observatory forecast. However, if everything tracks as currently predicted, we should experience little effect from this storm … and actually, Friday night’s showers will be much appreciated if they do come; our flowers could use the moisture! Have a safe trip wherever your travels may take you.

Switching Gears

Today is the day I traditionally switch gears mentally. It’s September, and that means in my mind’s eye, it is fall. No matter that the mercury is up near 90 today and Mount Washington is totally obscured through the haze; or that our ice machine is running double duty to keep up with the demand. No siree, it is 'Autumn' now, and there is no going back. I'm thinking about pumpkins and Indian corn today.