Musings, Commentaries, Photos and Reviews

What is the story about vandalism in New Ipswich? If you don't like it here, get the hell out. Believe me you won't be missed. Burning tires, trashing the pool. What is the matter with you? It's bad enough we have to pick up twisted tea bottles and cans on our morning walk but setting fire to a porta-potty that was provided for kids to use on a ball field?  Don't you like kids? What is wrong with you people? When I first came to this town, we used to swim at the beach across from River Road. The land owners were okay with that and then some jerks decided to break some bottle on the beach. How brilliant is that? Guess what? no more swimming. I repeat, if you are unhappy with our town, if it doesn't meet your expectations, a whole world awaits you. Latest escapade at the ball field near Damsite 35 Previous attack on a venerable Porta-Potty

Woody Meiszner hosted an "Apple Pie with the Candidates" event at his barn in New Ipswich on Saturday Oct 8th, 2012. Annie McLane Kuster , US Congressional  candidate was the guest speaker. Annie spoke of taxes, health care, Social Security and the environment. Other candidates in attendance Jennifer Daler for State Representative - Daler4Rep@gmail.com Peggy Gilmour for NH Senate - PeggyGilmour.com The apple pie, mulled cider, hot coffee and fresh apples were delicious. Thanks Woody for hosting this and thanks Tom Hawkins for the logistics.

Lisa Petrie organized a New Ipswich event for local Democrats to watch the acceptance speeches given by Joe Biden (her friend) and President Obama. Great event, Thanks Lisa!

The History of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 1735-1914, with genealogical records of the principal familiesBy Charles H. 1840-1912 Chandler, Sarah Fiske Lee

There was an article in the Monadnock Ledger about sculptor Nina Winters . Nina spends some time in New Ipswich. Winters, whose work on “Samurai” brought her to Oregon and Montana, says that the summers and autumns she spends in New Ipswich provide a much-needed reprieve from her high-paced globetrotting. “There’s such a sense of calm and purity,” she said, “and I can feel my potential when I’m there. It’s not intruded in upon by the city. I love urban environments, but when I’m there [in New Ipswich], it’s sort of just me and my creations. Everything just kind of settles down, it’s a very peaceful place to create.” Winters first landed in the Monadnock region in the late’70s, when she hopped from farmhouse to farmhouse in Temple, Jaffrey and Harrisville. She still remembers the day she went blueberry picking on Wildcat Hill and spotted a parcel of land near an eight-acre pond. “It was just an exquisite place,” she recalls, “and I thought, ‘Wow, I wonder if I could buy that?’” At...

I got this email yesterday Dear Poltracknet, Congratulations! On behalf of the Currier Museum of Art and WMUR, we would like to inform you that we have carefully selected your photographs “Freestyle” and “Codger” to be displayed in the exhibition  Portraits with Attitude  in the Currier’s Community Gallery.  Your  Portrait with Attitude  will be on display in the Currier’s Community Gallery starting this Saturday, October 15 th.   In addition, we will include your name/ ulocal  username and description of the photograph in an attempt for other viewers to better understand your message.  We hope you will come by to see your photo on display. For more information about visiting the museum, go to  www.currier.org .  This project is held in conjunction with the current special exhibition Backstage  Pass: Rock and Roll Photography  on view through January 15, 2012. For more information about the special exhibition visit www....

I've been practicing with selection tools in Photoshop. The exterior of our library has changed only sightly in 100 years so it was a natural to choose to composite an old postcard and recent photo. I chose the area around the old entrance because that was a feature that had changed. The perspective was different so I need to distort the selection area to match up the roof line. It's not perfect but taught me a bit about the tools. Here is the sequence: Old Postcard Library 2009 Composite

There has to be more to this story. Anyone have any information?

The leaves are out but there are a number of trees that will never recover from the ice storm of December 2008. I’m eyeing 2 severely damaged popular trees that I’m sure that will die. I’m trying to determine if I drop them I can avoid having them crash through the kitchen window. I’m assuming that if I look at the top at a 45 degree angle I can guess the height. I haven’t been too successful lately with my logging. I managed to drop a tree on my 30 year old chain saw. The good news is that I didn’t drop the tree on my body. The bad news is that I am now in the market for a chain saw. The town has arranged a brush pile pickup that is behind schedule and underfunded. A short drive around town shows the extent of the downed limbs. My pile is sparse and unkempt. Of course there is always someone that excels at everything, they have the best Christmas light display, the nicest lawn, the neatest wood stack and of course the neatest (and biggest) brush pile.

One weekend chore that is getting rather tedious is moving the enormous amounts of tree limbs and brush that the devastating ice storm of 2008 has left in our yards and forests.  In a few days the town is going to start chipping any brush that is placed along the road side, so a drive through town reveals a variety of brush sculptures. Some piles are orderly and refined and some are not.   I’ve also accumulated a pile of fire wood as a result of the storm, but stacking it in the unseasonably warm days of April is a challenge.

Actually it is really peaceful here. There is always the sound of gunfire but that is because this is New Hampshire and these folks aren’t shooting at me. I was chatting with a neighbor who was walking her dog and she mentioned that she had seen white doves in my yard.  Sure enough, I saw these guys on a lovely warm black-fly free Friday. However I discovered that they are owned by my neighbor. I’ve heard the cooing but assumed it was morning doves. He lets them fly around a bit when he’s out in the yard. What beautiful birds.

Why another blog? I’m experimenting with the idea of location aggregation websites. I live in an interesting town, I noticed that some of my postings were not really musings but observations about the daily occurrences in New Ipswich, New Hampshire. The sign, the ice storm and more. Not much content yet, but I’m sure something will happen soon.

What are the rules for a mailbox? The regulation height is 42" from the bottom of the mailbox to the ground. Your house number should be clearly marked on the mailbox with painted numbers or stickers no less than 1" high. The box should be on the right-hand side of the road as traveled by the mail carrier. It should be located approximately 2' from the side of the road to ensure the carrier can get off the road enough to clear traffic. In my town there is another unwritten “suggestion”. That is to make your mailbox vandal-proof. I have had my mailbox smashed numerous times with baseball bats. Once my attention was drawn to a small fire. Somebody had set the newspaper on fire and the plastic newspaper tube was burning in spectacular fashion. For me it was a moment of suspend belief, wondering what why I was seeing this orange glow from the road side. My neighbor has constructed a mailbox that is truly awe-inspiring, only pictures can do ...

I’m trying to understand why this young fearless bird is visiting my feeder. It’s behavior is very strange. It sits on the feeder but is not afraid of humans. It looks like a young bird, but I would expect that birds would be raising their young later in the spring. When I say fearless, I mean fearless:

We had no desire to stay awake till 12 midnight to ring in the New Year, so we opted for the convenient 6 PM German New Year time. John & Angelika prepared a delicious Tapas Menu for dinner. And for a festive drink naturally they chose Feuerzangenbowle . This does not seem to be an appropriate tradition for our household, I think the cats may interfere with disastrous consequences. Thanks John & Anglika for this celebration.

I have no sympathy for vandalism. I've had my share of smashed mailboxes and smashed windshields. My friend had screens torn by paintballs. Who thinks this is fun? Now our "welcome" sign is missing. I wonder if it is gracing a wall in someone's rec room or will show up on Craigslist.