Here We Snow Again !

Nashua River snow scenes from our living room window

This past weekend, NH had several inches of snow Sunday overnight into early Monday a.m. Official tallies place the amount here in Nashua at just over 6 inches and due to temps that plummeted from the 40s to the teens, this snowfall was very fluffy. By mid-morning Monday, most area roads were down to blacktop, but roadway traffic was light as it was a federal holiday celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr and federal offices, including the postal service, schools, banks and some business were closed. 

Instead of going outdoors to walk on snowy or icy walkways, my exercise was walking inside the very long mill building hallways. The main floor or 3rd floor, is a 1/4 of a mile, there are five floors in two connected buildings. In addition to exercise, the walk provided a look at displays outside the apartments of other residents.

These figures were the size of a small child

A campaign to create Martin Luther King Jr. Day began after the civil right leader's April 4, 1968 assassination. (A date that coincides with my brother's birthday.) In 1983, the holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, yet wasn't officially observed until 1986. 

Why? there was resistance from groups and some states who questioned whether King deserved a federal day of commemoration. Since 2000, MLK Day has been recognized in all 50 states. It's always observed on the third Monday in January, which falls near King's January 15 birthday.

Other displays were quite smaller

Yesterday, celebrations for MLK Day and Inauguration Day coincided for the third time. (Please refrain from comments about this irony; it's not a political post.) Each time this has happened for a U.S. President's second term of office. President Bill Clinton was sworn in on January 20, 1967. President Barack Obama was sworn in on Sunday, January 20, 2013, but Inauguration Day events took on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, MLK Day. These two events won't coincide again until January 2053.

Besides snowman, penguins and gnomes were popular displays

Only a couple of southern states, Alabama and Mississippi, have combined the holiday with Robert E. Lee Day to honor the January 19 birthday of the Confederate general. When we lived in Virginia, Lee-Jackson Day was celebrated as a state holiday to commemorate two Confederate leaders, Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The date was celebrated as a state holiday during the dozen years we lived there. It was eliminated in 2020 and replaced by Election Day as a state holiday.

In addition to shelf displays, the entry of some resident's apartments feature floor rugs and flags that included snowmen and also a moose.

There's no further snow predicted in Nashua, NH, for the 10-day forecast, but frigid temps are already here. This snow is expected to stay around for the rest of the week at least.

A few snowman competition entries

Currently, there's a snowman competition within the mill apartments with entry of the above creations. Residents vote online or by paper ballot. The winning entrant will receive a one-month indoor parking spot. If the winning resident already pays for an indoor space, that amount will be credited to his/her account.

Snowmen keeping warm in our apartment

While, this snowfall was less than expected, yesterday was a good day to be indoors, so a pot of homemade chicken soup was on the F&P menu. Today, Grenville is trying out a focaccia recipe, so our dinner is all set. We hope that everyone who had snow and cold temps are safe and warm — think Spring, 58 days away on March 20 !

Let It Snow (Finally)

Yes, it did, even if it took nearly two years until we finally got a major snowstorm not only in Nashua, NH, but in most of southern New England.

The first significant snow of 2024 started late Saturday night and continued into early Sunday evening, about 15 inches fell here in Nashua, NH, over last weekend. The tall castle-like structure in the bottom right image is the Odd Fellows building on Main Street in downtown Nashua. Its first cornerstone was laid in May 1891. Odd Fellow meetings were held on the fourth floor of the building from its early days up until 2007. 

The 24-hour+ storm produced a heavy wet snowfall; lot plowing continued for several hours at the mill apartments. The upper lot parking area is plowed in sections. Residents who park outside need to move their cars starting at 7:30 a.m. to designated snow-cleared areas. Cars are to be moved in an a.m. and p.m. shift. There's also paid underground parking, which is where we park our vehicles, thankfully no need to scrape off or shovel out.

This is a now familiar early morning view from our apartment windows. Similar scenes have been posted in the past.

This view shows the pedestrian walkway across the Nashua River, also viewed from our living room windows.

Sights seen on grounds around the apartment complex include the bell that once hung in the mill's tower cupola and rung out for mill workers many years ago, a newspaper box, fire box and a resident's bike. Unlike a car, the bike did not have to be moved.

Cold seating was available on the apartment grounds and with a view by the riverside. The brick building closest to the right side houses another former mill now apartments, Lofts 34.

Because this storm produced a wet snow, trees and buses remained snow-covered for several hours. We went walking in the mill yard and along the river front but kept to a street area as the river walkway had not been cleared.

This very large (and old) tree is directly behind the mill apartments close to the river.

Beautiful even when covered in snow, this bronze sculpture of a young mill worker and her son, La Dame de Notre Renaissance Française, stands in the center of an area known as Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française (Renaissance Park) along the Nashua River.

This area is dedicated to French-Canadian immigrants who arrived in Nashua between 1870 and 1872 and worked in the city's textile mills. By 1936, about 14,560 of Nashua’s 31,938 residents were French. 

The average snowfall for Nashua is between 50 to 55 inches, but that snowfall amount has not even come close in recent years. That could change this year with another chance of snow this week. Forecasters are warning about a northeast storm starting Tuesday night, but switching to rain on Wednesday; flooding could be an issue in many snow-covered or low areas.

How about your area — got snow? ☃️

NH-NJ Friends Meet Up

There's no doubt fact that we enjoy road trips. Since relocating to NH, we've taken in state getaways and to neighboring New England states, our own best company. Recently, on a return trip to North Conway, NH, we met up with long-time friends from our home state of NJ and shared good times. And, they introduced us to a popular New England form of bowling.

Friends & us at Peach's

If you ever visit this area of the White Mountains, be sure to make a breakfast or lunch stop at Peach's Restaurant, easily to recognize in a peach colored former cottage on Main St. This is a very popular eatery for local and visitors. If you get there in later morning, there's always a wait line, so we arrived right after the 8 am opening.

It's that good, especially the fruit pancakes and omelettes. Breakfast is available anytime. We checked the open hours because while Peach's opens for breakfast and lunch five days, not on Tuesday and Wednesday,

While this North Conway roadtrip wasn't a first for us or friends, Jill and Art, it was a first for meeting in NH and staying at the same accommodation, the Eastern Slope Inn. Our friends stayed in a time-share condo and we stayed at the historic inn.

Eastern Slope Inn, North Conway, NH, and it snowed during our visit

This impressive 200-room inn has a long history with several predecessors on the same site. Two were destroyed by fire. This was the same fate that felled many stick-built White Mountain hotels years ago with no fire safety features included in construction. 

In 1854, James Randall bought a boarding house on Main Street and renamed it the Randall House. It did very well until burning down in November 1902. His son, Henry Randall, who had assumed ownership after his father's 1898 death, rebuilt what became the second Hotel Randall, opening in July 1903. A 1916 addition brought the room total to 50 and 33 had private baths; features included telephones, electric lights and bells, steam heat. Centrally located, the Hotel Randall was a fashionable lodging. A 1921 expansion brought capacity to 150 guests. But, in November 1925, almost 23 years to the day, the hotel burned down again in under 3 hours. 

Construction on the third Hotel Randall soon followed. This one was built with fire stops in every wall, cement floors in the kitchen and basement, boilers outside the building, wiring in protective cable, and a sprinkler system. The new hotel opened in July 1926, but its success was short lived. Within three years, the economy turned as the 1929, the stock market crash led to the great Depression. Vacations were less affordable; travel changed with the arrival of the auto; guest cabins and motels replaced grand hotels. Hard-hit, the Randall family mortgaged the hotel to the hilt, basically managing it for the bank.

1950s Vintage ad (online source)

Enter North Conway native and businessman, Harvey Gibson, president of Manufacturers Trust Company in NYC. On a winter trip to the area, he saw that skiing and other winter sports could be a lucrative enterprise and bought the by then foreclosed Hotel Randall in 1937. 

Gibson updated the hotel for year-round use, renaming it The Eastern Slope Inn. Business thrived with snow trains bringing skiers to the area. A savy businessman, Gibson is credited with the growth of his home town as a nationally recognized ski center, success which continued after his 1950 death.

The inn fell on hard times and closed in 1975. Soon after Eastern Mountain Sports bought the property for use as a retail store and continued a ground floor restaurant. The rest of the building was unused. The business was short lived and, within a few years, the inn closed again.

In 1980, Eastern Slope Inn Associates, bought the closed resort. After extensive remodeling and added safety updates, the inn reopened in July 1881. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 

Lobby of the Eastern Slope Inn; fireplace was kept lit

No visit to North Conway is complete without a stop at the North Conway 5 and 10 Cent Store on Main Street, which lives up to its slogan: It's Not Just A Store—It's An Experience. The Main Street store is North Conway's oldest continually operating business.

5&10 cent store, North Conway, NH, circa 1940 (online source)

Years ago, the store was the site of a general store, that was built around 1840, and continued in operation through various owners. In May 1939, it became a traditional 5&10 cent store when Sidney and Lillian Sweeney opened for business selling everything, practical and impractical. The store has been in continuous operation for over 80 years under several different owners. 

Interior views of 5&10 cent store, North Conway, NH

A walk through the store's interior shows that little has changed since the 1940s, aside from what's for sale inside. There's still the original tin ceiling, creaking maple floors and antique wooden counters displays made of glass and wood. The vintage cash register, while still there, is for display only. There's a definite atmosphere of vintage nostalgia here.

North Conway, NH, 5&10 cent store

When the North Conway store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, it was one of only two known 5&10 stores in NH (now, the only one). Its current owners purchased the business in 1977. While, there's hardly anything for 5&10 cents in stock now, there's always something and purchase. We never leave empty-handed.

From their start in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the 5&10 cent store was where shoppers could purchase what was needed on a daily basis.

In 1880, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened the first 5&10 store in Lancaster, PA. By 1911, he ran 319 stores across the Northeast. The pricing policy was that a nickel or dime would buy anything. Most stores prospered when in the Great Depression people could afford to shop there. In the 1930s, inflation led to a top price of 20 cents. By the 1950s arrival of big discount stores, many independent dime stores closed. The 5&10 cent store basically left the American scene in 1997 when the F. W. Woolworth Company ended 118 years in the discount retail business.

Candy is no longer 1 cent

There is a lot of candy for sale here and with good reason. I read that years ago stores would keep shelves just as well stocked as (back then) penny candy sales were crucial to Woolworth’s success. 

He believed that confection, alone, would pay the store's rent. Another reason for his success was a model that still works: importing goods from foreign markets with cheap labor which in the 1880s was Europe, today it's China. 

The 5&10 cent store is gone, but its principle continues. In today's marketplace, the 5&10 cents of 1935 has the purchasing power of $1 and more, keeping hundreds of  dollar stores in operation.

Saco Valley Lanes, Fryeburg ME

Now, about that new to us sport we tried on this road trip.

Unless you're a New Englander, you may not know about candlepin bowling, which includes ourselves as natives of NJ, we only played 10-pin bowling. 

Our visiting NJ friends were very familiar with this game, despite having never lived here. As avid skiers, they visited New England for years with their now adult children and bowled at Saco Valley Lanes in Fryeburg, ME. They showed these first-timers how to play, it was challenging we found out. 

No, the game isn't played with candles, but the pins look like them, which is how it got the name. Candlepin bowling is a popular indoor sport in New England states of NH, MA, ME and also Eastern Canada.

Differences, of course, there's several between candlepin and standard 10-pin bowling: pins are tall and thin, balls are smaller, handheld without finger holds, players roll three balls per frame instead of two. Many candlepin bowlers maintain the sport is harder. (We agree.)

Candlepins, balls, electronic scoresheet

In 10-pin, bowlers throw one frame at a time, two balls per frame. In candlepin, it's two frames, (called boxes) three balls per box, scored by bowling 12 strikes: one in each box, and a strike with both bonus balls in the 10th box. Even if you knock pins over, they’re not cleared until your three-roll turn is up. Unlike in 10-pin bowling, no one has bowled a perfect 300 game; the highest sanctioned candlepin score is 245.

According to the International Candlepin Bowling Association (ICBA) website, candlepin bowling dates to 1880 and is credited to Justin White, owner of a Worcester, MA, billiards and bowling hall. Years ago, pins were inch-thick dowels, resembling candles. In the late 1960s, plastic candlepins began replacing wood candlepins. 

Nashua, NH, has a candlepin bowling center. We plan to practice for a re-match the next time our friends visit. That's because while it was a fun afternoon in Maine, we definitely need a lot more practice. 

Art, Jill, Dorothy (Beatrice) and Patrick (Grenville)

Yes, there was ❄️, both on the way to North Conway and during our stay. Our friends went skiing at nearby Cranmore Mountain and we snowshoed on the trail system near the inn. 

Snowshoeing on trails behind the Eastern Slope Inn

This was the first time we had used our snowshoes in several years, but the good thing is that we had not forgotten how — just keep walking.

Snow❄️At Last

Until this week, winter weather in the form of any measurable snowfall was a non-event in Nashua, NH. That changed within the past week with two snowfalls of a few inches each. 

Last Friday was the first event, a wet snow that clung to tree limbs around the mill apartments.

While I don't know the type of berries on these trees, they reminded me of holiday decorations courtesy of Mother Nature.

The next burst of snow came overnight Sunday and lasted into most of Monday, ending in early evening. We went for a short hike in nearby Mine Falls Park this week.

This snowfall was also a wet one. Many tree limbs and branches remained snow-covered in early afternoon. Several trees retained their autumn leaves. We found that the trails were more snow-covered than expected, regretfully we hadn't brought snow shoes. 

There's another chance for snow again this week starting late tonight and going into Thursday afternoon. This time, if we take a park walk, we'll be sure to bring our snowshoes ☃️.

No Place Like Home

Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz (1939)

There's no place like home, so declared Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. She clicked her ruby red heels and hoped to return to the Kansas farm of Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.

Homesickness is an emotion shared by many,  young and old. While the American spirit has always encouraged travel and exploration. We usually are happy to return home — at least for a while.

And, so it was with Grenville and myself, maybe even more as my name is also Dorothy. However, I have never owned a pair of ruby red shoes.

After nearly 3 weeks on the road traveling from NH to FL and places in between, we were ready and happy to return home to Nashua. To be sure we had a great time and, thankfully, no bad weather, aside from rainy days which prohibited outdoor adventures. Yes, we are fair weather explorers, who do not enjoy walking around in inclement weather. While there were some indoor venues we could have visited, as luck would not have it, a couple were closed on the particular days we were there.

But as posted about earlier, the main focus of this trip, aside from Grenville's ham radio convention in Orlando, FL, was to also visit friends and family in NJ, FL, AL, and GA some of whom we had not seen in several years. It was great to see everyone again; hopefully, the next time will be sooner.

February 25 snowstorm in Nashua, NH

We arrived home last Wednesday afternoon and had timed our arrival to be ahead of a predicted snowstorm on Friday which arrived early morning as forecast. Before moving out late Friday afternoon, there was a fresh 8-inch snowfall left behind. We had the day before to get out and do some needed grocery shopping.

Clearing after the snowstorm

This snowfall was a light and "fluffy" one and by early the next morning, main roadways had been plowed and by late afternoon were nearly down to blacktop. 

Forecast for Nashua, NH, this week

Today's forecast indicates that it will be the coldest one for the next few days, and later in the week a lot of daytime snow melting will happen in the city.

Anyone who has been away from home, knows there are a myriad of tasks to catch up on, which for apt dwellers such as ourselves, are lessened somewhat. Besides shopping, there's always the laundry and housekeeping chores.

In addition, I spent several hours this weekend catching up on some of your recent blog posts. Because of time constraints, I did not comment on all of your earlier posts; but did endeavor to comment on the most recent posts. Most days, many  of my fellow bloggers are more prolific than myself in posting. I enjoy your images, views and photos, thank you.

L. Frank Baum, circa 1911

As many know, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the East by tossing water on her while attempting to douse fire the wicked witch induced on her Scarecrow friend. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, instructed her to click her heels and think, There's no place like home. Dorothy says it aloud several times before waking up in her bedroom, just like she had never left.

Did you know that Lyman Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, did not name any of the witches in his series of 14 Oz books? (neither did I). In the novel, Dorothy simply throws water on the WW in a fit of anger.

There won't be many posts detailing our recent road trip. I still have catch-up posts about several of our 2021 New England explorations.

Before then, a future post will detail our visit to a GA town which has trademarked itself as The Hollywood of the South. 

Thanks to everyone for the reactive comments to last week's Friday Funnies. It was fun reading them. And, now, some may also be looking at commonplace items in a different (funny) way.

Snow? We Got It

But, not as much as many other areas here in New England and in other northeastern U.S. states received on Saturday from a major nor'easter, which has dubbed Winter Storm Kenan.

by the Weather Channel which is naming winter storms for the 10th season. 

Snowfall total here in Nashua, NH, was just shy of 9 inches with an official amount of 8.8 inches. Totals differed in some areas because of light drifting snow.

Morning after the first major winter storm of 2022 

And, as usual, this day after view was taken Sunday morning from the warmth and comfort of our 5th floor mill apartment overlooking the Nashua River. The sun was shining brightly but the temps were frigid outdoors in the single digits.

Here's a view that was not usual and very unexpected as this bald eagle made several passes over the river perhaps looking for a morning meal. Grenville managed to capture these quick images before it left without finding any gulls or ducks around. It's times like this that a zoom lens would have come in handy (sigh).

It's history now, but this major winter storm packed blizzard conditions with high winds that dumped up to two feet of snow in some New England states, more in others. Up to 24 inches of snow piled up in areas of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Parts of coastal Maine got more than a foot of snow before the storm moved out late Saturday. 

By the time we ventured out for a walk on Sunday when it had warmed up to near degrees, the late afternoon sun created some interesting patterns on the river.

In the downtown area, Main Street was down to pavement and the sidewalks had been cleared for which we were grateful.

However, here in the mill apartment parking lot, the cars of some residents were snow-covered and plowed in. These owners need to be up early Monday morning as snow clearing starts at 7:30 a.m. and towing starts at 8 a.m. for unmoved cars. 

We're thankful for underground garage parking. It's well worth the cost to stay indoors without the need to shovel out. We did that for many years and it's wonderful not to do it now.

If where you live was blanketed by this storm, we hope you were safe and warm as well.