Meadow at night, originally uploaded by Glass_House.mist on a pond, the full moon and the constellation Sagittarius
Crisp, moonlit nights like last night and tonight remind me of crazy days in my youth when my friends and I would climb small mountains at midnight.
Native Day Lily, originally uploaded by Mike Cherim.This is a day lily that grows all over southern New Hampshire. It's native but we have collect, divided, and even propagated them over the past 20 years so we have 1000s of them on our property. We consider them the harbinger of summer.
Diana's Baths are one of the most remarkable waterfalls in northern New Hampshire. The falls are easily accessible and do not feature a large, dramatic fall, but small rivulets that run through hollowed out granite.
This capture presents the quaint mysteriousness of the power of water to create such an idyllic place that is quite refreshing on a hot summer day.
For reference, the State of New Hampshire publishes a list of NH State Parks with waterfalls for locals and tourists alike.
20070616-185124.jpg, originally uploaded by jwardell.MINIs on top of Mt. Washington, NH at MINIsOnTop 2007
About
MINIsOnTop is an annual gathering of MINIs and their owners in New Hampshire, culminating in a drive to the top of Mount Washington! Fun is the number one goal, but over the years we’ve also raised more than $20,000 for charities …
Tatooine Sky, originally uploaded by Alternatewords.Something about the shape of the silo and the color of the sky reminded me of a rather well known scene from the first Star Wars movie. The only thing missing are the twin suns.
The colours of summer...
Hudson, NH Town Pound, originally uploaded by StarrGazr. For the New Hampshire Town Pounds Project
Reprinted from
Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)
July 28, 1998
Page: 7
Memo: We will keep at it forever, or until we visit or contact all 259 towns and cities in the state It's a labor of love. We just love them.'-
Louise Frank of Barnstead speaking for herself and husband Tom, who call themselves the Stone Pound Seekers Pounds
down old pounds
JESSIE SALISBURY Telegraph Correspondent
Amherst's town pound was lost to development, and Mont Vernon never had one. Wilton's is on private property, while Lyn deborough's is one of several lis ted on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town pounds, those old fieldstone enclosures with or without gates for keeping livestock, area generally misunderstood relic of local history."
They are a piece of history in danger of being lost," Louise Frank said recently during a stop in Wilton. "A town is fortunate to have one." Wilton's is behind the Unitarian Church in Wilton Center, and it took awhile to find someone who could direct her to it.
Frank and her husband, Tom, residents of Barnstead for the past 30 years, call themselves the Stone Pound Seekers. They are looking for the old stone structures, documenting their finds with notes and pictures. So far they have visited or contacted 88 towns, mainly in the southern part of the state. Of those, Louise said, "Fifty-five have pounds, four have markers where the pounds used to be, and 29 never had one."
Area towns they had not yet visited include Merrimack, Brook line, Nashua, Pelham and Litchfield.
She was intrigued by a visit to Hollis, where they found a Pound Road, but not yet a pound. There was one, however, she said, in the former town of Monson, and wondered if it was in what is now Hollis.
People who think of pounds at all usually think they were for holding lost or strayed cattle, as indeed they may have on occasion. However, most of the pounds were built before 1800, and they were for impounding livestock taken by the town in lieu of property taxes.
The laws of the Royal Province of New Hampshire, until 1686, authorized the town constable to imprison a person who could not pay his taxes. In 1868, the law was amended to allow seizure of property or land.
In 1791, the new state of New Hampshire allowed the tax collector "upon neglect or refusal to pay taxes, and after a notice of 14 days, to distrain the goods, or chattels" of the person so neglecting his duties. Goods were kept four days, during which time the owner could redeem them. After that, the goods were sold at auction. In many cases, the most valuable property a person owned was his livestock, and the town needed a place to hold it.
The pounds were all similar to this description in the 1906 Lyn deborough history: "In 1774 the town voted to build a pound, 25 by 30 feet, the wall to be six feet high, faced on the inside, three feet thick at the bottom and one and half feet at the top, and to be capped with a timber-frame. It was to have a convenient gate with a lock."
Newer towns don't have them. Greenville separated from Mason 125 years ago. Mason has the pound. Mont Vernon was formed from a section of Amherst and a piece of Lyndeborough. Both parent towns had one, but Amherst's was lost to a development."
It's amazing they have survived all these years as dry stone construction," Tom Frank said. He is the more history-oriented of the pair, while Louse takes the pictures. She also has a file on each town they have visited. But many they have found are in poor condition with brush growing inside them and walls tumbling. In such cases, they write to the local historical society trying to stir up some interest.
Finding some pounds has been an adventure, they agreed, and said Sutton's was the hardest so far to find.
It was "up on a mountain," she said, "and we walked up in the rain. When we found it, there was a sign on it naming the pound keepers."
They started their quest last year after they had driven by the pound in Atkinson many times. "Atkinson has a nice historical society and they keep it up. In some towns it's been neglected," Louise said.
They wondered if their own town, Hampstead, had a pound. Tom, a member of the Historic District Commission, didn't know. "The town office didn't know," he said, "but we found someone who did. Now an article is being proposed for the Town Warrant to deed it as part of the Historic District." They are also discussing the care of the site with the local Boy Scout troop who are taking it on as a troop project.
Louise stresses that they are not authorities on town pounds, nor even proper historians. "We are just interested people, doing what we like to do."
Both Franks are retired, Tom from a position with AT&T and Louise from selling real estate. "It is a lot more fun doing this," Tom said. They usually cover four towns on a day trip, he added. That keeps it in the fun category."
We will keep at it forever, or until we visit or contact all 259 towns and cities in the state," Louise said. After that, she hopes to organize all of the information into a directory. "It's a labor of love. We just love them."
Copyright 1998, 2004 The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H. All Rights Reserved.
More photos from the project
Map of New Hampshire Town Pounds Project
Washington Common
Congregational Church (1840), School (1884), Town House (1787)
Washington, NH was incorporated on December 13, 1776 (first Town incorporated in the name of Pres. George Washington), another first int he nation!
Washington also boasts:
Two young men in Pepsi uniforms join the four of five of us at the [general store lunch] counter. I learn later that they are in the store to work on the Coke machine. One of them says, "Is there, like, a city of Washington?" This brings hoots from us barflies at the counter. He tries to recover, "I mean, like a center, with stores and stuff." We still think this is very funny. Maybe it's his earnestness; maybe it's us.
"You're in it, buddy," says Bill. "This is it." He jabs his finger toward the floor for emphasis. Behind his hand he tells us that they are from Massachusetts. I think they hear that, and are meant to, but don't mind at all. Clearly they are having a hard time believing that they are in the center of Washington, New Hampshire.
From Last House on the Road, by Ronald Jager (Chapter 20)
A few more sunsets for NEGS 503, originally uploaded by brianblackden.New England Southern 503 and 2370 will cease operations August 1, 2007 due to Guilford Railroad pulling the rail lease that NEGS operates on.
School is starting to let out and there will be ample time for families and children to find cool, crisp water to wade in and swim like the water seen here.
Imagine our future engineers who spend hours in the brooks and streams as they make water falls, dams, and other structures to suit their imagination.
Splash on!
There is a saying in New Hampshire, (and probably throughout New England) that goes like this "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes."
So true.
Likewise, beautiful flowers, such as this one bloom and fall so quickly that sometimes we miss their splendor. Perhaps that is one reason we like to photograph them so much. To preserve their fleeting beauty. For we know in a blink of an eye, the leaves will be falling followed by the snows and then the rains...But then Spring will bloom once more.
The circle of life, captured one frame at a time.
Late spring's right of passage in New Hampshire is the beautiful fields of lupine views.
More views from around the state of New Hampshire.
...here we enter the prime season of the summer and the New Hampshire landscape is full of idyllic scenes like this one in Claremont, NH.
Roots, originally uploaded by Longfinger and Bells.Random shot of the ground... My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy. I just like details... I'm a Virgo!
We all have our roots.
yeah!, originally uploaded by mamabrarian. Not too many brick lanes out here in the country ... this is a brick path at one of the war memorials at my town hall. Most of the personalized bricks have the names of veterans or other townspeople. This one caught my eye.
May MSH #15: brick lane
After a two-week hiatus, I'm glad to return to posting my Tuesdays with Tim entry.
This image captures another important aspect of life in New Hampshire according to our compelling state motto.
The Gateway 1, originally uploaded by Tim Somero.Fog inspired me to wander up my road and make a few captures.
A Writer's Invitation
By M. Jo Taylor
Come walk with me
through the mists
into my special world
I'll show you wonders heaven kissed
and thoughts I have unfurled
Come walk with me
time will stand
I'll share my precious view
I'll guide you with a gentle hand
into a place that's new
Come walk with me
for I must
share mystic worlds I see
I'm giving you my tender trust
Come walk my world with me
