Tag Archives: New England

Hampton Beach in the Spring

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The weather here in Massachusetts has been wonderful all winter. The temperatures have been up in the 30s and 40s almost every day and we’ve had hardly any snow–this makes me smile–like this ———-> :]

The only problem with the spring-like weather is that my brain actually thinks it is spring and it’s everything I can do to keep from throwing lunch in a basket and taking off for the beach. Last winter after we had been buried in snow for months, Darren I and decided we had enough and took off for the beach even though it was still freezing out and we weren’t yet out of winter. We went to Hampton Beach in New Hampshire before the beach was really open and had the whole expanse of ocean frontage to our cold crazy selves. Here’s a few pictures of Darren first taking off for the water, touching it and realizing just how cold it really was, then running back with a big grin on his face. I love his expression when he’s coming back from the water–he looks like a little kid all lit up by the excitement of a day at the beach :]

Who says the ocean is just for the warm weather days?

A Winter Weekend in Maine

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Welcome to Maine!

Darren and I spent the weekend in Maine so D could begin repainting his dad’s plane. We usually arrive in Maine at night so the first thing I do when I get out of the car is look up–up at the clear night sky filled with stars bright and brilliant without the dulling reflection of city lights. I love getting out of town and spending a few days in the mountains and the country away from the busy world. Darren’s parents don’t have internet or TV and our cell phones barely have any reception so we have no choice but to sit back and take a few days away from all the technology and busyness we are accustomed to. I usually spend my time in Maine reading, writing hand-written letters, and spending quiet time with Darren’s family.

Darren the martian painting one of the airplane wings

While Darren worked away, I went down the road to his grandma’s house and visited for a bit.

Take your wet boots off at the door please!

As soon I was in the door and out of my wet boots, Grammie opened up the wood stove and had the fire roaring. I love the way Grammie keep wood in the Raido Flyer. She does it because it’s easier to bring more wood in at once (and an 80 something girl still hauling her own wood can do it however she likes) but I think it’s kind of charming in the wagon by the fire. After chatting and chocolate chip cookies, I headed back to the house.

At home, my mom-in-law built a cozy fire too. We sat by the fire and watched the big fat fluffy snow flakes drift as big as cotton balls from the sky.

We sat and talked until the sun went down and the boys came in and then it was time for dinner. My mom-in-law wanted to get sandwiches for dinner so the two of us bundled up and headed out to the old standard station wagon. My mom-in law suggested I bring a blanket because the car would be “wicked cold” and it was! I laid the blanket out in the seat and wrapped it around my legs and we were off. New Englanders like to test the road conditions by slamming on the breaks and seeing if the car slides–this scares non New Englanders like me out of their minds. Since it had been snowing all day and the road was already covered in packed snow, my mom-in-law decided to perform said road test. With the car pointed down a steep hill she started driving then pulled the stick into some foreign gear before slamming on the breaks–we slid but didn’t die so on we went down the slick mountain road into town. We made it to the “Mallard Mart”–a gas station/sandwich shop and picked up our Italians and whoopie pies then we were off again into the snowy night.

I wondered around the farm and took a few pictures of the place covered over in snow.

My father-in-law built this barn; he built the house too.

The fat cheeky cows grazing.

I love this little bird house in the field.

Here’s the same bird house in the fall.

On the way home, this pulled in next to us at the gas station

Snowmobile crossing–a legit road sign in Maine

The Height of the Land

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The Hight of the Land, Maine–showing off in fall colors

The Pier at Old Orchard Beach

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This is a short post but I just wanted to share one of my favorite places in New England–the pier at Old Orchard Beach in Maine.  The pier, or under the pier actually, is the perfect place to escape the sun and the crowd and to sit back and enjoy a good book and the sound of the ocean rolling in. Actually, I was so relaxed last time that my sandals washed out to sea and I had to chase after them like a fool.

Around Vermont

Vermont seems to be one of the go-to vacation places for New Englanders–especially when you want to get away from everything for a while. We went camping in two different parts of Vermont this summer–first in South Londonderry which is in southern Vermont and then in Barton, which is in northern Vermont (just about 30 miles from Canada I think). Here are a few pictures and highlights from our little camping adventures (some pictures are from last year but I really wanted to share them

This is Crystal Lake in Barton–Darren’s family has camped here every year since before he was born; this was my fifth year camping here.

Every year when we’re in Barton we go to the Orleans County Fair. This year at the fair I tried fried dough for the first time and am absolutely and irreversibly in love with it; I should have taken a picture but I ate it too fast to stop and snap a shot; I also road the ferris wheel which terrified me

On our way home from camping in S. Londonderry we stopped in Brattleboro and explored the shops on Main Street. We had lunch at a sandwich shop called The Works–it was so yummy! The food was so fresh and flavorful–I wish it was closer so we could go more often. The building was really cool too–they used lots of recycled and refurbished items from the local area to create a very arty, unique look. Here’s a couple of pictures of the food and the shop

Vermont just sustained heavy damage from floods caused by hurricane Irene so I’m not sure how downtown Brattleboro looks today but if you ever get the chance to visit the city, be sure to check out The Works–also, Beadniks, a fun unique shop also on Main Street–they sell vintage toys and games and beautiful greeting cards and beads of course; we spent a good part of an hour in there checking out all the fun stuff–some of the games and toys brought back memories from when we were kids, like pongo sticks  and paddle boards. Click on the links below to check out The Works and Beadnicks!

Beadniks

The Works

Salisbury Beach

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Salisbury, Massachusetts

The sun is proud and intense drenching us in its hottest summer rays.

I love the way the water changes colors as it rolls to land—morphing from navy blue in the depths, to green in the rising waves, to the purest white sea-foam as it comes crashing to shore, and finally, brown as it mingles with the sand and is drawn back out to sea.

The waves hollow out pockets in the sand that fill with bubbling water and catch your unsuspecting feet in their grasp. The shallow water pulling over these pockets stirs the sand, causing it to rise in wispy billows like dark storm clouds beneath the waves.

Sometimes I wonder how I could have grown up so far from the ocean (in Missouri, a land-locked state). And then I watch the waves as they billow and roll and somehow it reminds me of home and the vast, sweeping Plains. The waves swell and sigh like the corn and wheat rocking and bowing to the wind and two places so different somehow seem so much the same—vast, boundless, and loud with their silence.

Walden Pond

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Concord, Massachusetts

Walden Pond

Even the birds are quiet in this quiet place; they sing below their breath, in a whisper, as if showing respect for the beauty of quiet. The wind rustles through the woods, across the water making the trees sigh and yawn with the motion—that is all, the rest is silence. The wind is cold but the trees flirt, taunting the warm air to come—blushing crimson in buds ready to bloom.

Misquamicut Beach

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Westerly, Rhode Island

The ocean rumbles, crashes, swirls, and spins. The waves lap, roll, build until they smash against the shore. This is a place of constant motion, constant churning sound—and yet it is quiet, peaceful. The ocean with its billowing waves sings a lullaby of rest. It breathes it briny breath and kisses my face with saltwater kisses. A tiny bird hops and frolics on the beach in the shadow of the violent crushing waves. A ladybug works on her tan. The water rolls in undulating, ever-changing shades of green then brown before morphing against the sand into perfectly white sea foam.  The ocean is timeless and yet never the same.

Hampton Beach

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Hampton, New Hampshire

The dark, water-laden clouds billow above taunting with stray drops of rain. The wind is strong, violent, driving and throwing the sea. The temperature is perfect; the beach is our own. The sky and the sea are the same threatening shade of blue-gray, tossing and reflecting off each other as they make the tempestuous transition into spring.