City newsletter: Spring projects around the city
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: City information during COVID-19 We are continuously updating our coronavirus web page with information and resources. You can access it here: concordnh.gov/coronavirus. Downloadable PDFs with information for residents and businesses are...
Best bets for early spring ’20 on N.H. Audubon sanctuaries
In order to “flatten the curve” and reduce the spread of COVID-19, please do your part to abide by official guidelines and recommendations, including social distancing, in order to recreate responsibly. As of the writing of this article, N.H. residents have not been discouraged from going outside. Thus, our wildlife sanctuaries remain open to the public at this time. However, we strongly urge those – including those in the outdoors –...
6 ways to celebrate Arbor Day
Friday is National Arbor Day. As communities, schools, organizations, companies, and residents adjust to a new routine, there is still a lot of uncertainty (and anxiety) in the air. We’re witnessing shutdowns and event cancellations across the country to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the spirit of Arbor Day remains strong. This public health crisis has taught us to be more agile and creative in finding ways to celebrate trees and...
In search of calming feelings
My favorite season was canceled. Well, not really. It’s been a bountiful sugar season in New Hampshire, and there’s still work going on as sap is boiled down to syrup. But the state’s annual March Maple Weekend was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. It was a reasonable response amid a devastating month for humanity. It is interesting, however, how life always finds a way — even in the darkness — and maybe that’s why...
Poem: Long Ago Easter
As we reflect alone, on our Easter from long ago, family together then, this year not quite so. Missing the people, I love so very dear, knowing they are safe, though they can’t be near. I understand this is life, how it must be, perhaps next year will be fine, we shall see. The gathering was missed, love was still there though, as we reflect alone, on our Easter from long ago. James W....
Bulletin Board: Virtual movies and more
Virtual Red River Red River Theatres has created a “Virtual Cinema” to allow audiences to rent the indie films they would typically be showing right now, with proceeds benefiting the theater. New films are available each week and added to an ever growing library. Find a full list of titles at redrivertheatres.org. The “ticket” fees vary but most are $12. When people purchase a film to screen they are emailed a unique link to access...
Brief novel covers complex problems
Ghost Wall By Sarah Moss (fiction, 152 pages, 2018) Ghost Wall chronicles a family’s two-week stay in the woods of Northumberland in North East England. This setting is all too important – Northumberland is known as a prehistoric stronghold with evidence of early civilization found in rock structures and hillforts across the county. The family accompanies a group of young students and their professor for an excursion of what is...
Rock of Rattlesnake Hill
The largest block of granite ever quarried in New Hampshire was cut and loaded by the New England Granite Company on August 7, 1894, in Concord. This granite block was cut from Rattlesnake Hill and weighed 38 tons and was sold for the price of $50,000. Once cut from New England Quarry the block was transported down Rattlesnake Hill to the cutting shed near the railroad tracks on North State Street, across from the present-day Blossom...
This week in history
April 22, 2003: Criticizing what he calls the Bush administration’s “lasting damage” to the environment, Democratic Sen. John Kerry promises to “make environmental justice the law of the land” and to create a new enforcement office within the Environmental Protection Agency if he’s elected president in 2004. By strengthening and enforcing environmental protections, the United States actually could create more jobs and boost economic...
The yogi: Don’t overthink the journey
In the next week or two, we’ll have some visitors at our home. I was going to tell them to wait, because it’s likely that they are unaware of the universal curveball that we are facing. It’s too late, though, because they have already left, and there is no way to reach them. These travelers will take their time, having left their winter stomping grounds in Florida, Mexico and Central America in early March. On the way, they may see...
