December 2007/Merry Christmas!

I tell you what! We moved up here the year that Monroe decided to suspend it's driveway-plowing program, and New Hampshire has its snowiest December on record in the last 100 years! Something about Murphy's Law . . . In fact, on Sunday, December 16, we tried to go to church, but turned around after we missed the ramp onto I-91 because we couldn't see it for all the snow! (Church ended up being cancelled early, anyway.) However, Hannah enjoyed our late afternoon rambles to the school playground to the let the dogs run around and get a little fresh air. She seems relatively unaffected by the cold. Garry and I have lived in our long johns since Thanksgiving.

Hannah played the Christmas band concert at Town Hall on December 8th. Garry and I joined our neighbors, Michelle and Jim Borgman, for dinner that evening. M & J had actually tried to buy our house several years ago, but the Burtons got it, so M & J moved into another, nearly identical house down the street a few months later. They had us and our next-door neighbors, Mike & Darlene Valcourt, over for homemade soups and bread. We left their house about 6:30 to walk down to the Town Hall for the concert. The trees in their yard were lighted, and provided a festive air for passersby. Most people here do not put lights on their homes, however. I learned the why of that the first time all the icicles that had built up along the roofline crashed to the ground. Had we had any lights up, they would have been toast. Our flagpole became a victim before the year was out.

The concert was great fun, and featured not only the band, but a local acappella group who call themselved The Mellowtones. We also heard from our local bluegrass group, The Back Shed String Band. They are wonderful! It was a great evening, except for one little mishap. A little boy sitting a short way from our seats became quite excited and hot. This resulted in the reappearance of his dinner, accompanied by a most unpleasant odor. His poor mother was trying valiantly to clean up the mess with a few paper towels from the restroom. Garry suggested that I fetch some cleaner from our house, so I ran next door and brought back bleach spray and good paper towels, for which the mother was grateful. Unfortunately, she didn't understand that it was our personal bleach, and she put it in the cleaning closet downstairs. We decided to leave it there as our contibution to the town for future use. There will probably be a need, as every conceivable event you could think of is held in the Town Hall.

Duncan Valcourt, our neighbors' dog, was dressed for the holidays, and went about spreading good cheer (among other things). Alyce just worships the ground he walks on, but Isabelle thinks he is very bourgeois, and gives him what-for as often as she can. Hannah went on a field trip to NYC with the 7th and 8th grades during the second week in December. She did not have as much fun as she had hoped, and would like to go back with just the family next time. It's difficult traveling with moody teenagers. I had volunteered to chaperone, but was told they already had enough. Thank goodness! Michael had finals and finished up his first semester of high school before a 3 week Christmas break.

I finished up the Christmas decorating the day before Christmas, and we celebrated quietly at home. The kids got mostly stuff they wanted, and a few surprises, including flights to Texas in February, during their Winter Break.

December ended warmly, in spite of the snow, and once we passed the 21st, the days began to get longer again. We are looking forward to 2008, and new adventures in the North Country!