The Waning Days of Summer, 2012

On a casual walk this week, I spied a sailboat

 approaching this trellis, and snapped

 a lucky shot with my Sony pocket camera,

just as the sail filled the center of the frame.

BLACK CAT ISLAND, NH – August has always been my favorite month of the year.  Perhaps the reason I like it so much is that it seems to be the most mature – not too young, not too old – a time which, if I could, I would freeze for eternity, ever to enjoy just as it is.

It is a month of balance, heralding the imminent conclusion of summer, but not its end, not yet – that transition is reserved for September.  August holds the fullness of the warm season, presenting the last opportunity to be grateful for this gentle season of Creation.

Up in the North Country of New Hampshire, in the Lakes Region – an area left behind by retreating glaciers which carved out deep bodies of fresh water, there are forested havens eagerly awaiting any weary tourist looking for a peaceful retreat from the sometimes mind-numbing grind of quotidian chores and responsibilities.

Winnipesaukee, one of the Northeast’s largest lakes – at well over 70 square miles of island-dotted surface water – is one of our favorite summer haunts, dating from our earlier New England days in Massachusetts.

This clearly identifiable marker fabricated from
old license plates sits at the

 head of a driveway to a cove on Eagle Shore Road

 in Moultonborough, NH, about 1900 miles

 from its proud owner in the Lone Star State.

The area, with its plenitude of other lakes – large and small – is a tourist destination for all tastes and interests:  solitude and reading; hiking and mountain climbing; picturesque mountainous drives through the White Mountain National Forest or through other scenic vistas such as Franconia Notch; swimming in serene, clear, pure 70° waters; ziplining  4000 feet down a mountainside at 65 mph (not for me!); theme parks for younger kids; indoor arcades everywhere for the teen set; restaurants to satisfy any taste and pocketbook – and the beat goes on.

There is more, much more.

Oh, and did I mention that Denise, Matthew and I spent a couple of hours at a nearby gun range this week honing our skills with a couple of Ruger handguns and a Smith & Wesson long barrel revolver?

The economic lifeline of New Hampshire is tourism.  Here, Up North, you can disappear from the madding crowds which pretend to be a part of the civilized world.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy these – the remaining golden days of summer.

(Click on any image for an enhanced view.)