The Lake and the Shore

The distance between our favorite seashore vacation haunt, Cape May, New Jersey, and our favorite freshwater retreat, Lake Winnipesaukee, in mid-central New Hampshire, is about 550 road miles.

However, that difference reflects more than merely geographic distance. The Lakes Region of N.H., about an hour south of the White Mountains National Forest, offers not only recreation and dining: Its relative vastness and isolation forces a person to stop and to seep in the deep, elemental forces of nature. You won’t get elbowed out by anyone else here.

Any person who is active and fit can easily be challenged and rewarded by trekking up mountain trails towards peaks ranging in height to over 6000 feet. Big, ornery ones, like Mount Washington which creates its own weather patterns that can turn from sunny to dangerously nasty in a couple of minutes, are best left to professional climbers.

There are plenty of smaller mountains, like Mt. Major at Winnipesaukee’s southern end, which attract thousands of day climbers, including families and camping groups, each year.

The only traffic problem you’ll have around here occurs on a rainy day, for example, when the light at the four corners on Route 25, in the center of Meredith, causes cars to back up for a couple of miles, as house-bound vacationers seek diversion for themselves and their kids at nearby amusement centers and shopping emporiums.

Chores, Suds and More Wild Raspberries

It’s 7:20 pm, and I’ve just finished a bunch of yard chores that I began around 4:00 this afternoon. During that time, Priscille and I picked a second batch of wild raspberries – it’s a bumper crop this year: A pint of those is destined for our friend, S.B., who deserves a lot more from life than merely that. But it’s the thought that will accompany the gift, and we wish our friend nothing but good blessings.

Now, before you conclude that I’m getting far too syrupy, I need to disclose that I’m on the patio, quenching my well-deserved thirst with a bottle of Saranac Hefeweizen Wheat Ale, purchased as part of a 12-bottle, summer variety pack, at the Super Saver on Route 22 East in Somerville, next to Post Hardware.

My wife is quenching her own thirst with a bottle of Bud Light Lime: “Everything in moderation,” my Mom was fond of reminding me. Just think of all the good things in life that turn into sour experiences through abuse. Drinking to excess is, in this case, the obvious example.

Beer has a long history and tradition. Some researchers claim that it was first brewed thousands of years ago in Egypt. Pilgrims, of all people, brought its process with them when they settled in New England. It makes sense, because potable water could go bad on a long sea voyage and become contaminated, whereas the alcoholic content in the sudsy brew would keep it drinkable for a longer period of time. At least that’s what I’m told. I’ll raise a glass to that.
One of us will drop off your raspberries, S.B. Hope you enjoy them.

Ah, summer . . . . What a good season.