Wolfeboro’s Doris-Ann Clough
Wolfeboro’s Doris-Ann Clough Sunlight always seems to shine on Doris-Ann Clough. If you spend any time in Wolfeboro you’ve probably seen her walking, flamboyantly gesturing, lecturing a jay-walker or unsuspecting tourist driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Born in 1935, she’s logged roughly 127,750 miles by foot through rain, sleet, snow, whether it’s 95F degrees or-20F. For the past 30 years, she’s worked at the Wolfeboro laundromat in the morning and if something needs doing she’s up and at it. She could probably tell you every sidewalk crack and slightest nuance in her travels through town and you’d think the story would end there… Doris-Ann doesn’t have any children of her own but she has many children in her heart. At her home on Lehner St., abutting carpenter school, she’s cared for dozens of boys and girls and she remembers them all by name and their individual personalities. I stopped to see her this morning outside her home and she insisted that i come in for a visit. It’s been 30 years, but she reminds me often how she taught me to tie my shoes. The walls and tables adorn all the little faces of her past. The one that she still holds most tightly is a young girl that died back in 1968 at the age of 14 of Cystic Fibrosis, Mary Anne Soucey, and to her, it seems almost like yesterday. She has a large painted portrait of Mary Anne on her living room wall, and in the kitchen, a color by number cat hanging by the front door. Whatever your faith or spirituality, there’s a special place for people like Doris-Anne Clough. Doris Anne Clough.
Melvin Village from Winnipesaukee
crystal clear winter day provided a nice view of Melvin Village with the Ossipee Range as the backdrop
Mount Shaw and the Ossipee Mountain Range
Mount Shaw and the Ossipee Mountains This photo was taken at 8:54am this morning from Beech Pond Road near the Ossipee town line. If you like winter activities there is something energizing about a fresh snowfall. The sunlight was magnified this morning after two days of cloud cover and the snowflakes sparkled in the fields from the reflection. You could write volumes about the Ossipee Range and how it has shaped our landscape. From its geological features as an ancient volcanic ring dike that replenishes our aquifers, lakes, streams, and ponds to the 180ft deep Dan Hole Pond and its legendary lake trout, to the Algonquin Ossipee Indian sites, and supposedly a sacrificial stone somewhere on the side of Mount Shaw. My grandfather, an old ridge runner, has spent his life in these mountains starting as a young boy working in the old logging camps. It is quite an area to explore if you’ve got some time. This custom USGS map with updated road overlay really shows the strong volcanic origins of the range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossipee_Mountains
Lake Wentworth Sunrise
Lake Wentworth Sunrise Photo A crack of dawn wake-up reward…this photo was taken from the Bridge Falls path where the tracks split Fernald Basin from Wentworth. Wentworth freezes several weeks before Winnipesaukee and usually a week or so before Crescent Lake due to currents from the Smith river canal and the the Smith river dam that drain into Back Bay,Winnipesaukee. Wentworth is also relatively shallow with the deepest point at around 60ft out at Fuller’s Deep. The ice must be at least 8 inches thick now because i saw Stu pulling his winnebago “ice Palace” fish house out on the ice this afternoon. I’ll get a shot sometime this week. Update: Below I’ve posted a bonus image from a summer sunrise over Lake Wentworth
Abenaki Ski Area
Abenaki Ski Area Despite the brisk temps, Amelia and I headed over to Abenaki after work this afternoon where conditions were pretty nice even with a brisk northwest wind. I busted out the camera to get a shot of her maiden solo voyage up the rope tow and got this picture of a teenager named Tim lifting off a jump. When I got to the bottom and showed one of his friends, he called it a "roast beef"? What can you say…$6 lift tickets and you can ski all day and night. Thanks to the Friends of Abenaki and the Town of Wolfeboro for re-opening the slope it is great to see the kids and families out there enjoy it. http://friendsofabenaki.org/
The Wolfeboro Railroad-Bridge Falls Path
The bridge falls path, the old Wolfeboro railroad, and community.