Tag Archives: New Hampshire

Early Autumn Beauty

Autumn, Fall, Foliage, massachusetts, Peterborough, Uncategorized, Worcester, , , , , , , ,
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Yang and I started our foliage forays early this year.  By the end of September, you could find some lovely colors if you looked in the right places.  My first description is on the Blackstone River trail near Holy Cross in Worcester.  We went just before dusk to avoid running into too many people.  We saw some really nice colors on the boardwalk that runs along the river and through some marshland.
Here  the plants in the marsh are turning lovely shades of tangerine, gold , and crimson, highlighted by the still green plants around them.  All kinds of vireos, sparrows, and other small birds flitted from swaying stalk to trembling branch.  The misty grey of twilight lent a mystical atmosphere

 

Walking into the woods of the trail, you see saffron, ruby, and orange flame emerge through the dark green trees not yet turned.

 

 

 

 

Here, you see chartreuse and tardy green leaves, segueing into flames of orange and crimson.  Beautiful!

 

 

 

 

As the season progressed, we had a chance to go further afield, journeying to a trail outside of Peterborough, New  Hampshire.  Our walk through the soft light of green woods brought us to a lookout on a large rock extruding into the river.  Looking back, we could see the trees at the water’s edge were gradually putting on their  yellow and  orange finery.
Looking in the opposite direction on the the river, you could see the lovely colors mutedly reflected in the water. At one moment we heard a splash across the water, an otter-sized splash, but alack, we never caught sight of the slick furry critter.
I did manage to get a shot of this handsome guy enjoying the beauty of the spot!
Then it was back into the woods with soft dreamy light slipping through the trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this cleft rock was pretty neat!  Glaciers leave behind the darnest things!

 

And how about this cutie?  What kind of a frog do you think this is?  I’m not sure whether Yang or I took this shot.   Yang couldn’t detect him a first, for his  (the frog’s)  colors blent into the undergrowth so perfectly.  I guess that’s the idea!

 

 

The walk out was about 2  & 1/2 miles, so when we returned to the rock outcropping on the river, we must have covered about four miles.  Needless to say, we took a rest.  I love this shot of the river.  Doesn’t it almost look like a painting?  It’s a nice image with which to leave you!

 

NH Adventures: Claude Rains, Mt. Roberts, and the First October Full Moon

Autumn, birds, blue moon, Claude Rains, Fall, Foliage, full moon, Gothic, moon, Nature, New England, New Hampshire, Sharon Yang, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,
This month has blue moons, two in one month.  The first day of October this year was the first full moon of the month.  So, we celebrated  with a trip to New Hampshire that was a triple header for us.  First, we visited the grave of my favorite actor, Claude Rains, in the Red Hill Cemetery.  It’s a small, peaceful place, with lots of firefighters R.I.P.ing there.  The graves of Mr. Rains and his wife Rosemary are beautiful polished black stone Gothic arches.  To pay tribute, we brought one of the pumpkins that we had grown ourselves this year.  I liked presenting a little gift that Yang and I had worked hard to cultivate together.  The foliage by the cemetery hadn’t quite turned yet, but there were still some pretty trees.  When we go a bit later in the season, you often see some magnificent colors.  Check this link to a blog with pictures of the foliage in a past visit.
It was still a lovely place for Mr. Rains and his wife Rosemary to take their final rest.  I did want to place the pumpkin between the graves to honor them both, but I was a little worried it might roll off or get pushed away if it weren’t resting against the stone.  So, Mr. Rains got the pumpkin.  Maybe next time, I’ll bring two, especially if we have a bigger pumpkin crop.  Click here for news on what we did harvest.
We also did a drive- by of the classic colonial with it’s three pillars where Claude Rains last resided.  I wonder what the inside is like?  It was nice to see a Jean Shaheen sign out front.  You can’t see it in this photo, though you can see a beautiful sugar maple behind and to the left of the house.

Next on the agenda was to hike the Mt. Roberts trail in Moultonborough.  It’s on the grounds of the Castle in the Clouds, but it’s free to visit and hike.  Usually, we go up Red Hill, but I asked if we could start with something that ascended a bit less steeply, as this was my first major mountain climb of the year-major for me, anyway.  It really wasn’t all that easy, but the hike was definitely worth it!  We enjoyed the terrain, the changing colors, sighting a Brown Thrasher and a Wood Thrush (thank God for binoculars!).  When we got to an overlook, we sat and ate tea eggs that Yang had made, then chunks of the yummy pumpkin bread I’d baked the night before.   I was tired when we got back down, but I loved it!  There are lots of trails on these grounds, so I’m looking forward to going back.

 

We thought this little toad was cute, too!

Does anyone know what kind of tree this leaf comes from?  It’s actually a little darker in real life.  The camera was accidentally set to overcompensate, so I’ve tried to properly adjust the color to match what I actually saw.  So, if you know what the tree is, drop me a line in comments of on FB.  I’d really like to know!

 

Last and never least:  the first full moon of October!  Yang took me to Weir Beach-I hadn’t been there since I was a teenager!  It was pretty deserted, after the summer season was done, but there was a nice boardwalk from which to view the moonrise.  When the moon first came over the trees, it was ENORMOUS!  I thought Kronos was rising.  These picture don’t do it justice.  Click on them to get a bigger image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a lovely evening to complete an exciting day.  Gosh, I love our autumn rambles through the Northeast!  I hope you’re having some fun ones as well.  And if you can’t get out, please enjoy these.

 

 

Celebrating Claude Rains in New Hampshire

Autumn, Cemeteries, Claude Rains, Fall, Film Actors, Foliage, Gothic, Halloween, Nature, New England, New Hampshire, , , , , , , ,
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About three weeks ago, my husband and I paid a visit to the Lake Winnipesaukee area.  I was  to be one of the reps at the Sisters In Crime booth at NELA in Burlington, Vt., so the day before we went north and visited the resting place of my favorite actor, Claude Rains.  It was a beautiful weekend!  The fall colors were in full flourish.  On the way up, we stopped in Concord for lunch then proceeded to the small, country cemetery that Mr. Rains and his wife Rosemary made their final resting place.

You can see Red Hill in the background,  much more of a mountain that a hill than some of the “mountains” that Yang and I have hiked.  One of my knees was acting up from climbing one of those smaller mountains – that was still big enough to give me trouble – so we didn’t go up that day.  I highly recommend the hike, though.  It’s invigorating and beautiful.  Anyway, that gave me more time for contemplation.

The stones for Claude Rains and Rosemary are beautiful  shiny black Gothic arches.  The script on them is also reminiscent of Gothic.  I love the sentiment of faith and endurance on both.  On Claude’s is:  “All Things Once/Are Things Forever,/ Soul Once Living/Lives forever.”   Rosemary’s says:  “When I Am Gone My Dearest,/ Sing No Sad Songs For Me,” a variation on a poem of Christina Rossetti (one of my favorite poets). I wonder whether they picked their epitaphs or if a loving family member selected them.

It’s nice to see that we aren’t the only admirers of Mr. Rains.  Yang and I left the pumpkins in honor of the autumn season of  harvest.  Someone else had also expressed his/her regard by carefully placing beautiful sunflower stalks,  before the stones.  In the center, you can also see some artificial flowers that have been set there in respect quite some time ago – we’ve seen them there over the years.  Perhaps someone else in our group payed respectful visits?

 

This cemetery is  beautiful.   I’m glad Claude and Rosemary picked it.  I have to share some lovely shots we got of the gorgeous New Hampshire foliage show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I especially like the second one, because of the handsome guy in the shot: aka my husband who is always game for adventures in the wilds of the Northeast!

 

Finally, here are shots of the majestic farmhouse that Mr. Rains called his last home. I wonder what the inside is like? Isn’t the tree next to the house gorgeous?! We took three shots, but one came out too fuzzy.  Not supernatural interference, just our not being able to get the best lighting since we wanted to be unobtrusive.  Let no one calls those who honor Claude Rains stalkers!  I think this one might be the best shot, the crispest, anyway.  Below are some interesting links that tell you more about the cemetery and the farm house.  Just remember:  respect the privacy of others.  But I don’t have to tell that to anyone in our illustrious group!

 

So long for now and happy belated Claude Rains’s birthday to all!

Claude Rains’s Grave Atlas Obscura

O.T.I.S. – a nice description of the graveyard and the house