The Seacoast's geography lends itself to contrasts. It is mind-boggling to note what can be reached within an hour (Boston, Portland, White Mountains, farms, etc.). As a result of this incredible diversity, one can have quite a Saturday adventure (as long as that alarm clock gets set early enough)!
My day started with a stop roughly a half-hour away from home in Barrington, NH, at a folding card table inside a firehouse. Why, you ask? Well, it's Maple Syrup Weekend in NH this weekend, and so I joined the early crowd for a wonderful pancake breakfast.
Meanwhile, across the street, the folks were getting their evaporator up and running at Spring Harvest Maple Farm. The head honcho is an engineer by day and a maple syrup guru by night (speaking of contrasts!), and since I beat the crowd, I got a personal tour of the setup from the three farmers.
Best of all, seeing my interest, they kindly suggested I visit another sugar shack down the road. As I drove, it turned out to be well down several bumpy dirt roads, which I found encouraging, since this is how Charlotte and I accidentally stumbled upon a massive maple syrup operation last winter doing the same sort of exploring!
Pulling into a farm driveway, past tubes connecting ~1,400 maple trees to the sugar shack, I stumbled upon an enchanting small farm world. The farmer, his wife, and his 3 kids immediately whisked me inside and continued their preparations to make more maple syrup, but all the while telling me so much about what they do.
Though it may not have been life-changing, it was certainly inspiring and indescribably pleasant to spend the next hour talking to them about their life, the state of small farming as a way of life, and the economics of living off the land. They were certainly very humble, but also very dedicated to farming, and had at one point turned down a developer's offer of $1,000,000, in cash, for their small farm property so that they could continue to do what they love. They got a conservation easement instead and have almost paid off their mortgage. Hooray!!!
Anyway, it was time to quickly buzz over to the Winter Farmer's Market in Rollinsford, where Charlotte and I occasionally preach the joys of our beloved Dover Community Garden! Since Charlotte is still in Denmark, I had the pleasure of sharing the table with a hearing-impaired and crusty old guy (who I find charming) who repeatedly screamed "DO YOU LIKE GARDENING?!?" at literally every person who walked by. Taken aback by his very forward approach, some people backed away startled, saying "NO!" Others were more enthusiastic, including one globe-trotting left-wing chap who was so enamored with our communal approach to gardening (we don't have individual plots) that he exclaimed "I've finally found some socialists!" and called his Bolivian wife to tell her that he'd be late because he was hanging out with "las Comunistas!"
Anyway, as you may be able to understand, these markets are awesome, and are an absolute high point in our winter weekends up here...
...especially today, since our very beloved Silver Moon Creperie decided to give away free Tunisian Apricot crepes as a "thank you" to everyone.
After savoring my nearly free lunch, I took a little time to explore Portsmouth, where spring is continuing to burst forth.
Speaking of contrasts, I am continually fascinated by the way in which the old and the new, and the city and the sea, interact in Portsmouth. My work gives me the chance to see how these various facets of Portsmouth intertwine and conflict with each other through the law, and so I enjoy observing how they mesh and coexist in real life (sometimes more naturally than others).
All in all, it's such a beautiful place, and I had a fun time today observing many peoples' different takes on what life on the Seacoast means to them.
For now, though, life on the Seacoast means cozying up with a warm dinner in our apartment (left of center in this photo), so until we meet again, have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and I hope your own weekends have been cozy and pleasant so far!
