Early signs of Christmas in the North Country

My wife, Linda, and I were on the road today doing a few errands. It is still early November, and it is snowing - not enough to generate bad driving conditions - but just enough to decorate the landscape.

Our front yard with second snowfall of the season. Photo by Linda Lane

And we saw our first tractor trailer loaded with Christmas trees heading for "down below" - as folks up here call anyplace south of New Hampshire towns such as Lancaster and Gorham.

The Christmas trees are generally cut, bound and shipped in Northern New Hampshire early in November, and the baling machines compress the branches so tightly for transport, it is a wonder that they ever spring back to their original state.

Our area of New Hamshire is know for many things, with heavy yearly snowfall being one of them. The area averages roughly 6-feet of snow each year, but the higher elevations can average close to 17-feet. The Balsams Resort, in nearby Dixville Notch, has been closed for 14 years and sits unoccupied and deteriorating while certain groups try to bring it back to life, in large part due to the prevalence of the deep white stuff. Plans to enlarge a portion of the resort known as The Wilderness Ski Area - and to resuscitate the Balsams Resort generally - thus far have failed.

But right now, as a sit writing this, the snow continues to fall, and snowmobile season is not too far off. And Christmas remains a very-special time for all members of my family. That has never changed.

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