Summer Time…

It snowed in April when I was in New Hampshire and I made a snowman.   Last weekend, driving back to New York on Mother’s Day, the rain and cold gray mist followed me most of the way. I understand it snowed a few inches just north of Laconia early on Sunday morning. I am longing for summer.  Summer time when the living is easy.

I began thinking about summer when I stopped by the Laconia Pubic Library last week and noticed a sign for summer passes that are available at the library.  Even if the weather was cool, at least I could begin making plans and marking the calendar with things to do.

The New Hampshire Music Festival has been sending e-mail notices for weeks.  In looking at the schedule of concerts, I noticed a concert on 16 July at Saint-Gaudens in Cornish.  If you haven’t ever visited Saint-Gaudens it is part of the United States National Park System and the grounds provide the perfect setting for a picnic and music. There is a series of concerts on Sunday afternoons during the summer months.

The Tilton Island Concert series begin in July and it seems there is a 60’s theme this summer. The opening program salutes the Beatles and another program is dedicated to music of the 1960’s. An evening of music I don’t want to miss.

Hiking has become so popular it’s difficult to find a place to park at the trailheads.

I often longingly google the Appalachian Mountain Club just to read about their activities, knowing work will keep me in Manhattan. The weekend of June 15 -18 there is a hike that is titled, “Alpine Flowers of the Presidential Range,” which will take hikers across the shoulder of Mt Washington for a look at the Alpine plant community.

If it is birds that interest you the New Hampshire Audubon Society owns and manages 39 wildlife sanctuaries throughout 10 counties of New Hampshire. Waking to the sound of birds is one of the joys of summer and being able to identify the various species brings even more pleasure.

One of the passes available at the Laconia Library is for the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester.  This summer the Currier is featuring the work of Varujan Boghosian, who was a member of the art faculty at Dartmouth College from 1968 until 1995. His work has been recognized in well-known museums internationally, his roots are in New Hampshire.

If you love Cole Porter and the American Songbook, the Lake Winnipesaukee Theater is producing High Society this summer, one of Cole Porter’s classic joyful musicals based on The Philadelphia Story. I can’t think of a better way to step back in time and remember when hoop skirts, white gloves, a handbag and matching shoes occupied a women’s mind.

There is a week and a half until Memorial Day weekend and over a month and a half until the actual summer solstice on 21 June. It is still too early to plant small seedlings and put them risk for an early morning frost –  it isn’t too early to begin thinking about how our communities come alive in the summer months. I think I’ll make an ice-cream cone and listen to Porgy and Bess …

One of these mornings you’re gonna rise singing
And you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to the sky …

Summertime and the living is easy…