Sun, Aug 19

Conway, NH: This morning it was just plain cold. Probably went down into the low 40s. It’s August for God’s sake! I am so ready to leave New England. We had a fire all morning and sat in front of it reading our books. When we ran out of wood we went inside and I curled up on the couch with the throw Michele gave us and continued reading. Mike had to go get more wood and fill one of the propane tanks. I begged off—I was so comfortable and cozy all curled up with my book. Mike left and I continued reading for a while. The sun came out in earnest so I threw on a jacket and walked the beautiful little trail down to the Swift River. Felt good to get out and get some fresh air among the huge pines. Interestingly, in the Colonial days the British were always looking for “mast pines”—used as masts in their war ships. These “mast pines” had to be at least 24 inches in circumference chest high be free of branches for at least 80 feet. The British would go around marking these desirable trees with a large, broad arrow and the Colonists were forbidden to cut them. In direct defiance of this order, they would cut them anyway and trim them to 23 inches. Ya gotta love it! They then cut them into planks for wide plank flooring. The historic homestead has wide pine flooring. Anyway, after the “mast trees” are very carefully felled, they were strapped to huge wheels and hauled to Portsmouth, NH, on “mast roads” using 88 oxen. Wow! This road must have been pretty straight since it would be impossible to make a turn hauling a 100 foot tree. Mike pulled in just as I was finishing my walk. He wanted to walk down there too so I went back with him. Had leftovers for dinner which is a bit tricky without a microwave (the only thing I miss when not on electric). I just put everything in a frying pan with a little water, cover it and let it steam slowly for a few minutes. Works, but not as good as a microwave.