"The Complete History of America (Abridged)"

June 21, 2012 — I was looking forward to the drive north in the air-conditioned car on the second day of temperatures flirting with 100 degrees. But if I had any hope I'd find relief in New Hampshire's lakes region, that hope was quickly dashed. Stepping out of the car by the boardwalk at Meredith Bay, I was smacked by a wall of hot air that was stifling. Still, not to be denied a stroll around one of my favorite New Hampshire spots, I walked through Hesky Park to the Inn at Bay Point, across the highway to Mill Falls for a pass through the many gift and crafts shops, back to the boardwalk and a stroll in the opposite direction, admiring the expensive boats docked along the way, past the outdoor diners at the Town Docks, ending up at Church Landing, a luxury resort with a beautiful view of the lake.

By the time I got back to the car, even though it had been a slow walk, I was dripping with sweat. I drove up the hill to Hart's Turkey Farm for supper and a cooling off period. After supper I made the ten-minute drive over to Weirs Beach where I had a reservation at the Winnipesaukee Players. I had some time to kill, so braving the heat once again I took a stroll along the famous Weirs Beach boardwalk to the home port of the M.V. Mount Washington, the huge party boat that plies the lake from May through  October. I had a brief conversation with one of the boat's security officers who told me it was just as hot out in the middle of New Hampshire's largest lake as it was everywhere else.

Back at the Winnipesaukee Players, I was finally comfortably seated in the air-conditioned theater to enjoy "The Complete History of America (Abridged)." Played on a stunningly cluttered stage that looked like an attic where someone had been storing their discarded junk for several centuries, the play is a slapstick view of American history from Amerigo Vespucci to the present in 90 minutes. Puns, sight gags, corny jokes, some inspired, some silly, some bordering on tasteless, are delivered by three male actors, Shabazz Green, Alex M. Jacobs and Kevin Killavey. I recommend the play. In such an unrelenting barrage of gags, a few are bound to fall flat, but most produced genuine belly laughs. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening, and a hilarious start to my 2012 summer theater season.

"Anna Christie"

June 7, 2012 — Northern New England Repertory Theatre Company presented Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Anna Christie" at the Sawyer Center Theater at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. Solid acting and skillful stagecraft held the sparse audience spellbound in the somewhat chilly theater.

Anna, estranged from her sea-going father since childhood, meets him in a New York bar. Delighted to be reunited with her, the father talks her into spending a few days with him on the barge of which he's the captain. She agrees, but things get complicated when several ship-wrecked sailors are rescued by the barge crew. One, an Irishman named Mat, falls head-over-heels for Anna.

High drama and dark humor fill the final acts when Mat's proposal of marriage forces Anna to reveal a shameful past, shocking Mat as well as her father. Katrina Ferguson as Anna, John Goodlin as her father, and Milan Dragicevich as Mat turn in stellar performances, more than doing justice to the fiery dialog, a challenge to actors in any O'Neill play.

"Anna Christie," in spite of its dark subject matter and harsh conflicts, in the end is more upbeat than most of O'Neill's work. You can leave the theater feeling good about it, especially when it's as well-acted as this production.

Late Storm Reminds Us It's Still Winter

March 1, 2011 — The first snowstorm since last October moved into southern New Hampshire last night and continued through today, leaving from six to ten inches in most communities. Up until now, temperatures had been averaging well above normal since December, and there had only been a few light snowfalls of one to three inches. Before this latest storm, the ground had been snow-free through all of February..

The snow may not stick around long. Forecast is for temperature near 50 and rain Saturday.

"The Birds"

February 23, 2012 — theatre KAPOW, a small, talented company whose work I've enjoyed for several years now, this evening staged "The Birds" at the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire. This Greek comedy, written around 400 B.C. by Aristophanes, revolves around two men, unhappy with life in Athens, who set out to form an alliance with the birds and start a new city called "Cloudcuckooland." As translated by Peter Meineck and directed by Matt Cahoon, the play featured brilliant costumes, hilarious dialog, sexual innuendo, aerial stunts and inspired silliness.

As usual with KAPOW productions at the Stockbridge, the audience is seated at the fringes of the stage, providing an intimate theatre experience. This was ideal for this production of "The Birds," which draws the audience into the action and encourages their participation in a sort of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" style. A large box full of colorful feathered hats was placed at the entrance to the auditorium with a sign saying "You know you want to" for anyone wishing to dress for the show. In my usual reluctance to draw attention to myself, I chose to go hatless.

For all its acrobatics, skillful use of props and precise timing, the play went surprisingly smoothly for a first-night performance. All the actors were excellent, but I have to give special mention to Carey Cahoon, a versatile actress who has appeared in all four of the plays I've seen at theatre KAPOW, playing everything from high drama to slapstick comedy. This evening she demonstrated acrobatic skills I had been previously unaware of.

First Snow of the Winter

January 12, 2012 — First snow since October fell today. It accumulated to about three inches. There was some mixing with rain. The temperature hovered around 32 degrees all day. It took me all of 30 minutes to shovel out and sweep off the car. No more snow in the forecast for at least a week. I can't believe our good fortune up to now. Last year at this time we were buried.

Christmas 2011

December 24-25, 2011 — It wasn't a white Christmas, but you won't hear me complaining. Where I had to travel over 200 miles in two days to share the holidays with relatives in two states, I was delighted to find fair skies and landscapes untouched by snow everywhere I went.

My nephew's new baby boy was the main attraction at a Christmas Eve get-together with my sister and her extended family. Great food, gifts and a wild and crazy Yankee swap made for an entertaining evening.

On Christmas morning, I enjoyed breakfast at Kathy's, a Christmas morning family tradition, and then a delicious Christmas dinner and gift exchange with another nephew and his family at their home. You can see photos and videos of the holiday activities at this link:

http://www.linwoodstreet.com/christmas11/

October Nor'easter

October 29-November 2, 2011 — It was a feeling of deja vu. In February 2010 a windstorm so devastated the city it took out power for 68 hours. That was the first time in my nearly 50 years in this city that power was lost for more than an hour or two. I thought the odds were against ever seeing a prolonged outage like that again. But lo and behold, it happened again this past week. A record foot and a half of heavy wet snow falling on trees with all their leaves took down limbs and wires and cut off power for 84 hours.

Unlike the February 2010 outage which occurred during an unseasonably warm spell, this most recent outage happened while temperatures were well below average for late October. It was going down in the 20s overnight and barely reaching 50 in the daytime. Temperature in the house was falling rapidly, making it unlivable by the end of the first day of the outage. I got a room at a local motel, but that solution was too expensive in case the power wasn't restored for days, and the electric company was warning customers full restoration could take a week or more. The next day I went to my sister's 90 miles to the south and stayed there for the next two nights.

On my third day at my sister's, the power was restored at home. I determined this by dialing my home phone. When my electrically-powered answering machine responded, I new the power had to be on. I packed  my things and headed home. It was good to be back. I'm grateful to my sister for putting me up for a couple of nights. Now I'm contemplating installing a generator. I'm getting too old to be driven out of my house by the increasingly destructive weather we've been experiencing in recent years.