Greetings from the great white north (Eh, Hoser?).  We have successfully endured our first full winter in the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire – no worse for the wear.

We sold our home in Georgia back in October, and then wandered cross-country until in December we moved full-time into our 800 square foot cottage in New Hampshire.  While we truly miss our peeps in Georgia, this feels like the right move for us.

As some of you know, both Karen and I are originally from New England, so it feels very natural for us to listen to people who replace the letter R with an H and insert R sounds where they don’t belong.  It’s a New England thing.

While we have been remiss in posting for a while, it is not because we haven’t been busy.  The elephant in the room is the work we have contracted to have our cottage slightly expanded and changed to provide more full-time living space.  While we are happy to have the work being performed, you can feel a little bit like a fish in a fishbowl having contractors at your house six days a week.  And trust me, contractors start their day WAY earlier than I do in my normal slothful life.

And as a sure sign we are growing up (I’ll avoid the word maturing for reasons that should be obvious), we are in the process of getting our driveway paved!  Not that it needs it.  Except that every day above 30 degrees is mud season.

The winter kicked off with an amazing storm back in December that combined massive winds, precipitation, and ultra-high tides.  Think Raging Bull.  But then, every part of the country has had their own form of extreme weather this winter.

Quickly the holidays were upon us, and we celebrated in fine form with friends and family.  We couldn’t get the entire family together, but we will take what we can get.

Living in a cold environment, I needed a solution to clearing snow from our driveway and opted for a snowplow.  Even though we don’t normally get a ton of snow, when it does snow it tends to be heavy, so the plow has worked out great.  And I look bitchin’.  Karen tells me she loves a man in foul-weather gear.  R R R

Speaking of snow, there is skiing – and there is good skiing here in New England.  One of the benefits of getting old (considering the alternatives) is when you get to be 70 years old you can ski for free at certain locations!  We have availed ourselves of this unique opportunity – in these pictures at Gunstock with views overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee.

Wherever you live, you need to embrace weather.  We have been for many walks or hikes, including to Halibut Point in Rockport (MA).  This is a fabulous little hike out on the end of Cape Ann and affords gorgeous views back up the coast of New Hampshire and Maine.  Also have been to Creek Farm Reservation (Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion) in Portsmouth, where there are beautiful views over the water into New Castle and Portsmouth.  Really, there are endless views and interesting hikes along the New England seashore.

With high school and college friends, I have hiked weekly this winter, each week to different places.  We have visited the Trustees parks at Crane Beach, Plum Island, and the Charles Ward Reservation in Andover (MA), as well as hikes on the beaches in Hampton, urban hikes in Lowell and Waltham, the Minuteman National Park in Lexington, Lincoln and Concord, and anywhere that strikes our fancy.  We’ll hike, talk trash, and maybe join up somewhere for a little lunch.  Not awful.

Boston is a sports town, and as I write these words the Celtics and the Bruins are both in contention for greatness.  Hopefully the Red Sox will have a good season, and maybe the Patriots will come back after a not-so-great year.  But here in Boston, hope springs eternal.

And in the culinary category, we have found ourselves this winter at the L Street Tavern right here in Hampton, which offers on Wednesdays twin lobsters for $14.66.  It’s a classy place, what can I tell you.

All for now – more to follow.  Until then, keep it between the lines – and keep it classy.