Summer winds down in New Hampshire

Last weekend, in anticipation of Labor Day, I longed for an ice cream cone. One scoop. Plain cone. Arriving at the Happy Cow in Laconia just as the sun was setting, a gaggle of smiling people of all ages and sizes engaged in lively conversation that extended down Union Avenue. Clearly, I wasn’t the only person craving ice cream on this Saturday evening.

Labor Day, unlike Memorial Day, brings within it the sense of an ending. Autumn is glorious, yet there is a sense of seriousness around it as the focus shifts to work and academics. I savored my chocolate walnut cone, knowing it was the last of the season.

At a dinner in New York last spring a friend mentioned she had never been to New Hampshire. A native of the Midwest, she attended boarding school outside of Washington and college in New York. In her various trips to New England she had never crossed the border into New Hampshire. I treasure the opportunities when I can introduce friends to our state and invited her for a visit in August.

We are both interested in historic preservation and architecture, so we studied a map before beginning our day trips and drove on less traveled roads through small hamlets and on routes that were new to both of us. One day we meandered up Route 10 to Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America’s greatest sculptors, began visiting Cornish in 1885 and spent summers there until 1897. In 1900 the Cornish estate became the Saint-Guadens family home and they lived there until his death in 1907. Like other artists and writers who traveled to New Hampshire they came for the clear mountain air, the solitude and the sweeping views across the landscape.

Our drive to Cornish took us through small towns like Munsonville, Gilsum, Marlow and Lempster.

Most of New Hampshire is a quiet state – a place where people come to think and reflect. One learns through exploring the place how many artists, writers and musicians have found inspiration here. Mount Monadnock inspired, among others, the writing of Thoreau, Emerson, Cather and Twain.

On Sunday afternoon, August 25, there was a memorial concert at the community church in the town of Nelson. It celebrated the life of James Bolle, a composer, conductor and the founder of the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, which he directed for 29 years, and Monadnock Music which he headed for 42 years. The concert included a few of his compositions, including “Two Sea Monsters,” “Tampon Rag” and “8 Pieces for Violin and Oboe”. The church was filled with neighbors and friends. It was an elegant celebration of a life lived in simplicity, away from the maddening crowds.

Soon we will be kicking the leaves along the sidewalk, planting bulbs for the spring and storing the grill and summer furniture. The bouquets of wildflowers that have filled my house are gone and soon will be replaced with dried flowers and branches. I have added cloves and nutmeg to the market shopping list, knowing that my next longing will be for a pumpkin pie on a cool Sunday afternoon.

Elizabeth Howard is an author and journalist. Her books include: Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited (Easton Studio Press, 2016), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David R. Godine, 2015), Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011). She lives in New York City and has a home in Laconia. You can send her a note at: Elizabeth@laconiadailysun.com