The sky was intensely blue and the temperature was in the 40's, not nearly as cold as had been forecast. With the leaves down now the views of the White Mountains are even more spectacular. There is snow in the Presidentials already. We could see the snowcapped peak of Mt. Washington. Kinda cool. Looked like som exotic trekking locale like maybe Nepal or something. Just plain old Mt. Washington but in a new sweater or a new haircut or something.
The other thing I noticed on the way up was tiny little "Vote Perot" roadside signs. The signs for local candidates for local offices (Shaheen for Governor, Sununu for whatever Sununu is running for, etc.) were colorful and prominent. The Perot signs were about 6"x9" - awfully darn small for roadside signs - and hand lettered supported on wire stakes along the side of NH Rt. 16. I saw one Dole Kemp sign and no Clinton Gore signs. This is New Hampshire alright.
We decided to do our annual hike up the falls in Jackson today instead of tomorrow because tomorrow is supposed to be colder, windier, and overcast. The falls were spectacular! Way more water than the last 4 years. Some trees had been uprooted and washed into the river during the recent storm and they were hung up on rocks near the top of the falls. This is the latest in the year that we've made our trip so there was no foliage to speak of. A few oak leaves still hang on. They'll be there til spring. But the maples and birches are bare.
When we came down from the falls I begged off walking our traditional loop around the town of Jackson because I was coughing quite a bit and felt a lot of congestion. I told them I'd meet them at the car in half an hour. I walked over to the coffee shop and got a blend called Mud Slide that looked to be the darkest roast they had. It was ok. I took it across the street to the Jackson Riverwalk park and it cooled off pretty fast. I spotted a great blue heron in the little stream that runs next to the elementary school and tried to get some pictures of it without spilling my coffee or scaring the heron away. I got pretty close, didn't spill the coffee, and clicked away. I can't wait to see how the pictures came out.
On the way back to Rita's condo we stopped at the video store and rented Waiting to Exhale. I voted for James and the Giant Peach, but they were set on Waiting to Exhale.
After a dinner of pasta with Rita's famous pesto sauce made from very fresh basil from her neighbor's garden we watched the movie. By the time the movie ended I was more than ready to sleep. I got a mysterious second wind after every body else went to bed.
It's pretty cold in here. Glad I brought flannel pajamas.
In the dim light, the stuffed apple potpourri thingie on the back of the couch casts a shadow that looks exactly like the Old Man of the Mountain.