Turning something that was once nice into...
 

There have been a lot of discussions about the good, bad and ugly commercial renovations going on in the local area. Well, up in Waterville Valley someone decided to put the nail in the coffin and totally ruin what was once one of the best ski lodges in New England and turn it into a roadside gas station.
What is your favorite and least favorite renovation here in the Lakes Region.

https://www.newenglandskiindustry.co...ories/792b.jpg

WV main base lodge 1966-2019
 

That is the Waterville Valley mountain base lodge and the new windows and raised roof remodeling job, built this summer, will greatly improve the view out to the slopes, as seen from inside the building. Just like Elvis, the view is NOW inside the building!

This building was first built in 1966, and was expanded a few times, over the years. Now, this summer of 2019, it has been made a little smaller, and improved by making the mountain view from inside the building much easier to see and enjoy.

An outdoor restaurant structure that extended out front was removed, and many new improvements, all designed to improve the mountain view as seen from inside were made.

What else is new this year? :banana::banana:The High Country double chair lift was removed and replaced with a two person, tee bar, because the old chair was always getting closed due to the wind. The new tee bar is a snow surface lift, close to the trees, out of the wind, and actually travels along faster than the old chair, plus it will be fun to ride an old style, challenge lift. The snow groomer grooms under this tee bar lift, every night.

Ages 65-79 ....... here's a super steal of a deal ..... $579 buys you a value pass good for all lifts, all the time except for all (busy!) Saturdays, Christmas week, Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, and February ski Massachusetts week holiday ..... all times that are very crowded with Massachusetts skiers, anyway. Just think ..... for $579, you can ride the High Country tee bar, just as lifts were built back in 1966!

News flash ..... you heard it here first .... Gov Sununu and the White House have re-interpreted the rules for Medicare so's Medicare now pays 80% of your down hill ski season pass at WATERVILLE VALLEY ....... way to go Chris Sununu! ...... "it's a serious NH mental health, WINTER issue for the elderly ..... budda-bing!"

Hey ..... it either skiing ..... or drinking ... :cheers: .... and the NH winter lasts a long time!

Am hoping they remove the main quad lift and replace it with a rope tow ...... powered by a red International Farm-All tractor up top .... ho-ho-ho ..... just kidding!

Waterville Senior Pass is too Expen$ive.
 

$579 ain't going to cut it! Way too much for a senior pass, as many geezers only ski a few hours at a time. For $369 ($110 less) and about the same driving time, you can ski Loon Mountain. Get an extra 90 feet of vertical and 105 more acres of terrain without having to ride a T-Bar. Even better, Cannon Mountain is *FREE* to seniors. Only an extra 5 minutes driving, 160 extra vertical feet and 20 more acres to ski and ride.

What other geezer deals are out there for the upcoming ski season? Cannon is a good and free go-to mountain for seniors, but when foggy or icy (more than half the time?), other cheap options are nice to have.

I worked at Waterville while attending Plymouth State in the 1960’s. Always thought the original building was beautiful. Who signed off on this shed?

I agree with you! Gunstock M-F senior pass is $199. A buddy can ski with you at half price! You can use it for x-c skiing!
Cannon is free. All new snowmaking! The Mittersill area is a bit more protected from the Notch blast, so the skiing is much better!
Like VT! Sugarbush M-F senior pass in only $139! I ski there occasionally, great mountain! Most of the seniors there use to frequent Killington. Because of the crowd they favor Sugarbush which is just up the road from Killington!

Check out NH Senior deals. https://skinh.com/deals/senior-deals
Just do some research before you go! Google is your friend!

Would be good to find 1966-2019 photographs of the Waterville Valley base lodge to show how it has been changed .... probably a number of times.

In about 1970-1985, WV had the most skier visits for all NH ski areas, and the base lodge got bigger and bigger. For 2018-2019, WV was maybe the #6 or #7 NH ski area in skier visits behind Loon, Bretton Woods, Sunapee, Wildcat, Cannon , and Gunstock? During the mid-week of Tues-Wed-Thurs, skiing at WV can be like skiing in your own private ski area ..... da place is like totally deserted?

What it needs now, outdoors, on the flat grassy area, next to the red fire hydrant is an outdoor, circular, 92-degree heated swim pool enclosed in a yurt style structure with a round roof that opens up ...... is all it needs? Sort of like a big hot tub, but less hot at 92-degrees for swimming and aqua zumba ..... that would definitely hit the spot, there, for the winter outdoor cold!

You know the ski storage racks out front the base lodge, down below in this big photo, sit on a very large, heated concrete deck area, and it always seems strange how there's absolutely no snow on the ground under the outdoor ski storage racks. I say ...... lose the heated concrete outside deck ...... and build an outdoor heated pool, instead. Winter is winter ..... and it's odd to have a ski base lodge, ski storage rack area with no snow?

Their electric bill from the NH Electric Coop is soooo big that they get billed like every three days ..... so's running an outdoor swim pool will just barely impact the already huge electric cost ..... say-hey ..... it all keeps on going with that endless Boston-bmw ski money?

With their ski area website, it's like they are more just selling a website ski image than what is actually there as somewhat shown on the live cam.

I've seen worse, take a ride over to Crotched Mt. Could look better but I don't think it looks terribly bad.

What a sad depressing outlook on life and the lake.

I don't know where you boated or found all the junk on the bottom when you were out there. Twenty five years later (and starting 55 years ago) my impression is vastly different than yours. I enjoy every day I m out on the lake and every opportunity to get out and go boating is a positive experience.

Hey Dhamma ...... today is your lucky day ..... because the Plymouth Walmart has 'zactly one Ozark Trail 12' Pro-Angler Kayak, in grass camouflage color left in stock for the year, reg $495 ...... now reduced down by 50% ..... a super steal of a deal


.......and , here's where to go ..... http.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbagog_Lake .... Lake Umbagog, up north.

If you haven't been out on the lake in about 25 years, how then can you accurately comment about its current condition?

Perhaps you've directed too much of your focus inward as opposed to outward.

Actualize zen.

I have a 16' Grumman Canoe which I love. My fav places to go are the bogs up in Pittsburg. And a paddle up the East Inlet is mesmerizing. Would like to try a Kayak some day but it doesn't fit into the schedule right now. Besides, dogs like the canoe.

Turning something that was one nice into…
 

I’m sorry to say, but I have to agree with Dhaama.
We lived in Hanson Cove in the late 1950s to the early 1960s. We got our water from the lake. Yes, we actually could drink the water from the lake it was that clean.

In 1963 my parents build their retirement home in the Kona area in Moultonborough.
We swim in front of the house in a beautiful sandy beach. You could swim out and see the bottom in 20 feet deep water. At night the shoreline was covered in crawfish. Our dog used to go crazy when he saw them.

My dad owned a lot of land back then, which he sold over many years.
I used to love to swim back-and-forth, from a beach that he had to his house just a quarter mile or so. The last time I made that swim was in 1985 when I was pregnant with my last child. What was once a pristine haven now turned into a nightmare. There were so many weeds that I came upon when I was swimming that I thought that they would drown me for sure. Weeds are growing everywhere now , there used to be just a few areas with lily pads for people to go fishing.
Now,You step down and you sink into 6 inches of mush where there was sand.

I too feel that I have checked out. My father loved Lake Winnepesaukee more than anyone could ever imagine. He put restrictions on his property, so that no one would infringe on anyone else’s enjoyment.

I was walking back in 2014 after my mother died, a loop that I had done many times. I couldn’t believe I saw a man holding round up and spray it all over his weeds by the road. I just looked in shock. I finally said, that my dad used to own all this property And I’m glad that he didn’t live long enough to see what everyone has done to this beautiful lake.
Sorry, I could go on and on. It will never be the same!

Turning something that was once nice into...
 

I just read my response. You can see how stressed out I was with all the grammatical errors that I made. 😢

Curious, what did you seriously expect? Nothing to ever change?

Turning something that was once nice into...
 

No, of course I expected things would change. Things always change. But do they have to change for the worse?

Why do people have to have a green lawn? Why do they have to dump so much fertilizer that it all ends up in the lake?
Maybe I just don’t get it anymore. The lake was always so beautiful, so natural, and I would like to think that that is the reason that so many people love the lake.

So I don’t understand why people don’t respect the lake like they used to .
Why do people throw trash overboard when they’re on their boat? We would never do that. Why do we have something like the sandbar in Braun Bay?
I don’t find it funny to hear it referred to as Urination Cove .
My kids were always taught to get out of the lake when they had to go to the bathroom. How many people just go automatically now?

There should have been spacing and setback laws to protect the lakes and the beauty. Houses should have to be back in the tree line and painted passive colors. Docks and boat size should have been limited.
But! As we all know tax money comes before anything.
I know people would call it dictator control but the lake cant speak or protect itself and people dont think about things like natural beauty. They think about fun, excitement being entertained and showing off. Their minds run them instead of them running their minds.

Turning something that was once nice into something
 

Dhamma, you are correct.
My father was forward thinking in everything that he did. He never thought of the enjoyment just for the moment, But the effect it would have on everyone in the future as well.

When he started selling land, the lots were bigger than the minimum requirements. He also made sure the setbacks were further back from the lot lines. He stipulated that you could only build a one story house, so that no one’s view would be obstructed in anyway. As I think back as a teenager, when all this was going on, It seems to me he was asking everyone to be a steward for the environment, and if they didn’t agree with his way of thinking, he didn’t care. He would find someone else that felt like he did.


One restriction that I remember, that I couldn’t comprehend at the time was that my father put a 50 year building limit on back land that he owned. The 50 years just came up a few years ago, I don’t know what year exactly.

Too many people just saw the lake as a way to get rich. I won’t name any names, but if you’ve been around the lake as long as I have you know what’s been done.

I realize that I’m not talking to everyone who enjoys the lake, to those of you I apologize.

The garbage and pollution and all the damage done to the lake has been man-made. You can’t blame it on anything else.

I like Hanson Cove.

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Turning something that was once nice into something
 

My memory is in overdrive now.

I think it was back in the 80s, my dad didn’t have much land left. And all his land was always the best.

He had just listed it for sale, and received a call from someone in Massachusetts.

My dad never really told me what was going on businesswise, it was just what I could figure out. My dad said there was no way in the world he would ever sell to him.

The man so desperately wanted to buy the property, and obviously Something was going on and my dad said Absolutely no!

I remember when the man drove up from Massachusetts and the trunk of his car was full of cash. He told my dad no one had to know, it would be between the two of them. I never heard my father scream so much in my entire life!

It was never about the money to him. So obviously, I am extremely biased in my thinking.

My apologies

I sympathize with you, unfortunately, "change" is not always for the best. There are plenty of recent examples.

I wouldn't expect many others to agree with what you are saying.

To get back on track...
 

...to answer the question of favorite and least favorite renovations in the area, my candidates are:

Favorites:

--Triple H's mansion. Although it is huge, I think it was done tastefully and fits in the with the lake, with its Adirondack/stone design. They also left a lot of mature trees and plantings on the property

--Center Harbor Inn. Before the renovation, the place looked like a run-down 1950's motel, which it was. Now it has a nice Adirondack, "lakey" flare to it.

--Condos at Christmas Island and the Meredith Bay condos along Scenic Drive in The Weirs. They packed a ton of them in at Christmas Island, but they are attractive and have a lake look and feel to them. Same with the Meredith Bay condos on Scenic Drive.

Eyesores:

--The hideous condos they built on top of the strip mall next to China Bistro. That mess is so ugly, especially sitting on top of "posts" in the parking lot

--All of the vacant lots at The Weirs.

--The MB mansion on Governor's Island. I have no issue with waterfront estates, but at least make it tasteful, like Triple H's. That thing looks like it belongs in FL, not on the lake.

--Downtown Laconia Parking Garage and late 60's urban renewal project. Bulldoze it down and start over.

Thank you for getting back on topic. As usual, Fats got folks going in another direction. :rolleye1:

In addition to your favorites, one my favorites is Church Landing.
Faros came out looking good. Too bad about all those surrounding vacant los.

Turning something that was once nice into something
 

My husband was in Meredith several years ago attending a conference. He was in Church Landing when he overheard someone mention that it looks like it used to be a church.

My husband said well yes, of course, I actually got married here!

I think the greatest transformation is the one that turned Meredith from a Mill town to a tourist destination.

I remember driving through downtown Meredith in the summertime when the windows of the factory were open and the asbestos was floating like cotton out of the windows.

..... is totally amazing!
 

..... someone said that triple-h bought the open farm fields, lower meadow farm land held through a conservation easement, on the Meredith Neck just beyond the last fire hydrant at Barnard Ridge and Meredith Neck Rd.....

.....and, the first field with the highest quality mowed green grass looks totally amazing!

.....and, the third and fourth fields have a continuous 3-rail, split rail, cedar fence that goes for hundreds of yards ..... looks totally amazing!

.... and, everytime I drive down the Meredith Neck one can actually hear the property values growing higher ...... like corn the day after an early August rain ..... and it sounds totally amazing!

..... that new town conservation forest land that used to be a cow pasture or something, along Barnard Ridge Rd also looks...... totally amazing! ...... whoopsie ...... no new sub-division there ...... too bad!

citizens bank in Meredith. Omg thats one ugly building

Sunrise Apartments
 

On the corner of Main and Union in Laconia. Use to be a beautiful brick building, now look like a commercial vinyl siding mess.
On the other hand, Melcher & Prescott, Landmark Inn did a great job!

That is true...
 

That is true. He made the farmer an unsolicited offer he couldn't refuse. Can't you just picture ol' HHH in his bib overalls, chewin' on a piece of hay, riding his tractor...??? :laugh: I guess he has proved that just because you bought the farm, doesn't mean your dead!

BEFORE



https://www.newenglandskihistory.com...eyprofile5.jpg


AFTER


https://www.newenglandskiindustry.co...ories/792b.jpg[/QUOTE]

Just picture that remodeled base lodge all covered with snow and it will be good to go ….. plus it brings the outside views into the inside of the building. Just like Elvis, the big view is NOW inside the building! A building is a success if it has good use on the inside, more than what it looks like on the outside!

Suggest they name it the Team Sununu remodel? Supposedly, Chris found the three, large, overhead garage doors for a very low price on craigslist …. plus they came with all those windows. … :laugh:

The upper photo with the triple chairlift could be about 1990, when Tom Corcoran was still the big boss, and he was always super gung-ho with running Waterville Valley ….. always an event …. always a party …. always a ski race with the big names, present.

You can still ski this triple chair, only it got relocated in about 2017 to www.waterville.com/green-peak ….. to the left and up above the well known Valley Run beginner slope …. see bottom photo.

Sorry, I like the old one.

Me too! And when they had real logs and not cement logs burning in the fireplaces.

Yes, the old version of the base lodge is better looking as seen from a distance, outside, but it had terrible visibility looking out the windows for people inside.

The new building has a much better view, looking outside, and just like Elvis, the view is now inside the building ..... looking outdoors.

So, what matters more, how the building looks as a building, or how it is good to use for people inside the building?

Is like the difference between a two seat sports car, and a four door hatchback sedan or suv.

Agree that a fireplace with real wood logs for burning is way better than faux propane logs, but real wood needs a lot of minding the fire, and propane does not.

A good architect will design a building to look nice from the outside and serve its purpose on the inside. As I spend most of my hours outside when visiting a ski area, I place equal if not more importance on how the buildings fit into the surroundings.

Ah progress. But I agree with Longbay, they should be able to design something that is still nice looking but still meet the purpose. I notice a lot of the new building are nowhere near as nice looking as the old buildings-libraries, churches etc.-in fact some are just plain ugly. I even notice the new houses are becoming more "modern" looking, plainer, not as much style as in recent years. I guess this is what the architects are designing.

No question that is an absolutely HORRID looking expansion. A 5 year old could do better than that.

Who ever the so called architect is that came up with that needs to find a different line of work - that is a epic failure at least in the aesthetic department.

Eh who cares skiing around here is a rip off anyways. Waterville valley is equivalent, maybe, to the dope slope at any half way decent resort out west. It amazes me how many will throw down a c-note per head per day to ski these places. Crazy.

Skiing in the north east is like going to Wal-Mart, everything is way over priced and it's all junk. ;)

So, what do you think?
 

So, I wonder what's the intended use for the three large, overhead, garage doors and do they actually open and go up and down, or did Chris just buy them cheap, and they are permanently in the down, closed, position?

Well, they do have plenty of windows in each big garage door for looking to the outdoors, while you is indoors?

So, what's up with the 3 big garage doors?

A: Maybe the snow groomer machines go inside, through the 3 big garage doors during the day, so they are always close to the slopes?

B: Maybe there will be outdoor mountain events, held from May through October, when the weather is warm, like a wedding or a boy scout or girl scout camping jamboree, or a July 4-Taylor Swift hillside outdoor concert that puts the base lodge with the 3 big door openings to a good purpose?

C: With those 3 big doors and this location, maybe the Army National Guard will keep their large helicopters here in the warm weather months, so they will be closer to the mountains and doing rescues for lost and injured hikers?

So, what do you think?

With a large white tent set up on the flat area out front the two garage doors, that would be a totally fantastic venue for the June 10-12, 2020 international G-7 Summit get-together. It could be named appropriately, the Black Fly G-7 with Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all there.

So, now you know these three unusual garage doors are part of the plan to use the base lodge for warm weather, outdoor-indoor, mountain events .... starting with the 2020 G-7 Summit in June! Thanks to this totally beautiful mountain location, and this newly remodeled, totally fabulous base lodge with the big garage doors, Waterville Valley has done beat out the Doral Golf Resort in Miami to host the G-7 Summit talks in June!

!
 

I stand in speechless awe FLL. Maybe your best FLL work yet. :emb:

You know what they say about a million monkeys and a million typewriters.......

Thanks for your reply.

I agree with much of what you say, but I submit it is somewhat nonresponsive to my query.

You said that the lake has "Rocks and stones on the bottom now surrounded with empty beer cans, wine bottles, old tires, sinks, stoves and furniture," but then admitted you hadn't actually been out on the lake for about 25 years to actually observe existing conditions.

I must ask you, in all candor: if you do not look, how can you see?

"Loving" It to Death...
 

I see you've been thanked by member camp guy.

The two of us have been watching the same entropy, but from the "quiet side" of the lake.

At one time, we could take a 12-foot outboard motorboat to buy a postage stamp, eggs, donuts, milk, a soda, and gas up the tank--to return home within 15 minutes. That friendly era was displaced by Soviet-style people-warehouses--adding signage to make one feel very unwelcome.

Back when people worked at keeping their own places up, Wolfeboro had three hardware stores. :eek2: Bradley's was there, Genes, and Wolfeboro Hardware. One bank. :rolleye2:

It was annoying to have strangers anchor off our shore, distracting from our local ambience and mountain view; however, with the churning of too many oversized boats nowadays--even those strangers are unable to keep an anchor "hooked" into the lake bottom. This is not to mention the ever-increasing erosion along Winter Harbor's natural shorelines. (Even endangering house foundations that face Rattlesnake Island). Where were the Town Planners that couldn't see what was happening?

Where floatplanes regularly used Winter Harbor's designated landing zones, even a touch-and-go today is impossible with all the clueless boat traffic milling around.

Money has caused McMansions to spring up. One near me advertises rentals with rooms to accommodate FIVE families--and the use of--three docks. (Where there used to be one).

Although I welcomed the upswing in the 1980's economy, there's been no effort to keep money from corrupting our little Paradise here. :(

You hit the nail on the head. Lack of town planning and abuse of subdivisions have transformed this area to where it can never recover.

Turning something that was once nice into
 

You’re right that it can’t ever recover. There are too many people who don’t realize what a treasure we used to have.
They only see what we have now.
I am very sad that there was not enough foresight and caring about the future of the lake when people had the chance to make a difference.

Yes, you're right. Once it's gone its gone. And its not only the lakes region its everywhere beautiful and which used to be serine.
I been going up north to Pittsburg almost every month for 25 years to try and get away from it all. It worked great up until about two years ago when they opened the trails to 4 wheel ATV's.

Now its like a race track up there. Every weekend hundreds if not thousands of atv's racing up and down the dirt roads, thru trails and around town. Everyone up there is complaining too. The people who had nice quiet cabins say that they used to see maybe 1 or 2 atv's a weekend now say it's steady traffic racing back and forth.

No body cares about quiet peaceful living anymore. Life has to be just like whats going on in their heads. Clanging, Banging, Smashing, Crashing, Shouting, Laughing, Screaming, Yahooing and non stop Firework Displays complete with loud music, flashing lights, fried dough, cotton candy and drinks for every one.

Understood, but nothing you can do about it except move further out into the boonies.

Lots of room left in Alaska.

Building a place on a dead end dirt road out in the sticks now. Should be moving in next year.

Lake Winni is gone to me as is most of NH. They have just become another hell hole playground. Seems like humans are children their whole lives.

I don’t necessarily disagree with a lot you have said. But it is a privilege to be able to be moving to a dead end dirt road in the boonies. The vast majority of people could not escape to the boonies. And if they could, would not the boonies become just another hell hole? I assume you realize the privilege you have to be able to swing it and leave the rest of us behind.

Blame supply and demand.

You've been getting an influx of new arrivals seeking to enjoy that which makes the lakes region special; we in the Portland, Oregon area have also been dealing with this issue for quite awhile, with no happy ending in sight.

Our leaders / policy makers failed to ensure that the infrastructure expanded to keep up with growth, and the result is unacceptably crowded highways and main arterials.

Ruinationers...Ruinateers...
 

Good luck...

We're at a place that is still on a dead-end dirt road. The dirt road was probably built at the beginning of the century—two centuries ago! :eek2:

The maple-syrup "factory", employing a half-dozen people (and their horses) is long-gone—one century ago.

Even when you think you're at your little dead-end dirt road paradise—enjoying a quiet sunset—not long afterwards, you can count on someone setting off fireworks...starting Fridays. :(

Where do these people, bent on ruin, come from? :confused:

I just come to the forum in the mornings to make sure I fill up on negativity and misery to get me through the afternoon...

That takes care of your afternoons.

But, why not become a state worker? They are trained to not look out the window in the morning so they will have something to do in the afternoon.

Does that work for you?

That would be great, really would have enough afternoon time to take some tips from FLL. Unfortunately I live in Mass now... Those state jobs are long gone for my demographic.

Self identification forms in the application, Caucasian, Male, No disabilities, Non veteran status? My resume wouldn't even make it in the door. :emb:

Only problem I have are some target shooters that I hear every now and then. One of my dogs is scared stiff of gun shots. Probably was a deer in her last life and got shot.

I find that its the noise that excites people. If a gun didn't go bang or a car race or football game was silent or a radio could only be turned up to a low level, who would even bother?

This ain't no "Hell Hole"...
 

I've been reading this thread over the last few days and I have to chime in. As long as there are humans, there will be those who are selfish, greedy, and have no regard for the environment around them. While there was certainly less development 200 years ago, (or whatever the more pristine time is that previous posters have referred to), the masses were less educated and as a whole, had much less regard for the environment than people do today.

While there are certainly pigs who toss their beer cans in the lake, my experience has been that the majority of people treat the lake with respect. To refer to Meredith and The Lakes Region as a "hell hole", is an ignorant statement. If you want to see a Hell Hole, go to India....go to Brazil....go to China.

In Bangalore, India, multi-generational families live under tarps on the sidewalk; Huge piles of trash are everywhere; People openly urinate and defecate in public; Cows, (which are sacred), roam the city streets; There are no traffic signs or lights, so the streets are total mayhem of cars, scooters, animals, and pedestrians; Hotels have fortress walls around them with iron gates, and upon entering, your car is sniffed by bomb-sniffing dogs and you pass through a metal detector to get into the hotel.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, trash and human waste flow in the city rivers that are equivalent to the Charles in Boston or The Chicago River in Chicago; Prostitution and drugs are rampant.

In Beijing, China, the pollution is so thick you think you're in the fog; People wheel carts around full of trash, reminiscent of the "Bring out your dead" scene from the Monty Python movie.

When I have been in these true Hell Holes, I've counted the minutes till I would get back to Meredith and the lake. Sure there has been development and sure there are knuckleheads who do stupid things, but none of us are living in squalor and filth and to refer to the area as a Hell Hole is ignorant and disrespectful.

Give it time. We're thousands of years younger than they are and much less populated. But we'll get there, guaranteed. Believe me, to me from when the time that I lived in meredith compared to now, Its a hell hole to me. And lucky you! Its only going to get worst.

You're definitely the happiest person in the world. Why are you even on this forum?

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Worse.


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You must be a barrel of laughs at parties!....

I don't party.

Just curious. I will leave if you wish.

Kinda figured that.....

Eshun's Departure

When Eshun, the Zen nun, was past sixty and about to leave this world, she asked some monks to pile up wood in the yard.

Seating herself firmly in the center of the funeral pyre, she had it set fire around the edges.

"O nun!" shouted one monk, "is it hot in there?"

"Such a matter would concern only a stupid person like yourself," answered Eshun.

The flames arose, and she passed away.

Slightly humiliated. If thats what the parable means.

No humiliation was intended.

The parable is one of "101 Zen Stories" in "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones."

It just seemed apt.

So interesting what you have said about the lake. I am probably going to get 20 lashes with a wet noodle - and I am going to be a newcomer Weirs resident- but I have been to the lake quite a number of times for vacation and I agree with this. I usually compare Winni to Lake Champlain which is my favorite lake.

When people ask me about "Champ" and Winni, I describe the difference as Champ having a more peaceful and serene vibe combined with the history that transpired there. Sailboats and small fishing boats. Not as many bigger, motorized and speed type boats. Quieter overall. Very spiritual. Not crowded as much. There are certainly some mansions on the lake but not as in your face as the ones on Winni. We love renting homes on Champ.

Winni has a lot of the positives too, of course, but I believe the abundance of motor boats, jet skiis, and the like and the tacky/kitchy stuff kind of takes away from it. The crowds, the noise, the in your face mansions.

Still a beautiful lake. There's a reason so many people want to visit and live there. Heck I'm moving there myself. I confess I am not a boat owner.

I really love Squam Lake as it seems to still have the vibe of the past.

Yes. We are currently renting a home here in rural NY while waiting for our home to be built in The Weirs. It is surrounded by beautiful pastures and horse farms and pockets of Mc Mansions. Bucolic until you hear the racetrack that is just a few miles from here and the race cars that for some reason like to go up and down this dead end street.

Where our former home was located- on 10 1/2 wooded acres- it was usually dead quiet- until the shooting starts or the weekend fireworks. I guess it;s the same no matter where you go.

What you are witnessing here on planet ert today is a pollution of uncontrolled minds. Almost every single person is walking around listening to their mind tell them what to do in stead of them telling their mind what to do.

Personally, I'm not crazy about the concrete renovation of the First Congregational Church in Wolfeboro.

The renovation of the Wolfeboro Town Hall was done well.

I agree, the church was one of the worst replacements I have ever seen! To put that building
where that beautiful old church was is a crime!