Dang - that's why "Happy Vale" popped into my head! I saw Arsenic & Old Lace just a few months ago.

Sitting in the common room of Happy Vale Nursing Home, the cheery nurse asks me "Do you want to play Bingo or do a jigsaw puzzle?"

"I want to read 'Finnegan's Wake' aloud - in a group."

"If you're going to be like that, Mr. Smith, we'll have to send you back to your room."

I very much like the idea of reading it aloud and in a group.

I will never find such a group, however.

Shouldn't need to be said, but it does. Alas.

You were born two decades too late. Frozen-ground-all-winter doesn't happen in the Northeast US any more.

Keene is a pretty cool (very) small city, partly because it has KSC almost downtown. That makes a difference even if the school isn't world-class.

Not just that part of the state, though - the dirt road opposite my house is the name of the guy I bought the house from, whose son and widow and cousin still live in town. We're within spitting distance of Mass.

Your tax dollars at "work"

Somebody trashed Mr. Poppers Penguins?!?!?!? Outrageous!!!!

Agreed. It feels like you're in Europe, as cliched as that sounds.

Hunt around - there are lots of discussions about the pros and cons of burying power lines which I think is what you're getting at.

Temperatures were right around 32 for many places (like my house). If it stayed slightly below, you got a lot of snow; if it stayed slightly above, you didn't. Extremely variable!

and it was very elevation-dependent.

Do you have the slightest evidence for this claim that there is any union opposing the burying of power lines?

Of course you don't. You made it up: you guessed that it was probably true and then stated it as a fact because like many people you've been warped by unions-are-bad mantra pushed by those who make more money when unions are weak.

To each their own - today was the first time I've lost power for more than 2 minutes in several years. It's back after 3 1/2 hours. I'm in a fairly rural small town , not near a hospital or fire station anything that would get line priority. Luck of the draw!

Sounds like you're in a bad spot in terms of lines / trees / alternative power routes.

Very wet snow (4.5-1 water ratio) as of 8 a.m. in the Souhegan Valley - temp right around 32F

NH is small but it's not that small. Need more information!

For example: For fun, are you more interested in getting to Boston, or the White Mountains, or the ocean?

I'll be darned - live and learn. It was completed so late that I assumed it was paved from the start.

I like dirt roads but if that baby was unpaved - it's so steep, so icy/snowy - it would cost a fortune to make it usable every spring.

People keep referencing a Brave Little State episode on this questino - I think this is it, although it doesn't specifically talk about population

https://www.vermontpublic.org/podcast/brave-little-state/2021-09-23/vermont-vs-new-hampshire-whats-the-beef

This winter the Northeast isn't even in the same league with parts of the West in terms of snowfall, where multiple feet is the norm.

We must tip our hats to them - plaid hats with ear flaps, of course.

A general rule: The smaller the city, the more clever the police department's social media.

The state is in dire need of paramedics especially outside of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties (the ones nearest Boston). You will have no shortage of job options, that's for sure.

lacing muck boots?!?! Sacrilege!

dang - I wear mine out every year (some sort of crack appears that lets in water) and it's not like I'm a real farmer. I must walk weird or something. I've tried several brands and it doesn't really seem to matter.

being able to easily slip barn boots on and off is an often-overlooked attribute - but it makes all the difference