Travels With Becky

When bad luck turns good

Sometimes bad luck is good luck. Last winter we had a frost heave the size of Rhode Island just down the road from our house.  It earned a BUMP sign, which has stood ever since.  Now we have a series of frost heaves -- about 200 yards of them above, below, and in front of the house.  They are so serious that cars (which usually whiz by at about 65 mph, though the speed limit is 45) have actually slowed down.  Some, those driven by regular commuters, come almost to a complete stop.

Now I can back out of my driveway without worrying about getting rear-ended for the first time in the 31 years we’ve lived here.

Hallelujah.

I hope those frosts heaves stay forever.  I consider them natural speed bumps.

Thank you, Mother Nature.

Anybody else with a story of how bad luck turned out to be good luck?  You can comment below or e-mail me at [email protected] or [email protected].

Words to live by

I've found a new motto. I love mottos and credos. They help me know what to do. Among my favorites: “You can’t control the others,” and “I’ve got enough crazy on my plate already.” Also, “In this life you can be oh so clever or oh so pleasant.” (I try to be pleasant, since clever is not my strong suit.)

But the latest expression to guide my life came from Marjorie (I think) at the North Country meeting of Microcredit NH for artists and owners of arts related businesses. We swapped stories and participants learned about the importance of good bookkeeping, web design and generating publicity. Microcredit NH trains small business owners and entrepreneurs and arranges low interest loans as well as stipends for participating in business training. Good deal all around.

So the saying from Marjorie (I think) is this: “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly for as long as it takes.”

Yup.

To see or not to see

At the Deerfield Deliberative Session (town meeting without teeth), the article that elicited the most discussion was the last on the ballot.  Article 18:  “To see if the Town will vote to approve the following resolution to be forwarded to our State Representative(s), our State Senator, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate President:  Resolved: The citizens of New Hampshire should be allowed to vote on an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution that defines “marriage”.

A bunch of folks had quite a lot to say on the article and the proposed amendment, to revise the article to read “To see ... ” and that’s all.  At Deliberative Sessions under SB2, folks don’t get to vote on the articles, but can amend them by vote.  So on the ballot in March, Deerfield residents will have to vote yea or nay on, “To see ...”

A highlight of the discussion came when Rebecca Hutchinson rose to speak in favor of the amendment.  She introduced herself, gave her address for the record, talked about why she favored the amendment, then said that though she favored the rights of homosexuals to marry, she didn’t really understand homosexual attraction. Adding:  “I don’t really understand heterosexual attraction either,”  to which the Moderator, Jack Hutchinson, Rebecca’s husband, said, “Ouch!”

A good moderator can cool hot discussion with a good laugh, which Jack did with enormous grace on several occasions. 

In the photo, three nice ladies of Deerfield supervise the checklist: Meredith Briggs, Diane Valade, and Cherie Sanborn.  Turns our Cherie and Meredith are related, sort of.  Cherie said:  "I married her cousin. She married my brother."