Rose Robinson

While spring beckons you to appreciate its awakening from winter's sleep, summer exhorts you to come out and play, and fall insists that you admire it's bountiful beauty!

Here in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, we are privileged to live among technicolor foliage! We are not alone; every year thousands of visitors (we call them "leaf-peepers") arrive en masse to enjoy the color panorama. This year is no different; already the region's rolling hills and vales are putting on their unique color show. By Columbus Day weekend this spectacular display will be at its peak!

HANG ON!

Many people celebrate fall in the mountains by hiking its many trails and paths. Others appreciate the falls cooler days by cycling. There is a unique approach to see autumn's kaleidoscope, and that's by New Hampshire's cog railroad. A locomotive that has since been converted to biodiesel (in 2008) make a 3-hour round trip up Mt. Washington! What a trip! What a view! As you breathlessly ascend the mountain, a veritable banquet of color feasts your eyes! Welcome to the White Mountains!

Note: Photos were provided courtesy of the Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Concord, New Hampshire Joseph Stickney purchased the Mount Pleasant House - a grand hotel where it is now The Lodge - along with 10,000 acres of land. This was no ordinary land; sweeping views of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern part of the U.S. (elevation: 6,288 feet).

Stickney had a dream! To build the grandest of all hotels. He employed noted architect Charles Gifford to build his "Grand Dame". In order to undertake this huge effort, he had hundreds of Italian craftsmen who speciliazed in stone and fine wood artistry to come to U.S. to help create this magnificent hotel. The hotel officially opened in the summer of 1902.

The "Grand Dame" flourished in its infancy, and eventually earned a place in history when 44 delegates from various countries gathered here to establish the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It was named the Bretton Woods International Monetary Conference. The name "Bretton Woods" became linked to this grand hotel---it is used today.

Today, a multi-million dollar restoration undertaken by Celebration Associates and Crosland, Inc. are heralding the grand vision of this grandest of hotels: the Mt. Washington Resort.

I would like to thank the New Hampshire Association of Realtors staff and our 2008 president Jim Lyons for choosing the Mt. Washington Resort for our Realtor Fall Convention. It has been a wonderful experience! As President Lyons expressed it: "your participation in this year's event is evidence of the Realtor spirit that serves to bond us in this unique community where our familial cooperation transcends our business competition."

Blogging is an opportunity for you to express yourself. But what is it saying about you? There is a website that showcases "snapshots" of our world. Hourly, computers monitor world news and portray in pictures and words what is happening in world events. If this computer were to track you what would it reveal about you? What theme would dominate your life? Blogging is a powerful medium; it is also a significant and insightful window into who you are!

What story will your blogging tell?

Are you a "joyful" blogger? If so, you are a gift beyond comparison. Joyful bloggers look at life through joy-filtered glasses. Experiences that would stymie most people, doesn't faze these folks! Often they use bad circumstances to look at their own lives and learn. They live by this credo: "The faults I see in others lives are often true of me; So help me, Lord, to recognize my own hyprocisy!"-Sper

"Joyful" bloggers are also love mongers. They love people! They appreciate their family and friends. They create happiness when there is NO evidence in their circumstances to dictate they do so. Their exhuberance is infectious! Their multi-colors shine with joy...They love life!

Is humor your strength? Then use that to express your ideas, your special flair for telling a story! Laughter heals a thousand wounds. I had the pleasure recently of hosting a realtor meeting. One of the committee chairs was scheduled to speak on a very dry subject. He peppered his talk with jokes!!!! It was hilarious! It turned into one of the most successful and fun meetings of the year!

Are you aMOOSING? Hee-hee!

I came into my office this week to find a sign on the front door, "No Whining". How great is that? It reminded me that whining is so pervasive in our culture. It invades our conversations, our relationships, and yes---our blogging! If you find yourself "whining" in your blogging---stop it! Whining has no redeeming features. It undermines your spiritual and emotional health. It is corrosive. It is toxic. It can infect an entire group! We have a rule in my household. If you have to whine, you get 2-minutes of "free whining"- that's all! In Philipians 2:14 it says: "Do all things without complaining..."

Do your blogs flex a service muscle? Are they instructive? Do they support your fellow bloggers? When all the pictures of your life are laid out for others to see, what will they see, what story will they tell?

HAPPY DAY AND HAPPY BLOGGING!

Conway Lake is a 1,299 acre lake located in New Hampshire, sprawled between the towns of Conway and Eaton. It is located just to the east of the White Mountains and is part of the Saco River watershed.

Formerly known as Walker's Pond, and at the northern edge of the lake on Mill Street there is a park by the same name that makes up Conway Lake dam and the original mill site, the lake was originally created by damming to build a grist mil. This served to enlarge the lake to its current size.

Through the years, Conway Lake has been a source for recreation, a place where people can go to fish, canoe and enjoy the many private and public beaches. The New Hampshire Fish and Game manages the lake for salmon. The lake is also home to loons, herons and turtles. According to locals, there is an old snapping turtle named Pork Chop that lives on the lake; the name supposedly comes from local residents feeding the turtle bits of pork chops. I recently heard this folklore from relatives visiting here from Florida!!!

Because of its relative seclusion, the public beach and boat ramp being its main face to the world, Conway Lake has remained one of the most undeveloped and cleanest lake in New Hampshire!

Do you love mountain views? If so, this area is for you! I grew up in the city...never did I imagine (or necessarily want) to live in the country. Life comes at you fast though; I ended up living in Conway, a small town in the northern section of New Hampshire.

Winters are long (very long!) and summer is too short! We do have a wonderful lake here in town: Conway Lake. It was man-made eons ago by flooding fields, thus it has a roaming topography that makes it enchanting and interesting to navigate. Fish like it here also, as the lake attests to its numerous bass population. The "on Golden Pond" atmosphere is prevalent with the charming lake-side cottages and tiny coves. People are friendly; "wavers" are welcomed.

All around the valley are the mountains. Chocorua with its legend of an Indian maiden so grieved by loss and her people's fate that she flung herself from its top, the Moats with its purple-glow mountain range, and of course the highest peak in the Northeast, Mt. Washington.

When we moved here in '94 the Valley was quiet; growth was at a virtual stand-still. That has changed somewhat. We now boast a Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes and a new retail center where the old "Yield House" used to be. Some things never change though: the Cog Railroad is still chugging up Mt. Washington, the falls are still gurgling away in Jackson, and the views are still the best in the entire state!