01/05/2023 Weirs Times

Happy New Year! & Healthy & Healthy

Happy New Year!

Have A Happy & Healthy New Year!

As the Year 2023 begins, many of us have made our New Year’s Resolutions.

Statistics show that losing weight and staying fit and healthy are always in the top five resolutions. Statistics also show that only about ten percent of those who make resolutions actually keep them. Seems like we can use all the help we can get.

As we have been doing every year since 2016, the Weirs Times will present a Happy Healthy New Years Section every week through the month of January.

We will be providing you with tips and information for all ages on the best ways to keep fit, and stay healthy and safe and also introduce to you some of the folks that are helping in achieving those goals, including our valued advertisers.

No Bears IN New HampsHIre?

THe KINg of THe foresT

So, even if you didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions, you can still find out how to enjoy a Happy and Healthy New Year all this month.

It all starts this week on page 10. Happy New Year!

“Just what happens when you meet a big American black bear face to face?”

by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr. Contributing Writer

Probably the same thing that happens when you meet a little American black bear face to face, but not

likely the same thing that would happen if you met a big Grizzly bear face to face.

A former conservation officer, Paul Doherty, asked the question about meeting a black bear in an article in the winter 1953 issue of White Mountain Echoes magazine.

Unlike the year 2022, in 1953 the bear population in New Hampshire was confined to the north country. I could walk through the woods in the Lakes Region with no expectation of seeing a bear and I wouldn’t be disappointed. Actually, if I saw a bear it would have

The peace-loving king of the forest.

ROBERT HANAFORD SMITH, SR. PHOTO

New England’s Wild Birds & Their Habitats

CHeCKINg

by Chris Bosak Contributing Writer

There may be a hotlooking red head at the lake or perhaps a bleach-blonde beauty.

Oh, and don’t forget about that Icelandic number that’s been hanging out at New England beaches.

Don’t worry, you have the right column. I’m still talking about birds.

The aforementioned attractions are just a few of the unusual birds that may be seen in the area during winter.

News of such sightings travel quickly along the grapevine, but Rare Bird Alerts are also available to everyone with access to the internet. Simply do an internet search for “rare birds” for the state or specific location you are interested in. Dedicated birders keep the alert lists updated and it is extremely helpful when you’re trying to track down something rare or unusual, or just interested in knowing what’s out there.

ouT THe redHeads

A male redhead swims in a pond in New England.

The red head I mentioned is a diving duck that is actually called redhead. They are unusual sightings in New England, but they are sometimes spotted within flocks of scaup in local waters. One year, I found a male redhead swimming with a small group of ring-necked ducks in

This newspaper was first published in 1883 by Mathew H. Calvert as Calvert’s Weirs Times and Tourists’ Gazette and continued until Mr. Calvert’s death in 1902. The new Weirs Times was reestablished in 1992 and strives to maintain the patriotic spirit of its predecessor as well as his devotion to the interests of Lake Winnipesaukee. Our newspaper’s masthead and the map of Lake Winnipesaukee in the center spread are elements in today’s paper which are taken from Calvert’s historic publication. Locally owned for over 30 years, this publication is devoted to printing the stories

a small unfrozen pond.

From a distance, the redhead resembles a male canvasback, which is a species declining nationally but still seen frequently in New England during the winter. Closer inspection reveals that the redhead has a more rounded head, is slightly smaller and

has bright yellow eyes. Canvasbacks have sloped foreheads and dark red eyes.

Unfortunately, most bodies of water freeze over completely during New England winters and keep rare duck sightings to a minimum. (Well, not unfortunately if you’re an ice

deer mouNTaIN

In Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, just a few miles south of the Canadian border is Deer Mountain. The site of an abandoned fire tower and 153rd highest mountain in the State.

Adam and I drove up Route 3 all the way from Franconia and it was a slow drive from Lancaster to the tip of New Hampshire. Overnight it had snowed and the further north we drove the more the snow had accumulated. The plow-salt-sand trucks were just getting out.

I confessed I had forgotten to put the shovel in my car. I carry a shovel in the winter when going off to hike because I never know when I may have to shovel out a place to park. We knew there was snow in the north country but the snow banks were surprisingly high.

We arrived at the parking area on the east side of Route 3 across from Sophie’s Lane– a section of the Cohos Trail and the new four inches of snow had not been plowed yet. I carefully backed my car into a corner of the lot just off the pavement.

Adam and I were just finishing booting up and gathering our things when we heard the snowplow truck and the driver waved as he drove past. Then he backed up and waved us out. We jumped back in the car and drove it out onto Rte 3’s pave-

ment. The plow driver made quick work of clearing the parking lot and he waved again as he continued off again. We took this as a good omen that we were leaving the car behind well off the road in a nice cleared lot.

Our plan was to go to the firetower and then bushwhack to the mountain’s higher south peak. Adam was getting to hike a newto-him-trail, check off a tower on the NH Firetower list which he claims he doesn’t care very much about but mostly he was there to

help me visit the summit of another New Hampshire Highest 200 peak in winter.

We snowshoed up the Cohos Trail and when we reached the part that is also a snowmobile trail we were surprised at 10am that there were no fresh tracks. We turned left at the well marked Deer Mountain Trailhead. There was so much snow. Over two feet and the trees were heavily laden with snow.

The Cohos Trails Association maintains the trail to the aban-

doned Deer Mountain Fire Tower.

Following the blue blaze markers that are nailed to the trees wasn’t easy. Besides often being covered with snow, many of the markers were missing because the growing trees popped the wooden markers off the nails that once held them. We saw a few that people had picked up and set on a tree’s limb. We did lose the trail once and had to fan out to discover it again.

The soft snow made for good snowshoeing. The stream crossings were still open and we had to carefully cross them. We started to see lots of wildlife tracks and scat. Rabbits, squirrels and moose were abundant. A pair of moose had bedded

See PATENAUDE on 22

Adam Mooshian on the Deer Mountain Fire Tower Trail where a pair of moose had bedded down for the night right in the middle of the trail. The trail is a spur off the Cohos Trail in Pittsburgh and is maintained by the Cohos Trail Association.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

New Exhibit and Galleries On The NH Heritage Museum Trail

A new exhibit at the Millyard Museum and new galleries at the Currier Museum of Art highlight current events on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail.

At the Millyard Museum in Manchester, Manchester Through the Lens of Frank Kelly features photographs and negatives of Frank Kelly, a prominent Manchester photographer in the mid-twentieth century. Over his long career, Kelly and his wife, Eleanor, photographed many Manchester people, events, businesses, and landmarks.

“This is an incredible exhibit that highlights his work, including unique shots of Manchester businesses and presidential visits to the Queen City,” said Jeff Barraclough, executive director of the Millyard Museum. “Collectively, these images provide a snapshot of Manchester during a period of enormous change.”

Manchester Through the Lens of Frank Kelly will run through March 31, 2023. To learn more, visit manchesterhistoric.org.

Also located in Manchester on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail, The Currier Museum has completed the reinstallation of many of its galleries, including the entire second floor. Developing themes that cut across European, American, and Asian cultures, these new galleries combine historic and contemporary works along with new acquisitions.

One such acquisition is a painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Judith Leyster, a pioneering female artist of her time who painted genre works, portraits, and still lifes. The painting is currently on view in The Currier Museum’s European Gallery next to a painting by her husband, Jan Miense Molenaer (part of a permanent collection).

Dueling Pianos At Franklin Opera House

Franklin Opera House in Franklin NH presents: Dueling Pianos on Saturday, January 14th at 7:30pm

Put two sharp-witted, incredibly talented musicians with pianos on a stage, then add in a roomful of people; the result is an evening of fast, funny, and unforgettable entertainment. Their musical repertoire ranges from Classic Rock to Country, Hard Rock to R&B, and Show Tunes to Top 40. The entertainers engage the audience making them the star of the show. If you haven’t experienced a dueling pianos show yet, you need to. And if you have, we know you want too again. Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for students and seniors. (Reserved Seating.)

Tickets available now at FranklinOperaHouse.org or by calling the box office at 603-934-1901. Two pianos. Two players. One great time.

Sea Chanteys For The Whole Family

The Wolfeboro Friends of Music present a family concert of maritime music with renowned performer David Coffin on Sunday January 22nd at 2pm in the The Great Hall of Wolfeboro Town Hall. A New England treasure, Coffin transports his audience back to the 18th century as they join in singing the songs of the sea. His programs follow an imaginary whaling voyage presented through the historical sea songs of mariners long ago. With his harpoon, concertina, whistles, his trusty limber-jack Pierre, and big baritone voice, he embodies the atmosphere of old Nantucket, which his ancestors settled in 1659.

Judith Leyster, Boy Holding Grapes and a Hat, around 1630. On view at the Currier Museum of Art.

In addition to its 19th Century Collection, new galleries explore Nature and Nostalgia through American landscape paintings in the 19th and 20th centuries, periods defined by tremendous changes, including war, industrialization, and growth of cities. Some subject matter specifically pertains to New Hampshire. “Our strong collection of views of the White Mountains is now enhanced by an early painting of the Cog Railway on Mount Washington and Philip Guston’s gigantic mural made for the National Forestry Building in Laconia,” explained Senior Curator Kurt Sundstrom. “These are reminders that New Hampshire’s landscape was nearly destroyed in the late 1800s and had to be carefully restored and protected.”

To learn more about The Currier Museum, and its new galleries, visit currier.org. To learn more about The Trail, visit nhmuseumtrail.org.

David Coffin has been performing since 1980, and has been a full-time musician for over twenty years. At the heart of David’s work is traditional and contemporary folk music. He draws on vocal and instrumental music from North America as well as England, Scotland, Ireland and Brittany. Sea-chanteys, ballads, and the songs of sailors comprise his main repertoire. Coffin’s dynamic interactive performances inspire hundreds of children every year. His programs take the audience on an imaginary whaling voyage as they sing together the historical sea songs of mariners long ago.

David Coffin has numerous recordings on the North Star and Revels Records labels, and has four solo albums as well. Coffin has appeared on New Hampshire Chronicle and is the featured Chantey singer in Amazon Prime’s movie, Blow the Man Down.

The concert is sponsored by Paul Zimmerman, YFI Custom Homes, J Clifton Avert Insurance and Meredith Village Savings Bank

Tickets are $25 and are available at Avery Insurance, Black’s Paper & Gift Store, online at www.wfriendsofmusic.org or at the door. High school students with ID will be admitted free of charge and children accompanied by an adult ticket purchaser will be admitted free of charge.

For more information, visit www.wfriendsofmusic.org or call 603-569-2151.

View of Elm Street in Manchester, looking north, 1962, photograph by Frank Kelly

NEW HAMPSHIRE F OOL

2023 predICTIoNs

Yes, it’s that time of the year when I make my predictions for 2023. You should hold onto this page until the end of the year to see how I did. I know I will. Unless, of course, I need it to wrap up some delicate crystal glasses or something. So here we go.

by Brendan Smith Weirs Times Editor

billion dollars” into and uses it to carry his peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school, trades it with another kid for a bologna sandwich, who then brings the bag home to his mother who throws it away in the recycling bin where it just ends up in the landfill with all the other garbage. Whisper Currency enthusiasts will defend the new currency while some financial experts will claim it is nothing but hot air.

WEATHER -The Weather Channel will continue to give storms male and female names but will also now have a gender meteorologist who will decide the proper pronouns for each storm as well.

HEALTH - Two chocolate doughnuts a day will be found to increase lifespans by up to ten years in a study funded by the American Doughnut Association.

TECHNOLOGY - With declining sales in the five boroughs of New York City, Amazon will introduce the “Joey” as an alternative to the “Alexa” to bring a more familiar and less polite tone to make these New Yorkers feel more comfortable. For example, you can now ask “Hey Joey, What Time is It?” and the app will answer “Whatsamatter you? Ain’t got a watch?! It’s One Thirteen. Do I gotta do everything for ya?” Or even more personal like “Hey Joey, what’s up with that new guy at work? and the app will answer “Yeah, I know. Tell me about it.”

ONLINE HELP - A new online self-help program will debut where for $19.95 a month (or $225 upfront for a year) you can be inspired to success by a guy who is making a ton of money running an on-line selfhelp program.

ALTERNATIVE CURRENCY

- A new form of non-physical currency called Whisper Currency will make an appearance. With this new one people will whisper dollar amounts into plastic bags and then tie them tightly with twist ties. The veracity of the new currency will come under scrutiny when the first “Whisper Billionaire” suddenly loses his fortune when his young son finds the plastic bag he whispered “a

SPORT TRENDS -The new casual sports trend “Pickle Ball” will have competition when “Cucumber Ball” makes its debut. The creator, Herbert Whatisthis, will promote it as going back to the origins of “Pickle Ball” and how it was really meant to be played. It will be a big hit…for awhile.

PRO SPORTS - Tom Brady will sign with a new NFL team, but this time as kicker. In an interview Brady will say “I always wanted to try that. You get tired of throwing the ball all the time.”

POLITICS -The first candidates for the 2024 Presidential Season will visit New Hampshire this year pretending to actual like people and that they care about what happens to them. (I know, a lazy prediction, but it does come true every time.)

MEDIA - A new TV reality series will start in the spring. In it, real people will tell the real news stories of the day as they actually happen without injecting any personal bias or politics into the stories. It will fail though as most people will find it boring and confusing.

MISCELLANEOUS - The letters “H” and “T” will decide to identify as a vowels, while “O” and “A” will decide to become non-binary letters.

Another study will determine that the threshold of 10,000 steps a day for a healthy life should actually be 11,278 steps.

TRAVEL - In order to avoid another travel meltdown, Southwest Airlines is changing their policies during bad weather situations. Now when any plane is ready to load, anyone with a ticket can just get on. Once the plane is full a vote will be taken of passengers to see where the majority would like to go. You can then choose to deboard and let others on, or just stay on the plane in the hope at the next airport you will be in the majority on the next full plane. Most think this will still get all passengers to their preferred destinations faster than the current model.

So there you have it. I hope this helps you in planning for the year ahead.

Brendan is the author of “The Flatlander Chronicles”,“Best Of A F.O.O.L. In New Hampshire” and “I Only Did It For The Socks Stories & Thoughts On Aging” All are available at BrendanTSmith. com.

Order your autographed copy today for $16.99 plus $3 shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like.) Make out checks or money orders for $19.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: Socks Book c/o Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247

Or order online at BrendanTSmith.com (Autographed copies also avail. at the Weirs Times)

in Live Free or Die. brendan@weirs.com brendan@weirs.com

*A FLATLANDER’S OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE

for TeaCHers uNIoNs, pareNTs aNd CHIldreN Come lasT

Is Off This Week

Schools in the Rochester school district in Michigan include in their curriculum a course called “History of Ethnic and Gender Studies.”

Defending Those Who Won’t Allow Conservative Parents To See Them Or Their Grandchildren

Ben Shapiro is off this week.

hoping to proceed without confrontation, but prayer is about all I have left.”

by Star Parker Syndicated Columnist

If my child were attending school there, I would wonder why this is in the curriculum as part of K-12 education and what is taught.

One mother, Carol Beth Litkouhi, wondered enough that she went to the school and asked for details about what will be conveyed to her child in this program.

The response she got from the school amounted to “sorry, none of your business.”

Excuse me. A mother has no right to know what her child is being taught?

Litkouhi turned to the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, who filed a lawsuit against the school district. A request was made under the state’s Freedom of Information Act to release to this mother details about the program. But this request also went nowhere.

Now the Oakland County Circuit Court has ruled supporting the school district’s claim that because teachers belong to a teachers union, they are not public employees subject to the FOIA.

Mackinac will appeal this absurd ruling.

But let’s forget the legalities for a moment and just consider the outrageous reality being perpetrated against America’s parents and children by public school bureaucracies and teachers unions.

Look at the website of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s second largest teachers union. It is an unapologetic megaphone for America’s left.

According to Investopedia, “A labor union is an organization formed by workers ... for the purpose of improving pay, benefits, and working conditions.”

But teachers unions are much more than this. They exist to further an uncompromised left-wing agenda, targeting our children.

AFT issued a press release after the November elections headlined “American Voters Reject Extremism in Win for Democracy and Freedom.”

See PARKER on 26

by Dennis Prager Syndicated Columnist

My last column, “Why Many Conservatives Won’t Be with Their Children or Grandchildren This Christmas,” dealt with the issue of parents whose left-wing adult children have cut off all contact with their parents because the parents are on the Right -- children who will not even allow their parents to have contact with their grandchildren.

One would think that any person with a functioning conscience and a normal human heart would feel for these parents.

As I wrote in the column, if the roles were reversed -- that is, if a right-wing child severed all contact with his or her parents because the parents were on the Left, I would feel awful for those parents and condemn any conservative child who did such a thing.

Here are three of the many typical comments from conservative parents and grandparents (from Townhall.com):

Vermonter: “Sadly this is a nationwide trend. Neither of my college educated children have contact with me anymore. Yes it’s painful, especially regarding my grandson. I have apologized for offending them, to no avail...”

Dmckinleyp: “Dennis, this is so timely. Things were bad enough between me and my two daughters, first after I volunteered for the Tea Party and then when I supported Trump. Then my daughter and her husband -- who was raised by Leftists working for the federal government -- had a baby. She wrote me a farewell email saying she never wanted any contact with me again. I will never see my lovely granddaughter. I am sending her presents and

GS69: “Yep. I’m in that boat. My youngest daughter -- a graduate of Evergreen State College in Washington(!) and my sister, who went to Harvard and volunteered for John Kerry years ago, stopped talking to me when I voted for Trump...”

The column was apparently forwarded to many leftists and discussed on various left-wing websites.

Even though I believe that the further left one goes, the more likely one is to be mean, I admit to having been surprised at the cruelty, even sadism, that characterizes left-wing reactions to my column.

I assumed that the dominant left-wing responses would be either that I exaggerated how widespread this problem is or that many conservative children act the same way.

My assumptions were wrong.

Nearly every one of the many left-wing responses I read -- both on right-wing and left-wing sites --supported the leftwing children who deprive their parents of contact with them and with the grandchildren.

Here are some typical left-wing responses (from a conservative site, American Greatness):

yung god money stax: “... conservatives are whiny, mean little people and their kids don’t want to listen to their racist, homophobic, sexist bs any more or let their kids be around that crap.”

Dennis Prager’s butthole: “This might be the dumbest article I’ve ever read anywhere.”

Loona Chan: “I’m sorry Mr. Prager, you cannot claim after 6 years of Trump being the leader of the Republican Party that ‘meanness’ is not a central component of the current Republican project. Republicans

Adriana Cohen

CHarITy, BeTTer THaN goverNmeNT

It’s the season for giving.

I’ll give!

I’ll donate to the Doe Fund, a charity that helps excons find purpose in life through work. “Work works!” they say. It does. Doe Fund graduates are less likely to go back to jail.

schools. I’m not Catholic, but I donate because the Catholic schools do better at half the cost. Thousands of families break the cycle of poverty thanks to SSP.

number of families below the poverty line decreased.

if they do.

by John Stossel Syndicated Columnist

I’ll donate to Student Sponsor Partners, which helps at-risk kids escape bad “public (government-run)” schools.

SSP sends the kids to Catholic

When I was young, I assumed government would lift people out of poverty. “Government programs, a ‘war on poverty’ will give a leg up to the poor,” said my Princeton professors. I believed. But then I watched the programs fail.

Now I understand that government actions do as much harm as good. Sometimes, much more harm.

Take that “war on poverty.” When it began, Americans were lifting themselves out of poverty. Year by year, the

Then came our government bureaucrats with their rules and programs. So far, they’ve spent $25 trillion on programs for the poor.

The money helped some people. The poverty rate dropped for the first seven years of the “war.”

But then progress stopped. Government’s handouts encouraged people to became dependent on handouts. Learned helplessness, it’s called. Welfare created an “underclass,” generations of people who don’t work. They’d lose benefits if they do.

Generations of people bear children but don’t marry. They’d lose benefits

l oo KIN g a H ead a T 2023

Government taught people to be passive. This passivity was something new and bad.

That’s why charity is better. Charity workers can make judgments about who needs help and who needs a push.

Not all charities do good. Some are as bad as government. But when they are well run, charities encourage independence.

They also don’t force us to give them money.

There’s an even better way to help people: capitalism. Not that I’ll convince most people.

by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist

It’s that time of year to gaze into the crystal snow globe and try to see the stories on the horizon which will affect the New Year. Our world remains an increasingly tumultuous place and the tragedy of expanding conflicts is only surpassed by the waves of refugees fleeing those troubles.

Let’s do a regional breakdown of some key conflicts and potential crises…

Ukraine War. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s blunder by invading Ukraine will dominate the

headlines. Not only the grinding Ukraine war but the oft forgotten tragedy of civilian suffering and refugees flowing into neighboring countries. Ukraine remains the biggest European conflict since WWII.

Fortunately NATO is surprisingly united facing off Moscow’s aggression. At the same time the USA offers the biggest military support to Ukraine; that’s $12.7 billion in weapons, $9 billion in additional security assistance, followed by $10 billion in humanitarian aid, and lastly $15 billion in budgetary support for the Kyiv government. The conflict slogs on entering the new year.

Taiwan Tensions. Many analysts feel Russia’s invasion of

Ukraine presages communist China’s planned assault on Taiwan to “liberate” the democratic selfgoverned island. Beijing’s military harassment of the small New Hampshire-sized island has been sped up; it’s no longer just bellicose rhetoric but coercion with military aircraft circling like vultures just outside Taiwan’s air-space. What’s the role for the USA and Japan in any conflict? Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan into the iron embrace of the People’s Republic of China.

Korea Simmers. The divided Korean peninsula remains on alert as North Korea’s regime continues regular missile firings, often over Japan, and plans its seventh nuclear test in the coming months.

The communist Kim dynasty is vying for attention with eight ICBM launches this year, part of an unprecedented 66 ballistic missile firings during 2022. Kim’s dystopian Democratic People’s Republic of Korea plans to “exponentially” increase the country’s nuclear arsenal and develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile in the new year.

Japan Rearming. Responding to the growing regional security threat from both North Korea and China, Japan is at long last boosting its military spending. While Japan has long relied on the U.S. Defense Treaty, keeping its defense spending at approximately one percent of its GDP, To-kyo’s new

by Debby Montague Weirs Times Book Reviewer

Off The Shelf Off The Shelf

a pleTHora of mysTerIes

The Locked Room, Elly Griffiths, Mariner Books, 2022

The sun is rising over the marshes, turning the distant sea to gold. The Saltmarsh is coming to life, like a photograph developing, the grasses turning from grey to brown to green, the birds ascending from the reedbeds to wheel across the rosy sky. Dawn.

The Locked Room is the fourteenth novel in Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway Mysteries. I have been reading the Ruth Galloway series since 2016 when I binged the first seven books in the series and waited impatiently for the eighth, Women in Blue, to be published in May 2016. I was attracted by the setting of the books, in and around King’s Lynn and Norwich in Norfolk, England, because I had visited Norwich long ago. Also, my ancestors hailed from England - the female line from Norwich - and it is always fun to take a look at the site of your roots. A few pages into Elly Griffiths fine writing I was hooked on Ruth, on her saltmarsh home, and the mysteries.

Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist and head of the archaeology department at the University of North Norfolk. In The Locked Room Ruth has been sorting through her late mother’s belongings when she comes across a picture of her own

cottage from 1963. Odd because Ruth wasn’t born until 1968 and her parents were Londoners, through and through, and not fond of Ruth’s choice of a home. The picture is one mystery for Ruth to solve. Another mystery follows the next day when Ruth unearths a skeleton in Norwich while her students look on. Is the body one that was moved from a Medieval cemetery or one from the plague pits ? In King’s Lynn, there is even more mystery as Detective Inspector Harry Nelson works with his staff, Judy, Tony and Tanya, to determine if the recent death of a healthy

middle-aged woman is murder or suicide. To top it all off there is the mystery of The Grey Lady and Ruth’s missing neighbor. It is a plethora of mysteries in the midst of a pandemic. Fun for the reader, but not for Ruth and Nelson and friends.

Griffiths knows how to set a scene, both the physical aspects and the context. Ruth’s home is next to the marsh, which is beautiful, lonely, and dangerous. She loves the marshes and the peace of the area, but she is also very aware of the dangers of the tides and the isolation. The Locked Room is the third book I have

read this year with covid as part of the setting. The first one I read that had the pandemic as background struck me as self-righteous and overbearing. The second book spent more time forcing covid into the story than it did the main characters of the series. Elly Griffiths tone is just right. The action takes place mostly in March and April 2020 when covid spread across the world. Griffiths doesn’t moralize about it and she doesn’t force it. It is the backdrop, not the theme of the narrative.

Griffiths’ characters are engaging, created not contrived. Rex Stout, author of my favorite Nero Wolfe mysteries, once said: I call the two kinds of characters in fiction, either drama or narrative, I call them created or contrived…the one kind of character [created] is the kind that is not made up at all. The author who uses that character, who makes him, has never asked himself a question about that character. The character is just there. I think Ruth, Ruth’s dear friend, Cathbad, and Nelson are excellent examples of Stout’s idea of a “created” character. They are as complete and natural as your favorite sibling or your best friend.

There are layers to the mystery in The Locked Room which draw the reader closer to the resolution, but keep him or her guessing until the end. The mys-

Letters From God

This series of Letters From God is an attempt to put the thoughts of God as revealed in the Scriptures as they relate to individuals and the nation of the USA.

QUESTION: What Does It Mean That We Are In Darkness?

Darkness has many meanings in my book, the Bible. I use it to refer to the physical darkness that covers the earth each day. I use it to show the lack of foresight that you have, so that you don’t know which way to go in the many decisions during your lifetime leading to dangerous and deadly consequences. I also use this word to refer to mental blindness in which you don’t know my thoughts and will, which alone can lead you to life. This is because you have rejected me and don’t even desire to understand what my will is, and you have no desire to obey me.

It also refers to spiritual darkness in general. This means that in the realm of your relationship with me, God, because you are separated from me, you don’t have my resources that are necessary to experience maximum life while you are alive and live after you die. So, in general, this darkness is the inability to find and enjoy life in all its fullness both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Light, on the other hand, is being free from all these problems so that, so that you never lack foresight to choose

the right path for life. You accept me as your God and Savior and desire to know and understand my thoughts and will and obey them so that you have my blessings and enjoy life by avoiding things that will hurt you. You have established a relationship with me your Creator and trust me for all the resources you need to live in a dying world as well as live after you die. Having my light in your life enhances the quality of your life now and ensures eternal life without sin after you die.

Now that you understand the difference, let’s talk about why you are in the dark and how you can enjoy the light and life that only I can give.

I alone know light and life and I don’t know darkness in any sense. When I created you, I created you like me, without sin, darkness or death. When you chose to disobey me and were no longer perfect, we became separated. Like a battery unplugged from the charging source, your light and life diminishes and then goes out. Being separated from me, you are alive physically but dark and dying with respect to the person who lives in your physical body. To be honest, you can’t get back to me and to the life only I can give, on your own. You will simply experience less and less life until you die physically and then spend eternity away from me, the source of life.

However, I have made

a way for you to not only enjoy as much life as possible in a dying world but also eternal life with me after you die (John 10:10). I sent my Son, Jesus, to visit you and live a perfect, sinless life among you. “In him was life and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4). Then I allowed him to die to pay for all your sins. Since he is God and sinless, he was able to pay the penalty for all your sins that separate you from me, the source of life (Romans 5:8). When a person acknowledges their sin of rejecting me and the sins of actions and thoughts that are against my will and incur the penalty of death, I will apply his sacrifice in your place for your sins and forgive them (2 Corinthians 5:21). As a result, you can be restored to me and once again link your battery, your heart, to my power source and you can come alive now and enjoy life for eternity.

ness— on them light has shined.”

Letters From God

Seven Hundred years later Jesus lived in and ministered in this exact place as recorded by Matthew (4:12-17). He would be the child called, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).

I have made the provision for light and life, but the question is, will you accept it? Eternal light and life are at stake.

I love you, God

These letters are written by a New Hampshire pastor.

Weirs Times F.O.O.L columnist, Brendan Smith’s first book with over 30 of the best of his original Flatlander Columns. From learning to Rake The Roof to Going To The Dump to Buying Firewood for the first time and everything in between, Brendan recounts the humorous tales of his learning to fit into New Hampshire life as a Flatlander from New York.

Order your autographed copy today for $13.99 plus $3 for shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like the author to personalize your copy with.) Make out checks or money orders for $16.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: The Flatlander Chronicles, c/o The Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247. Order online at www.BrendanTSmith.com (Pickup autographed copies at the Weirs Times)

Isaiah, the Prophet, recorded a prophecy of my Son, Jesus, being the light of the world 700 years before his birth. He said in Isaiah 9:1–2, “1 But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep dark-

Happy New Year! & Healthy & Healthy

resolve To geT your feeT IN sHape!

While you may want to tone your abs, glutes and triceps in the new year, there’s one oftenoverlooked area of the body that deserves your attention too: your feet!

“A lot of people hit the gym or dust off their home exercise equipment in January,” says Danielle Butto, DPM, FACFAS, a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon and a Fellow Member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS). “But with -

out proper precautions, a new exercise routine can cause foot and ankle injuries that could sideline you just as you’re hitting your stride.”

According to ACFAS, here’s what to know as you follow through on your resolution to get fit: Common Injuries

•Don’t play through the pain of an ankle sprain. Avoiding treatment can not only cause further damage to the ligaments which may take much longer to heal or possibly require surgery, but you may be overlooking a more serious injury -- a stress fracture.

• A stress fracture may feel like an ankle sprain at first, but you’ll notice additional warning signs, such as swelling without bruising, and pain even during normal activities or when touching the area. If you have any of these symptoms, have your foot and ankle evaluated by a foot and ankle surgeon as soon as possible.

• Pain or swelling around your Achilles tendon after a workout could be indications of Achilles tendonitis. Untreated, a stretched

or strained Achilles tendon may worsen over time, leading to stiffness and fatigue in your injured leg. Worse yet, untreated Achilles tendonitis could result in a ruptured tendon requiring surgery and a rehabilitation of several months.

• Heel pain that lasts for more than a day or two, or worsens when you stand after sitting for an extended amount of time, may be plantar fasciitis. This common condition is a result of inflammation of the tissue extending from your heel to your toes. If caught early, your foot and ankle surgeon can recommend at-home conditioning. In late stages, plantar fasciitis is harder to treat and takes longer to resolve.

Prevention Tips

The good news? Many injuries are preventable. Foot and ankle surgeons offer five tips to help you keep your feet and ankles healthy:

1. Be smart. Consider consulting a personal trainer at first to ensure you’re practicing good form, and to increase the duration and intensity of your workouts gradually and safely.

2. Stretch. Incorporate mobility and stretching into your fitness regimen, particularly before and after workouts.

3. Be footwear aware. Wear properlyfitting athletic shoes that support the arch of the foot, provide heel cushioning and are designed for the exercise in which you’re engaged. These measures can help you avoid plantar fasciitis and neuromas. Wear cotton or nonslip socks to help prevent painful blisters, which can become infected and cause more serious issues, especially if you have diabetes.

4. Guard against bacteria. Sweaty shoes, public showers, exercise equipment and the pool deck are breeding grounds for fungus, viruses and bacteria. Wear water shoes in public areas, and after workouts, and get your feet clean and dry quickly.

5. Book an appointment. Foot and ankle pain isn’t normal. It signals a problem that needs to be evaluated, diagnosed and treated by a specialist who fully understands this part of the body. To find a foot and ankle surgeon near you, use the “Find a Physician” search tool at FootHealthFacts.org.

“When you exercise, your feet and ankles do a ton of work holding you up and absorbing the shock of each step you take,” says Dr. Butto. “So, as you kick off your new fitness routine, don’t forget to protect them.”

Happy New Year! Happy New Year! & Healthy & Healthy

wINTer HealTH rIsKs for seNIors

By Martha Swats Comfort Keepers

Spending time with loved ones, enjoying nature and participating in activities can improve quality of life for seniors. However, cold winter weather can create a barrier to many senior’s regular schedules. And, it’s not just snow and ice that make winter a difficult season for seniors – additional factors include postholiday isolation, illness, and the physical effect of cold weather.

Knowing what to look for, and creating a strategy for combatting winter health risks, can

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help seniors maintain positive mental health and physical wellness.

Some factors to consider include:

• Winter blues – Cold air and gloomy skies can make anyone feel less cheerful during the winter months. However, depression can have an outsized effect on seniors and their longterm mental health. Creating opportunities for socialization and finding joyful moments isn’t just for fun – it

can help foster critical connection and combat loneliness. There are a variety of uplifting activities that can be enjoyed during the winter months. These include movie nights, reminiscing by the fire, and getting outside on a rare sunny day.

• Winter illness –There are a variety of ways that seniors can be physically affected by the winter season.

o Pneumonia: Pneumonia is an infection

that can be dangerous for seniors due to lung issues that come with age, weakened immune systems and conditions that make pneumonia more severe. Older adults should talk to their doctor about healthy lifestyle changes and vaccines that can help.

o Joint pain: Joint pain can be more common for seniors in cold conditions – whether they suffer from arthritis or not. Dressing in layers, regulating temperature inside and stretching exercises can help. A healthcare professional can also suggest exercise, medication or other coping strategies.

o Heart issues: Heart attacks and high blood pressure are more common in winter because cold snaps increase blood pressure and strain on the heart. The heart must work harder to maintain body heat, while falling temperatures may cause an unhealthy rise in high blood pressure, especially in seniors.

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WINTER from 12

ing mindful of winter safety issues is important for seniors and their families. Cold weather can be more dangerous for those with some health conditions, like Parkinson’s disease, diabetes or thyroid problems. Seniors should talk to their doctor to learn more. Other

types of accidents or injuries can be avoided through education too. Examples include being mindful about fall risks, monitoring carbon dioxide levels and preventing hypothermia. assistance, nursing services, and a host of additional items all meant to keep seniors living independently worry free in the

comfort of their homes.

Comfort Keepers have been serving New Hampshire residents since 2005. Let us help you stay independent. Please call 603-5366060 or visit our website at nhcomfortkeepers. com for more information.

BOSAK from 2

angler or skater, but unfortunate for birders.)

Now about those bleach-blonde beauties. Snowy owls are often seen along New England beaches during the fall or winter. I’ve seen them several times in Massachusetts and Connecticut. This doesn’t appear to be a good year to find snowy owls in New England. Some years

there are many, some years there are a few, and some years there are almost none. They usually start showing up in November and remain throughout winter. This year, I haven’t heard of any sightings.

Another rare bird alert that shows up sometimes in New England during winter. is an Iceland gull. Iceland gulls, and other rare gulls that visit New England, typically join

large flocks of other common gulls, such as ring-billed or herring. It helps to know where to look (from the rare bird alert) and find someone already looking at it. I have trouble picking out rare gulls among the big flocks, but experts are more adept at the practice.

There’s always something new to learn when it comes to birdwatching.

Tom Brady, Taxes, aNd KIKé

by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer

When it was obvious that Tom Brady was leaving the Patriots, I predicted he’d become a Los Angeles Charger. That team needed a quarterback and had just moved to L.A. where it would play in the world’s greatest new football stadium. Brady was a native Californian and L.A. was a great place for supermodel wives.

But Tom went to Tampa instead.

Not being all that close to Brady, I’m not privy to all the factors that took him to the Sunshine State instead of the Golden State. But I’ll guess that TAXES influenced his decision. You see, Florida—like New Hampshire—has no state income tax. California has a state income tax of around 13%.

Contracts can be complicated. Brady reportedly earned a base salary of “only” $1,120,000 in 2022. But that doesn’t count a “signing bonus” of $28,880,000 and other perks. So let us just round down his total annual compensation package to $30 million.

So 13% of that is about $4 million. That’s what would have gone to California in state taxes. In Florida Tom could keep that $4 million.

Hello Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

So sports agents now factor in state taxes when negotiating for

their clients. The Lakers have to pay LeBron James over $44 million a year because if he played in Florida, he’d take home more pay from a $38 million contact than he would a $44 million contract in California.

Which brings us to Massachusetts, which has long had a state income tax, along with numerous other levies that we don’t have in New Hampshire. In November, Bay State voters approved a “millionaire surtax,” bumping up the state income tax from 5% to 9% for the “affluent.”

Red Sox outfielder Kiké Hernández recently signed a one-year $10 million contract. The Boston Globe reported that he was surprised and displeased when he

learned of all the money he’d now be sending to Beacon Hill.

“Well [expletive] me!” said Hernández over the phone. “This is news to me. My financial guy hadn’t told me. As soon as I hang up with you, I’m reaching out to him.”

Sports agents will now have to ask for extra Red Sox money for their clients—like they already do now in California to keep contracts competitive with those issued in Florida or Texas. So Red Sox ticket prices will go up. Fans will pay the millionaire tax, not the players.

Other states, mostly blue Democrat states, have also passed “millionaire” taxes. But New York ended up losing revenue when countless millionaires then moved to Florida.

Blue states like Massachusetts, California, New York et al. are stuck. Illinois is especially screwed. Dems love to grow government. But public sector pension liabilities are overwhelming these states. Unlike the federal government, states can’t print money.

Consider that retired UMass President Billy Bulger has an annual pension of over $270,000. He and other fat cat public retirees in the Bay State must be paid. And Granite State sports fans help to pay them indirectly whenever we buy inflated tickets.

It’s a cautionary tale. Like the above states, N.H. will be screwed if we elect the big government types who thump tubs for broad based taxes so they can hire more public sector types who vote Dem. It worked politically in California, Illinois etc. But those spending chickens will come home to roost.

Tom Brady made a good move in choosing Tampa—where he immediately won a Super Bowl.

Granite Staters can

Red Sox outfielder Kiké Hernández recently signed a one-year $10 million contract but wasn;t aware of the tax that went along with it.

The Simple Feast

maple walNuT CooKIes

The Simple Feast

WEIRS TIMES’ BEER FINDER

by Eric N Gibson Contributing Writer

Simple The Simple

“There are no mistakes, just happy accidents!” These words are attributed to Bob Ross. You must remember Bob Ross, he was the artist with the cool afro perm who made painting landscapes look so easy. At one time or another over the last 37 years, Ross has been a welcomed guest in living rooms all across America via nearly every PBS station from Maine to Alaska. Along with being one of America’s most famous artists of the 1980’s he has become a cultural icon. (Let’s face it, anyone with a “Chia Head” made in their likeness must be a cultural icon!)

But what does Bob Ross have to do with Maple Walnut Cookies? Well, these cookies too, were happy accidents. I promised cookies to my mother-in-law for a church function, two kinds in fact. Just finishing some sugar cookies with a variety of winter-themed sprinkles, I didn’t really have any idea what to make for the second cookie. So, not too certain of just what would be the end result, I began tossing things into a mixing bowl; the basics, you know, sugar and but-

ter creamed together, a couple eggs tossed in, some maple syrup, a hint of molasses. Then some dry ingredients: flour, soda, a pinch of salt and some spices, and of course some crushed walnuts.

Not too much time later, with a dough formed in the mixing bowl and the oven preheated to 350 degrees F., I was ready to test run a batch. With a plop, plop, plop nine blobs of dough were on a cookie sheet and into the oven.

Fifteen minutes later

something was done. I say something because what came out did not look like cookies. I had, what can only be politely described as, a three dimensional topographic map of the surface of Mars. A thin layer of earth tones, the color palette ranging from dark yellow to dark brown, with bumps jutting up here and there. All of it fused together and spanned errantly across the plane of the cookie sheet.

Adding more flour and backing off a few min-

utes of oven time did the trick. The next batch came out more as a cookie should. Definitive rounds of a pleasingly light yellow-tan, puffed up, with just a hint of brown on the edges. Setting the cookie sheet on the stove top to cool I turned my attention to making room on the cooling rack cluttered with the previous disaster. Which, by the way, in their own right, tasted really good. This first test batch, which I had scored and separated

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FEAST from 19

into nine large wafers, was vaguely reminiscent of a lace or Tuile style cookie with a hint of Praline. It was crisp, crunchy, and had a delicious caramelized nutty flavor. Indeed, a ¨happy accident¨of sorts, but they just were not what I was looking for this time around. I wanted a cookie with more body and less brown.

Turning my attention back to the second test batch, these cookies had kept their shape

much better. They were of a tan “blonde” much more traditional looking cookie. This was more like what I was looking for, a soft cookie with crisp edges. Not the kind of cookie that shatters when you bite into them, these Maple Walnut Cookies are the kind of cookie that, while your back teeth are setting into the crunch your front teeth are sinking into a soft cookie that holds its form to the last bite.

See FEAST on 21

MAPLE WALNUT COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

1 Stick Butter (softened) 2 Eggs

Preparation And Cooking

Crust

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lining cookie sheets with parchment can help with clean up, but is not necessary.

- Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs (one at a time) while continuing to mix. Add molasses and maple syrup and continue to mix.

- In a bowl combine flour, soda, salt, and spices and whisk together to blend.

- Slowly combine the flour mixture into the butter sugar mixture allowing for the addition of dry ingredients to thoroughly combine with the ¨wet¨, continuing to add until the dry mixture is completely combined. Dough should be scoopable and hold its form on the cookie sheet.

- Add crushed walnuts and blend with the dough.

- Deposit by scoop nine per sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees F. for 12 -13 minutes. Remove from the oven when edges are lightly browned and let sit for two minutes.

- Use a metal spatula to remove from the cookie sheet to a cooling rack and allow cookies to completely cool before placing into an airtight container to store.

- Cookies should be crispy on the edges and soft in the middle.

FEAST from 20

The pronounced flavor profile? Hard to say. With maple in the name it conjures up thoughts of pancakes, waffles, and French Toast, but using maple syrup rather than extract offers a subtle, not overpowering, maple flavor. With clove, nutmeg, and molasses in the mix you would expect perhaps a spice laden cookie similar to a Ginger or Molasses Crinkle but, again not so. The brown sugar and molasses combine

to offer a light hint toward that caramel praline flavor mentioned earlier. Not too nutty, not too much maple, not too spicy, and not too sugar cookie-ish; this cookie has just enough of each to complement the others. Time after time both flavor and texture of these cookies have been spot on, having something to offer those who are looking for a simple cookie yet not so ordinary. How would these be if made with bourbon and

White Chocolate Chips? Hmmm??? I’m guessing delicious, but I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Pairing well with the morning coffee or the evening tea, this Maple Walnut Cookie is just the right amount of “yum” for a snacking treat. It is ideal for a Sunday afternoon in winter spent curled up under a blanket on the couch with snow lightly falling outside. With a hot mug of cocoa, a good book, and America’s favorite artist in the back-

ground softly painting quaint cozy cabins, nestled amongst happy little trees, set under a backdrop of majestic snow capped peaks, you too will be set to enjoy this accidental Simple Feast.

overnight right in the middle of the trail.

The abandoned fire tower is quite the site, over the last nearly 50 years the forest is trying to claim it. The metal framework of the structure stands with a spruce tree growing right up the middle. The stairway’s rungs have been removed and would be crazy risky to attempt to climb the tower.

We had a snack and didn’t rest long because we knew we had some real work ahead of us.

After retracing our snowshoe track about half a mile we left the trail and headed south into the forest along the ridge.

The temperature was hovering right at freezing so it felt almost warm and at least the snow wasn’t dripping wet or sticky.

Look

our heads. I tried to do my best moose impersonation and pushed and stumbled through the tight trees. Adam using his new Christmas gift, a compass, kept me pointed in the right direction.

Both of us took turns keeping the other motivated. At one point I whined that the only way this could be worse is if something was chasing us. We were also getting wet. Our body heat was wetting out our clothing. We joked about how much fun we were having and the funny thing is we were having fun.

The Deer Mountain fire tower was abandoned in the mid 1970’s. The cab and stairs were removed but the steel structure was left standing.

But there was a lot of snow and each and every time I pushed through the trees I was bombed with snow. Adam would still get clobbered with snow

because somehow not all the snow hit me.

It was “only” a mile to the summit of Deer Mountain’s South Peak. We had our rain shells pulled tight over

When I bumped right into the summit marker we rejoiced for our good luck. It was a relief not to have to make an extra effort hunting for it. Again we took a short break and we evaluated our clothing situation. Wet mittens, wetted out rain gear and gaiters soaking through too. We were still both warm enough and made the decision to wait longer to

PATENAUDE from 22

change into our extra dry clothing.

We followed our snowshoe tracks out and it wasn’t easy in the thick trees because we couldn’t see ahead of us and of course more snow had fallen off the trees covering our tracks. But it sure was a lot easier not having to navigate and knowing the tracks would lead back to the open trail.

Before we reached the trail we stopped

and put on dry mittens. We both carry more than three pairs, hand warmers and extra fleece gloves. My hands appreciated the dryness and the warmth.

Back on the trail we were amused by the new animal tracks that had used our tracks. A moose had walked a long way along our tracks while we were above on the mountain. Near the bottom of the trail someone with a dog had bare-

booted our snowshoe track but they had turned around at the first stream crossing. The snowmobiles had been out too and now the logging road por -

tion was packed out hard.

We were so happy to be back at the car. We took six hours to hike just over 8 miles. We wasted no time tak -

ing off our wet clothes and changing into dry clothes.

It was still 32 degrees, Rte 3’s pavement was now dry and free of snow. I wished I could

take all this snow home with me.

Have fun.

Observations On Life

Weirs Times and Cocheco Times for twenty years.

*Flatlander’s

We found what we were looking for on the South Peak of Deer Mountain. The heavily forested summit has no view but it the 153rd highest mountain in the State.

At the well marked trailhead for the Deer Mountain Fire Tower Trail. We had to snowshoe almost a mile from Route 3 to reach it.

been a rare sighting that would have been printed in the newspapers, had I shared the news.

A stroll through the woods in the 1950’s would produce no encounters with bear, moose, or coyotes, nor were there any turkeys or turkey vultures soaring overhead. I was more likely to see grouse, which we la -

beled partridge, with the young rushing for cover while the mother made herself into a decoy, pretending to be wounded with one wing dangling at her side.

On one such occasion some little grouse chicks found their cover beneath my pantlegs. In recent years I seldom see the grouse or rabbits that inhabited the woods in more plentiful numbers in

the 1950’s and before.

One article I read suggested that in the 1950’s the Granite State was almost entirely without a bear population, but Conservation Officer Doherty wrote of fishermen and hikers in the North Country occasionally seeing the animals, but admitting that they were seldom seen by hunters. Humans, according to

Doherty, were more afraid of the bear than any other animal that prowled the forests of the North Country.

He wrote of horror stories that had been circulated about bears and the fear that many, including men, such as lumberjacks, who spent much of their time in the woods, had concerning the bear.

Though he be the King of the Forest animals, in reality, according to the North Country Conservation Officer, he is a peace-loving king. Why were there few bears in much of New Hampshire seventy-five years ago, and practically none in the Lakes Region, yet today there seem to be plenty of them? Our fear of them certainly helped to keep their numbers low.

After the settlement of New Hampshire by colonialists hundreds

of years went by before restrictions were imposed on bear hunters. Bounties were rewarded at times for those who killed bear, and their pelts were prized, and their meat enjoyed by some. Who hasn’t heard of a bearskin rug? If my source is correct it wasn’t until 1983 that the taking of bear was restricted by the implementation of a hunting season, limiting the number of the creatures that could be taken.

And what does happen when you meet an American black bear face to face? Most people don’t want to find out, but for those who do the answer is usually “nothing harmful.”

A few years ago when I had a couple of goats, I was outside my house and I heard one of the goats running towards me. I turned around and saw that the goat was being pursued by a bear. The goat took refuge behind me and the bear and I met face to face. That face to face meeting was short-lived as the bear stopped, turned around, and walked into the woods. That does not mean that bear cannot be dangerous, because they can, particularly if they feel their cubs are in danger or they feel trapped and in danger themselves. In winter they take a long nap, so you probably won’t meet one today.

There is a legendary story told of a young girl’s meeting with a bear in the town of Warren, New Hampshire in the year 1783. It was on a Sunday in June, we are told that Mr. and Mrs. John Whitcher decided to take a walk along a bridle path to visit their uncle who lived on a hill an hour’s walk away. Mr. and Mrs. Whitcher left

One might come face to face with this in the woods.

Cubs up a tree usually mean there is a mother bear close by. BEARS from 1

their children home, and, though their four year old daughter, Sarah, begged to go with them, she was left in the care of her siblings. They promised to bring something special to the girl, but told her she had to stay home. The little girl, however, was determined to go, and, she started out after them a few minutes after they left. Four-year-old Sarah stopped to pick flowers and wandered off the trail and was unable to find her way back.

Her parents, meanwhile, arrived at the home of the uncle and visited until the sun started to set. When they had returned home, one of the older children asked why they had left Sarah at the uncle’s. It was only then that they realized that their little girl was lost in the woods. The alarm was made to the neighbors and a search begun that would last for four days. On the second day the girls tracks were found followed by the tracks of a bear, causing speculation that the lass had been killed by the wild

While the bear sleeps this fellow has to forage for food.

animal.

The search continued however, and on the fourth day, which was to be the last, a man from Plymouth arrived to join those looking for the lost girl. He said that he had a dream that revealed to him exactly where the girl was located. He started out with a companion and in about an hour’s time three-shots rang out signaling that the girl had been found alive.

On arriving home she told the account of meeting what she described as a large black

dog who licked the cuts she had sustained on her feet and lay down beside her while she slept each of the three nights she was lost. The tracks left behind told the rescuers that the big dog was actually a bear.

Officer Doherty, in his article about bears, indicated, that in his encounters with bear, he shot the first one he saw, and the others made a quick dash for parts unknown when they met him face to face. He wrote this: “Many hunters take

While the big bear hibernates, much smaller animals and birds, like this cardinal, somehow find food to survive the wintry blasts.

this viewpoint, I among them: shoot one bear for the record, watch the rest run.”

Others, with the feeling that the forest in 2023 houses an abundance of bear, might encourage hunters, once hunting season arrives later in the year, to thin out the crop. The Bear Defenders will certainly urge otherwise, wanting to protect

the bears from hunters, feeling that populations will level off to sustainable numbers with no hunting allowed.

Like the king of the jungle, the lion, the so-called king of New Hampshire forests is to be met with respect and caution, but it is comforting to know that no human has been killed by a bear in New Hampshire since the

year 1784.

We are warned that bears can be unpredictable and there have been bear-caused fatalities in other parts of the country. And young livestock and poultry are always at risk.

SMITH from 24

The moose that shed these antlers might also claim to be king of the forest and at times be more of a threat to the hiker than the bear.

Photos by Robert Hanford Smith, Sr.

now make being as offensive and disregarding of other’s humanity paramount to their political rhetoric... When a parent on facebook ‘jokes’ about inflicting violence and even killing trans people and their children or grandchildren happen to be gay or trans, I think it is perfectly reasonable to no longer want to associate with that person...”

Austin Tucker the_ dster694: “There is not an ounce of tolerance in conservative circles. “Tolerate the intolerance is what you’re asking, and we won’t.”

BartonsInk4: “I’m pretty sure I speak for all of the children who’ve cut off their parents when I say:“1. We don’t f---ing miss you. At all. “2. We should have done this years ago.”

Of the nearly 1,000 comments on American Greatness, most of them are like the ones

quoted here.

Then there are leftwing websites. I’ll cite two examples.

The first is the feminist site, Wonkette, which headlined: “Won’t Someone Think Of All The Bigots Who Won’t Be Invited To Christmas This Year?”

The article goes on to say:

“People who vote Republican right now ... (hold) views that are hurtful to actual human beings, who may or may not be their children, their grandchildren or friends thereof... it is quite easy to imagine that conservatives would freeze out any relative, parent or not, who belonged to one of the various groups they are currently mad at. We know for sure they have a tendency to throw their LGBTQIA+ children out on the streets...

“...apparently ‘parents’ are the only peo-

ple God demands conservatives be nice to...

“...conservatives who just go around believing everything Tucker Carlson and Dennis Prager tell them are frequently very angry and thus perhaps not the world’s best dinner guests at Christmas or any other time...

“It seems highly unlikely that the parents being frozen out of Christmas dinners are those who ‘just happen’ to vote Republican, but rather those who insist upon torturing their relatives with QAnon conspiracies...”

Then there is an atheist website called OnlySky, which in its own words, “explores the human experience from a secular point of view.”

Its headline read: “Conservatives are upset their kids don’t want to spend Christmas with them: Dennis Prager believes we’re all obligated to spend the holidays with par-

ents who embrace right-wing cruelty”

The author fully defends left-wing children who break off contact with their parents and prohibit the parents from seeing their grandchildren. For example: “If you care about your health, then people who reject vaccines and spread conspiracy theories about COVID ... are literally putting lives at risk. All of that’s before we get into banning books, denying election results, whitewashing history, denying science, demanding more guns in more hands in more places, and believing whatever other lies FOX hosts shove into their heads...

“Why invite people with dangerous views into your home voluntarily? That’s especially true if you have kids. Parents want to protect their children, and that may mean protecting them from their grandparents’ cuckoo bananas beliefs.”

The author of the piece is identified as “the founder of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, podcast co-host, and author of multiple books about atheism.”

If you have a woke child who talks to you, give him or her a hug.

Dennis Prager is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist. His commentary on Deuteronomy, the third volume of “The Rational Bible,” his five-volume commentary on the first five books of the Bible, was published in October. He is the co-founder of Prager University and may be contacted at dennisprager.com.

Can it really be that an organization that claims to value democracy and freedom opposes parents knowing what their children are taught in school?

That same press release talks about women’s “right to reproductive health.”

The teachers union believes women have a right to abort their child but parents have no right to know what their child is taught in school.

Other AFT press releases include praise for newly passed federal legislation codifying protections for same-sex marriage and praise for President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness initiative.

What does this stuff have to do with “improving pay, benefits, and working conditions”?

The PAC political contributions of the AFT was 16th-highest in spending in the nation in the 20212022 cycle, making $2,150,500 in campaign contributions to candidates.

Percentage of contributions to Democrats? 100%. Percentage contributions to Republicans? 0%.

Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal reports, “AFT shaped the guidelines used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the full reopening of schools.”

The dividends for this show up now in the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress -the “nation’s report card.” Results show the largest declines in math scores for grades 4 and 8 since NAEP started testing in 1990 and also declines in reading scores.

Michigan, where the

circuit court just ruled in favor of unions over parents, has among the biggest declines in scores in the country.

WalletHub ranks state school systems nationwide using rankings based on “quality” and “safety”.

Michigan stands 38th in the nation.

I hope that the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation succeeds in its appeal of the circuit court decision regarding application of Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act.

But this still is not the answer.

Education should be freed from the diabolical control of bureaucrats and unions. We need a free market in education with power given to parents to choose where to send their child to school.

All businesses put their customers first. In a free, competitive school system, the customers -- parents and their children -would come first.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

MOFFETT from 15

STOSSEL from 7

from

government plans to double military spending over the next seven years.

Significantly for diplomacy, Japan assumes a two year seat on the UN Security Council.

China And Resurgent COVID. It’s not over on the China Mainland. The CCP’s clumsy misman-agement of the health crisis which started in Wuhan in 2019, triggering the global pandemic in 2020, has been surging … More than 250 million people or 18 percent of China’s entire population has been infected with a new COVID surge, including half the capital Beijing! Warning bells echo outbreaks in China in late 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) demands that China share “real time information” concerning the virus spread.

Countries such as Italy, Israel, South Korea, and the United States among others have placed stringent controls on COVID-19 screening for passengers flying from China. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for “unity and perseverance” facing COVID. Watch the borders given the danger of contagion surge!

Afghanistan. President Joe Biden’s appalling political blunders opened the path for the Taliban to seize Afghanistan. Now in the midst of a selfinflicted humanitarian crisis, the Taliban regime has shut down needed international aid assistance. Why? Since most aid groups have female workers, the Taliban deems this as unacceptable. Refugee flows will con -

tinue.

Iran . Something big may happen here at long last after a season of massive female led protests against the theocratic regime. The Islamic Republic, in power since 1979, has been rocked to its core by people power protests from its own citizens. Are we near a tipping point?

Smoldering Conflicts. look no further than Kosovo soon to mark the 15th anniversary of its independence from Serbia, have seen rising ethnic tensions between the Serbs and the Albanian ma-jority. Watch the Balkans. Moscow’s political mischief is afoot. In Africa’s Sahel region, Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria confront widening Islamic insurgency.

U.S./Mexican Border. During the past two years at least four million migrants from around the world have crossed into the USA illegally. Mexican Cartels control the vicious human traffick-ing and narcotics flow. The Cartels are tough paramilitaries with both a keen business sense and brute power capability controlling large swaths of Mexico’s border regions.

May the gloom and tragedy of 2022 stay behind us. There’s always hope for the best!

make good choices with their votes—so we don’t end up with blue state blues and then echoing those sentiments so eloquently stated by Kiké Hernández.

“Well [expletive] me!”

Sports Quiz

What is a “luxury tax” in pro sports? (Answer follows).

Born Today

That is to say, sports standouts born on January 3 include former Pittsburgh Steeler coach Chuck Noll (1932) and NFL running back Mercury Morris (1947).

Sports Quote

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” – Albert Einstein

Sports Quiz Answer

A pro sports luxury tax is a surcharge on the aggregate payroll of a team to the extent to which the team exceeds a salary limit set by a league. The NBA and MLB have luxury taxes. The Yankees have exceeded the cap 14 times and have paid MLB $325 million in fines. The Red Sox have also been fined several times but most teams have never exceeded the salary limit.

State Representative Mike Moffett was a Sports Management Professor for Plymouth State University and NHTI-Concord. He coauthored the award-winning “FAHIM SPEAKS: A Warrior-Actor’s Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hollywood and Back” which is available on Amazon. com. His e-mail address is mimoffett@comcast. net.

Freeloading? I like Musk’s answer.

“I will pay more taxes than any American in history ($11 billion that year) ... Don’t spend it all at once ... oh, wait, you did already.”

They sure did. The feds burn through $11 billion every 15 hours. Now Republicans and Democrats will spend even more.

Musk, meanwhile, is trying to make Twitter profitable. Some of his ideas are bad. Some will fail. But at least Musk spends his own money, or money people willingly loan him.

Warren and her fellow politicians take money from us by force.

I prefer Musk’s way. Billionaires sometimes do nasty things. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg censors truthful reporting. Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos sneakily lobby for regulations (like a higher minimum wage) that give them advantages over their competitors. Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey bought gross polluting yachts. But it’s their own money. They are free to spend it on whatever they want. Most do better things with it than government would. Zuckerberg invented better ways to connect with people. Bezos makes shopping easier and cheaper. Musk stopped socialist idiots from censoring my Twitter account, created better electric cars and gave satellite internet to poor people.

Businesses do better things because competition forces them to spend money well. If they don’t spend well, they disappear. Government never

disappears. When politicians fail, they force us to give them more of our money so they can do it again.

People hate capitalists, but it’s the capitalists who create the jobs, lift people out of poverty and feed the world.

I’m a reporter, not an entrepreneur. I’m not likely to invent something new and useful. So today, I’ll give money to charity. It makes me feel good. But the world benefits more from people like Musk -- and the millions of entrepreneurs who try new things.

tery moves smoothly through other events in the story and those incidents never distract the reader from the main event. The suspense builds and the tension grows until you give up putting the book down until you reach the climax.

The Locked Room is one of the best in the Ruth Galloway series. Unfortunately, the Amazon blurb tells me that The Locked Room is the penultimate entry and my annual visits with Ruth and Nelson and Cathbad and the rest of the cast are nearly over. I guess I will have to reread the entire series to be prepared for the April 2023 release of The Last Remains

Who knows? Maybe Ruth will discover the remains of one of my ancestors in that one.

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Super Crossword

PUZZLE CLUE: OBJECTS OF DEVOTION

B.C.

by Parker & Hart

Caption Contest

Runners Up : Santa, realizing he isn’t the center of attention, awkwardly tries to blend into the background. - David Doyon, Moultonboro, NH.

Mary couldn’t help thinking.. If this is the meaning of Christmas, maybe we need to change the definition -John Brennick, Rochester, NH..

With the North Pole short staffed, Santa holds a job fair- Bob Watson, Bristol. NH.

Why yes, I was the first to drive a “green” vehicle.-Robert Patrick, Moultonboro, NH.

Send your best brief caption to us with your name and location within 2 weeks of publication date... Caption Contest, The Weirs Times, P.O. Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 email to contest@weirs.com

The Winklman Aeffect by John Whitlock