Lyme Local

Brian and Jim in the New Hampshire village of Lyme

  • For more than a decade, Vermont has had the nation’s lowest birth rate

    The actual number of children born in the Green Mountain State is smaller today than before the Civil War, when Vermont had fewer than half as many residents it does now.

    Vermont wasn’t always a poster child for the baby bust. In 1960, near the tail end of the baby boom, Vermont’s birth rate was slightly above the national average, at 126 per 1,000 women of childbearing age. 

    Over the next few decades, births in Vermont tracked national trends, generally declining as more women entered the workforce. Then, in the mid-1990s, Vermont’s births dropped precipitously to well below national rates. 

    Seven Days covers the story.

  • Look how fancy we are!

    Brian’s niece Amy gave us these for Christmas; one side says Lyme, and the other says Louisville.

  • It’s now looking and feeling like fall

    The low this morning was 52 degrees vs. 64 in Louisville.

    This tree was across the street from the Lyme Congregational Church.
    Take your pick.
    A sign on the Common.
    We have more photos of this view than any other.

  • Fred and Kathy Peterson hosted an end-of-season block party this afternoon

    The weather was great, and so was the turnout: around 40.

  • Strolling around the lovely Dartmouth campus

    Historic Dartmouth Hall; the visitor booth; beautiful flowers outside Pine restaurant, and a plaque for Hanover’s spot on the Appalachian Trail.

  • Autumn colors, here we come

    New Hampshire’s Official Fall Foliage Leaf-Peeper Forecaster™ says colors historically crest in this area Oct. 5-15. We’re already seeing signs here in our village. This photo and the one after were taken on the Common.

    This one, of course, is the view south from the back of the house:

  • Catching up with an old friend, and admiring the pollinator garden on a walk around the Common.

    Jim saw his high school friend Ann Lipsitt for the first time in 50 years, over lunch at Lou’s restaurant in Hanover. Ann lives 100 miles away near Burlington, Vt.

    We were very happy to see each other.

    Later in the week, Jim took in the sights on a Sunday walk around the Common. (Brian was back in Louisville.)

    The Northern Woodlands pollinator is taking off.
    Orange coneflower.
    Black-eyed susans.
    A sign of the times.
    Flowers by an intersection at the Common.
    A florescent-pink zinnia.
    Yet more flowers.
    Sunflowers galore.
    Lyme Inn is one of two bed-and-breakfasts on the Common.
    A stall bearing a well-known local surname.
    A panoramic of all 27 stalls in the old horse barn.
    Lyme Historical Society is only open on Saturdays.
    There’s a museum, too.
    No horses allowed in the cemetery.
    The old temporary burial vault when the ground is frozen.
    This was once the Lyme jail.
    A big rainbow bus in the Lyme Hardware parking lot.
    A seasonal view to the nature preserve.
    A panoramic view of the pollinator garden shows it’s thriving.

  • It was a beautiful day to visit the Norwich Farmers Market

    We saw lots of colorful vegetables; tried peach-basil ice cream (it was good), and bought small spice dishes from local potter Susan Leader.