Route 27 in Exeter, New Hampshire is called "Hampton Road" and in Hampton it is called "Exeter Road" which confused me mightily when I first moved to the Seacoast a dozen years ago, until I realized the logic: In Hampton, Rte 27 is the road to Exeter.
There are hundreds of prettier roads in New Hampshire, but Route 27 runs straight into the Atlantic Ocean, as it crosses Ocean Boulevard at its terminus.
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| Greater Boar's Head, Hampton Beach--Obadiah Youngblood |
Once it crosses Route 1, aka "Lafayette Road" the housing prices along that road rise because now you are less than 2 miles from North Beach and you can, on some days, smell the salt in the air. As you travel away from the ocean, heading West, the homes along the road become more modest, mostly one story ranch homes, until the road crosses over Interstate 95 and heads past open fields and much more upscale homes approaching Exeter.
But between the interstate and Route 1, it's a modest little road, charming only because of the two hundred year old pine trees which line and shade it.
The high school in Hampton is called "Winnacunnet" which means "place of beautiful pines," and pine trees are the main species, apart from the occasional stand of birches, as the soil is loamy approaching the ocean.
One of the strangest rites of Spring in town is the town vote on "warrant articles" which is a package of 40 pages of questions ranging from voting approval for a million dollar renovation of the middle school, to voting yes or not to allow Mrs. Gertrude Jones to plant her petunias on the easement along the road, on the other side of the sidewalk.
Given that sort of concern about every little thing that goes on in town, Mad Dog was stunned to see the wholesale destruction of the trees along Exeter Road, with nary a mention of what was to befall the road, its trees and the folks who live along the road or who simply drive along it as they head toward town and beyond to the beach.
Sixty foot trees, six feet in diameter, likely 200 years old--Mad Dog lost count, trying to count the tree rings--have been cut down with dreadful efficiency all along the road, transforming a tree lined lane into a sort of Levittown, where denuded lots now stand exposed--all to protect the power lines running along the south side of the road.
Now, Mad Dog values electric power as much as the next man, but really, how much more expensive would it have been to spare the trees and simply bury those power lines?
People who walk their dogs or just stroll along the sidewalk look at each other in stunned silence, as if their town had just been bombed out.
Who did this? What were they thinking?
It is a sort of New Hampshire terrorist attack: Why? Who?
The "Why" is pretty evident: they were trying to protect the power lines which would be damaged if large trees or tree limbs fell on them.
Mad Dog,
ReplyDeleteIs the administration in the town of Hampton unaware of the virtues of a "tree lined street"? Who, besides the power company, would prefer a "power lined street"?? These are not one in the same.. Worst of all the disaster is not easily rectified given the size and age of the trees. If they posed a safety hazard that's one thing-but simply to protect the lines is an obscene solution to something that isn't that great a problem to begin with.
On a brighter note-Obadiah Youngblood's new painting is superb....The green landscape is a different look from his previous work...and the sky is especially lovely....
Maud
Ms. Maud,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Obadiah will be happy to hear this. He was concerned this painting was a little to reductionist.
Driving along Rte 27 past the Academy and the graveyard across from it, Mad Dog realized if we are determined to protect power lines, all those stately pines will have to go. We'll look like a salt marsh without the marsh.
Mad Dog
Ms. Maud,
ReplyDeleteYou always notice what others miss...but my favorite thing is the sky, prosaic as it may be.
Mad Dog