Winter has come all at once to New Hampshire.
The Morning of Space Shuttle Challenger
We always watched the shuttle launches. First on the television, right up until after blast off, just in case there was a delay at the last second, which sometimes happened. Once it lifted off we’d run outside and stand in the road or at the end of the driveway and look east above the treeline watching for the glow. We’d follow it up and could usually just barely see the two solid rocket boosters dropping after a couple of minutes. Once the shuttle was way up out of sight, around 5 minutes or so and the smoke trail was taking on a wavy shape from the wind, we’d hear the rumble coming. That was so awesome. We lived about 60 miles or so from Cape Canaveral and it took that long for the rumbling from the massive lift off to reach our area. Sometimes it was louder than others and actually shook the windows. The kids loved it.
On the morning of January 28, 1986 my oldest son was in school and my only other son at the time was three. We were watching the count down that keep getting delayed mostly because of the cold, and finally gave up because I had to get to the grocery store. After my shopping was done, at the old Winn Dixie on Providence Blvd. in Deltona, as we were heading out to the car, I noticed some people at a parked car listening to the radio and others trying to get a view of the sky. Someone said, “The shuttle exploded”.
On the way home, I headed east driving down Doyle Road and I had a perfect view of the sky where ordinarily I would have seen a beautiful big plume of smoke left from the launch. This time the sky was full of zig zag, swirly patterns of smoke that were definitely not a normal sight. My heart sank. So much hype had been given to this mission especially. We’d been kept informed of all the training the first teacher in space had to go through. Krista McAuliffe was the lucky one chosen and all I could think about was all the kids in the New Hampshire classrooms who knew her and were watching that day as the mission ended before it even began.
Years later my family went over to Cape Canaveral to watch a shuttle lift off from as close as civilians are allowed to get. It was truly an awesome sight. And now I live in New Hampshire where the teacher came from. Today the local news will be interviewing people in this area who are related to the story in some way. It’s hard to believe it was 25 years ago.
Related Articles
- Derrick: Lessons Linger 25 Years After Challenger Tragedy (npr.org)
- Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster FAQ: What Went Wrong (space.com)
- Challenger: 25 years later, the wound still aches (msnbc.msn.com)
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The Searles Castle For Weddings
My son and his wife were married in January 2007 at the Searles Castle in Windham, New Hampshire. It was an elegant and romantic wedding in a historic old building and this picture is one of my favorites. They were brave to plan a wedding in January and if it had been this January, they would have had tons of snow. In 2007 there was relatively little on the ground, but just enough to make it pretty. After the ceremony, the wedding party and parents went outside and braved the cold to get some photos and then the newlyweds traveled around the grounds with the photographer and got bunches of great pictures.
Just a few days ago I was asked by a customer at my Narrow Road store if I would make her a “Save the Date” card with the Searles Castle on the front because she was getting married there later this year.
The picture above was taken by a professional photographer and my photo (below) was taken in the summer when I went with my son and his fiance and her daughter to check out the place.
The castle sits on a hill and is surrounded by trees with a long winding driveway to the main entryway and the grounds provide a wonderful background for wedding pictures.
Save the date: New England
Save the date: Hydrangeas
Save the date: Beach / Tropical / Destination
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I Found The Snow
Last month I was asking where all the snow was, but I can tell you now that I have found it. For the fourth time in a little over a week the kids are missing school. My son is so sad, I’m sure he will be crying all day – NOT. But I might be… just kidding. No time to cry – must shovel!
We are not setting any records (except maybe the one for the most snow in the month of January) and usually get a bunch of snow where I live, but we are just getting it all at once.
So this morning when I went out to shovel out the bird eating stations and took a few photos. I think we are likely to get around 6 inches today. My car is in the shop so I won’t have to clean that off! Nice..! Of course I will have to pay the bill to have my brakes fixed.
If you are in New England, I hope you are enjoying the white stuff and are getting ready for that arctic chill coming this weekend when the temps will be well below zero.
I hate when the snow is as high as the deck. It makes getting it off much more difficult. As you can see, I will have a bunch to shovel once that roof lets go. And that is some heavy stuff.
The cat caught a blue jay the other day and I think he must have done so while hiding in one of the snow paths that lead to the bird feeding areas. The other cat, Fontana, mostly stays inside.
