America’s Stonehenge

Recently, Time Life Magazine reissued their special edition of 'Strange Places' - one of the two publications with Time my photography has been featured in. This re-release had me rooting around in my Mystery Hill folder and I found a journal entry I had written about my visit to one of New Hampshire's little hidden gems.

It is as follows:

It’s a cool and damp spring day in the woods of New Hampshire. Surrounded by crumbling stone structures, I found myself standing before a sacrificial stone in an area better known as “America’s Stonehenge”.

Mystery surrounds these woods. Questions begged to answered. Who built this? And for what purpose?

America’s Stonehenge is located about an hour north of Boston, in Salem, New Hampshire - (not to be confused with the famous witch town of Salem, Massachusetts.) No one really knows who built it, why they built it or even what it was used for.  Theories abound about its purpose - from ancient North American tribes conducting sacrifices to early Christian Irish Monks to various land uses of 18th and 19th century farmers.

Previously known as Mystery Hill, the name was changed in 1982 to ‘America’s Stonehenge’ to ‘better reflect’ what the current owners believe is one of the site’s main functions - namely an astronomical calendar.  The sacrificial table, perhaps being the most controversial,  is the epicenter of a group of intricate stone structures. The structures, being too small to be dwellings, are thought to have been used for ceremonial purposes. Surrounding these structures is a 12-acre circular calendar consisting of aligned monoliths to mark the changing seasons surrounds the main ‘ceremonial’ site.

While natural occurrences in the Earth’s shifting plates undoubtably caused damage to the site, (yes, New Hampshire lies on a surprising number or dormant and active fault lines) there are many other reasons why the site is so deeply shrouded in mystery.

Once upon a time, there was a working farm on the land owned originally owned by the Pattee family. The Pattee’s being farmers, modified and used some of the existing structures for various purposes such as root cellars and livestock shelters.  There was also a good deal of quarrying and removal of  large slabs of the readily available granite. And there was William Goodwin, a man so convinced that the site was built by Christian Irish monks,  long before Christopher Columbus’  ‘discovery’, that he rearranged stones to ‘fit’ his theories. For all these reasons  - no definite answer to the site’s builders or reason of existence seem forthcoming. 

What started off as a beautiful clear day, quickly became overcast with threatening looking clouds.  An ominous sign? Or just more proof that the weather in this area changed on the turn of a dime - the whole “Don’t like the weather... wait a few minutes” theory. Not to one to be discouraged by a few clouds, onward I drove until I came to the incredibly pitted and muddy... and I hesitate to call it... parking lot.  Fortunately, there did not seem too many other visitors - which was alright by me.

The property is over 110 acres of trails and is privately owned and operated - so of course there was the matter of “the fee”.  After becoming a few dollars lighter, armed with my camera and guide map, I was on my way to the trails.

The woods were still in their somewhat quiet phase as it was only April 12th and not all the forest critters had returned from their winter getaways. The peacefulness was only broken by the occasional creaking of winter barren trees swaying in the breeze.

The first structure I came across was, according to the trail guide, the ‘Watch House’.  It is a rather shallow cavern - not more than 6 or 7 feet in length - built into a hill using a large glacial bolder as one wall. A large, flat granite slab is fitted across as the roof with smaller granite stones piled up to form the opposite support wall. Situated on one end of a double-walled path, it was named the ‘Watch House’ due to it’s location to the  main site. Too small to be a permanent dwelling, but enough shelter to protect a person from the elements, it is speculated that perhaps this structure was used a shelter for a guard.

"Watch House"

At this point, some overly loud hikers join me at the watch house.  Not wanting to my experience to be overshadowed by comments of a more juvenile nature, I deviated from the map and wandered down some other trails to explore.  There was also a large ‘thaw swamp’ alive with surface water bugs and something larger that went Ker-PLOP and disappeared.  The standing stone that originally caught my attention doesn’t appear anywhere on my guide map - nor the wall it is part of - but I was intrigued none the less and snapped a few photos of it.

Random standing stone

Looking around, I noticed the whole area was marked with letters or numbers. I realized that I had wandered onto the second map of the Astronomical Trail. Excellent!


The first marker I found was the True North Stone. During 1974 and 1975 it was determined by Mr. Osborn Stone (past manager) that this monolith was the true north alignment for the pole star. Excavations were conducted in 1989 to 1991 in order to investigate the base of this stone as well as sections of the adjacent wall. A fire pit was discovered in front of the stone at a higher level than it’s base and indicates that stone had been placed prior to the fire pit. Amazingly, a radio carbon dating was taken of the charcoal samples and a date of 650 AD was obtained.

Moving on down the trail I stumbled upon the Summer Solstice Sunrise Monolith.  It is somewhat unimpressive in size and doesn’t look much different from the standing stone I found earlier.  It does, however, line up with an important astronomical event - the Summer Solstice Sunrise of approximately 4000 years ago. (Due to changes in the tilt of the earth over the last 4000 years - the stones no longer line up with the current astronomical events.)

As I approached this standing stone, the sun decided to grace me with a very brief appearance. So brief in fact, I was only able to snap off 3 or 4 shots before it goes back to it’s hiding place behind the clouds.

Summer Solstice Sunrise Stone

The stone itself is unextraordinary at first glance. But when one really looks at it - it is quite beautiful in it’s simplicity with its strange pointed shape and the proud way it stands over looking the valley below. While I experienced no flashes of light (as suggested by one theory of Tectonic Strain Theory) or brilliant ephiphanies - but I did feel at one with my surroundings. Whether that was due to the site itself or just my love for being in the woods, I may never know. Taking a few moments to absorb the view and enjoy the silence and solitude before finally moved to the main site.

The sky was getting more and more ominous and so I made my way towards the main site.

I entered the main site through the exit, so it takes me a few minutes to get my bearings straight and figure out which part of the site I am at. After taking a quick look around, I see it... the 'Sacrificial Stone'.  I obediently followed the signs to the viewing platform to gaze down at it.

Hmph. I was very far away. I looked left. I looked right. No one of authority seemed to be around (the bonus of off season visits!). I hopped down over the ‘fence’ and, ignoring the occasional suggestions from the few rule abiding visitors on the viewing platform to “hop on”,  I got an up close and personal look at the stone.

Sacrificial Stone

This 4.5 ton grooved slab of granite is one of the most controversial structures on the site. Supporters of the idea that the area was a ceremonial site used by ancient natives, say that this structure was grooved and notched, to catch the blood of sacrifices below the table in a bowl. Others say this structure is actually a Lye  Stone, used to leach lye out of ashes and produce soap by 17th or 18th- century farmers in the area. Having seen photos of similar lye stones, one might be able to conclude they are correct – BUT what about the “Oracle Chamber”?

Ahhhh, the “Oracle Chamber”. It is probably, in my humble opinion,  the most interesting structure on the property.

Entrance to the Oracle Chamber

Walking down a few ancient stones steps and I peered into the chamber. It was small, dark, dank and much colder than the outside temperature. I expected a bellowing moan and a gust of ancient air to warn me from entering, but sadly, nothing moans or gusts.

It is a T-shaped chamber about only 5 feet in height - so I have to bend a little to walk through. The floor of the chamber was slick with moisture, so I moved cautiously through and finally came to the ‘Secret Bed’. Located below the ‘Speaking Tube’, it is an extremely narrow niche only large enough for one person to crawl into and be completely concealed. The theory is a priest would hide himself in this niche and speak into the tube. Words spoken through this stone-lined tube would travel and exit under the Sacrificial table - giving the impression that the voice was coming from the table itself and hence the term 'Oracle Chamber'.  Why would this chamber and tube exist for a farmers simple lye stone? I stuck my head and shoulders in the niche to see as much as I could, but it was pitch black. A braver person may try to squeeze their whole self in for an even closer look - I am not that person.

A few feet ahead of the Secret Bed is an opening in the roof. Two stone louvres were once in place offering ventilation into the chamber that could be opened and closed. Also of interest - is a carving discovered in the 1930’s.  It is of a running deer, and believed to have been drawn by natives long ago. No testing (that I could discover) has been done to prove this. I tried to find the carving but it was too dark and shooting my flash off repeatedly to illuminate the chamber only succeeded in rendering myself temporarily blinded.  It was only with a stroke of luck, that I managed to get my camera to focus and flash to fire to get a couple of interior pictures that were in focus.

Interior of the Oracle Chamber - looking from the Secret Bed to the louvres

I exit the chamber (through the entrance, of course) to poke around other portions of the site above.  There are a number of  smaller chambers - again, too small to have been dwellings, but so well built that they must have been used for some purpose. Storage perhaps? But of what? Or are they some of the stones Goodwin moved around? Yet another unanswered question.

While I was wandering among the cairns and structures - a big fat raindrop hit my arm. The clouds had turned blackish gray and the weather decided to become particularly unfriendly.  With one last look around, I decided this is a good time to pack it in and head back through the woods to my car. 

I have no idea who built this site or why, but it seems entirely plausible that it was first constructed by early natives. Evidence of hundred of chips and flakes from stone unearthed at the site, suggest that the site was at least partially constructed with tools consistent with indigenous tools consistent with the Native American lithic techniques.

Many believe that the history of this region only ranges back a few hundred years and that the inhabitants were few in number. Not true. This land was not a ‘virgin land’ but a ‘widowed land’. After Europeans came to North America, it is believed that over 90% of the native population perished due to contracting common European diseases such as smallpox, measles, mumps and whooping cough, to which they had no immunity.  Cultures and languages were either lost completely or absorbed by other tribes. Stories of sacred lands were gone or turned in folklore - locations and reasons gone forever.  Much like this one.

Fear is the Killer of Dreams

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock.com

Just a quick post since moving is on my mind a lot. Fear is the killer of dreams. It can be immobilizing and keeps one from moving forward into the unknown... and let's face it... the future is really just one giant question mark. No matter how much planning one does, or the order one keeps - what happens isn't always what was planned.

I keep telling myself this whenever I start to get nervous about our upcoming move. As previously mentioned, we are renting out our condo and moving into a bigger, more expensive space.

the Fear 
I am nervous about becoming a landlord and finding good tenants yearly (or every few years if we are lucky). My biggest fear is a tenant breaking a lease or not being able to replace tenants after a lease is up and having to cover both our rent and our mortgage – which we can do but it will make for tight months and I wouldn't want to have that issue for months in a row. But I suppose that is the bane of any landlord – and they survive it unscathed... I think.

the Dream
Eventually, we would love to buy a house that we plan to stay in until the kids are grown and moved away. We don't want to buy and sell and buy and sell – we want to settle and root. We don't where that will be, but we do know that in order to do achieve this dream, we cannot stay in the same place. So with that - we are holding our noses and jumping head first into the future!

Dream on!

the Art of Self

Everywhere and nowhere, 2009

Communicating is crucial, yet a constant struggle for me. I possess a reflective view of the world and my place in it and my art (when I find time to create it) focuses on deconstructing and reconstructing that view. I aim to capture the details that are often overlooked. In my landscape work, I utilize color, contrast, and texture in order to create a mood or atmosphere incongruous to otherwise familiar places and objects. In my creative portrait work, I aim to unveil the hidden essence of a person – parts of the persona that often lie just below the surface.

I have done quite a few self portraits in the past 5 years. And while I haven't done any in well over a year, I began to question about why I, like so many other photographers, dwell on the subject of self. Is it because when an idea strikes there are no models handy? Is there a deeper reason? Or are we just narcissistic?

Honestly, I believe it to be a little bit of all that. Sometimes I am struck by inspiration at an odd time during the night or day, and I just *have* to work on that idea. If I am the only one around - then viola - I am not only the photographer, but the subject. But more times than not, the reason I put myself as the subject is because there is usually some sort of emotion stewing close to the surface.  Not being fantastic at always expressing my emotions through speech, I sometimes choose to use a visual medium – photos.

Sometimes the messages are obscure - maybe I will be the only person to really understand the meaning - or maybe they are more obvious. Or perhaps, people walk away with a completely different, yet no less accurate, assessment. Because everyone walks through life with different experiences - their own set of bumps and bruises, laughter and smiles - it doesn't necessarily have to be the message or emotion I was feeling when I created it. Isn't the essence of art to not only leave the viewer with something to dwell upon, but to also forge an emotional connection?

I am at your door, 2008

In my world, I am an empathetic observer. I see varying and unending shades of gray. I feel deeply about issues surrounding me - whether they are personal or more about the uncontrollable aspects of the tumultuous world around me. All these pent up thoughts and emotions whiz around my mind like debris caught in a funnel cloud. After a time, they can cause a big old tumultuous storm of shit if I don't eventually allow them to come out in some form of creation.

In the self portrait above, I was in a frantic and anxious part of my life and much change was right around the corner. I don't remember really setting the scene for the photo for any particular reason other than I like the creepy basement stairs in the house and the old lantern. But if I look at it, I can see my sub conscious mind was definitely at work. Awkward position, crouching on stairs, band-aid on knee, old useless lantern.... I think I more accurately portray that moment in my life through this image than I could ever explain to someone in words.

I love our silences, 2010

Even now, my mind is setting up my next self portrait. It involves a field and a cold war era Soviet gas mask... I wonder what you will make of that.

More of my self portrait work (and lots of other photos by moi) can be found here

The Hunt for Clean Laundry

(or how I found a washer & dryer)

For the last four years, I have shared a laundry facility with my 11 other neighbors. Located one floor down, I have lugged basket after hamper of soiled under and over things - paying through the nose for each precious wash and dry. True, it is more convenient than having to drive it to a laundromat, but it's just not the same as having my own washer and dryer. With this upcoming move, comes a brand spanking new laundry room right off the kitchen. I can not express how besides myself with glee I am. (This has also proven to be a good indicator of my age as I do not remember getting excited about laundry at any other point in my life.)

Step #1: Brand Spanking New Washers and Dryers
Like any excited wash woman, I started looking at washer and dryer sets at the usual locations – Sears, Best Buy, Lowes – and I was surprised to find how much prices had gone up since I had bought my last set a decade ago. A lower end set starts at about $800. Wow! It's so basic that, besides having only 3 wash cycles, I am pretty sure I have to generate my electricity. Plus, I don't want a cheap, low end set meaning anything of reasonable quality was going to cost upwards of a grand. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, then I might as well go with high end, pretty colored sets - but I'm just not ready to do that yet for various reasons.

If you can't afford it - don't buy it.
As I have mentioned, we are renting our new digs as we establish some rental history in the condo we own. It also buys us time to decide where we want to actually purchase a house. Seeing as I have owned and sold two houses and currently own a condo, I would like for the next purchase to be a little more final. Not knowing where we will be living – in say five years – the last thing I want to do is invest in any expensive appliances. And since we are not the kind of folks fooled into taking out 10 year auto loans on used vehicles or those no interest/no payments for 6 months deals, we started talking about alternative options.

Step #2: Craig's List
My friends, Nikki and John, find the most amazing things on Craig's List. Their home has character, charm and comfort – it's what I strive for in ours. I remembered they had found an amazing espresso machine on Craig's List for a fraction of the retail price. I thought this would be a good starting point to finding a used washer and dryer set at a bargain price.

JACKPOT! There were so many listings for seemingly fantastic sets in great working order. My enthusiasm knew no bounds. I emailed a few people who posted and waited for a response. And waited...... and waited....

Nothing. Did they not want to sell these sets? Had they all been scooped up?

I tried again. This time even contacting folks who couldn't bother to upload a photo. In these emails, I asked for a photo (some of the listings that *did* have photos showed sets that must have been 20+ years old - hello Lady Kenmores!). The one response back I did get back couldn't send photos. This didn't feel right. In this day and age of digital - everyone could take and send a quick pic! I started thinking to myself that perhaps this was a warning from the universe - a cosmic red flag, if you will. If I bought a set off of Craig's list and the set failed, there was not recourse for us. There's nothing more sad than an Amber standing in a pile of dirty laundry, holding a detergent bottle and peering into a broken washing machine. Well, ok... maybe there is, but you get my point. This brought me to step 3.

Step #3: Used Appliance Stores (aka My Foray into Rent-A-Center)
When I was living in Austin, I shared a laundry facility with the whole apartment complex. More than once, I found someone else's laundry in my dryer. People were to cheap to pay the .75¢ a dryer and would sneak it in – leaving my clothes damp. I found a rental place that would also offer used, refurbished sets that they would warranty for a fraction of new sets. So I thought to myself perhaps I could find a similar place here. Now Austin is a HUGE college town – so there are many options for rental and used appliances. Manchester... not so much.

I was headed to the liquor store at lunch the other day to pick up boxes when I noticed a Rent-A-Center. Remembering the small shop in Austin, I thought that maybe they might offer the same deals on used washers and dryer.

While they offer used sets for sale – they do not refurbish or service their machines and they do not offer warranties.

Well, that seems like an even WORSE idea then buying blindly fro Craig's List. Without servicing sets and no warranty... geez. Who knows what kind of abuse those machines have been through and how long they will last... or (THE HORROR) what's creeping around inside of them. **shiver**

Step #4: Back to Craig's List
Figuring that it was better to play the odds on a used set through Craig's List, I once again checked the listings. Low and behold what do I find?!?!?!?


"LIKE NEW WASHER /DRYER SETS
WHY BUY NEW WHEN I HAVE QUAILITY PREOWNED WASHER/DRYER SETS MANY MAKES AND MODELS SO DON'T BUY FROM SOMEONE THAT CAN'T GUARANTEE WHAT THERE SELLING ALL SETS HAVE A 90 DAY WARRANTY SETS START AT 325.00 TO 400.00 ALL SETS ARE PULLED APART CLEANED AND INSPECTED STACK UNITS FROM 450.00,TO 500.00.DELIVERY AVAILABLE"


THIS I what I was looking for! A (somewhat) local business (that's been around for 30 years) that offered used, but refurbished sets and had a warranty to back their work! PLUS, they deliver. We found a nice Whirlpool set for $400 that if we went to Sears and bought new would cost us well over that! At the level of washer/dryer we were looking at – a couple steps above basic – let's face it, those sets are like cars... they lose value the second you bring them home. Why pay full price? Why get spanked with interest?

People pay mad amounts of money and are willing to pauper themselves for such silly things. How many washers and dryers do you see at friends homes? Do you care what they are? So what if it's used – it's going to clean my clothes just fine and is still better than a laundromat. I can wait until I am in my "final house" before spending money a high end washer and dryer. To me, it just makes financial sense right now.

UPDATE #1:
The set arrived today and was installed and I am impressed. They look brand new and the washer even has a hand wash /delicates cycle. Woot woot!

Welcome Violet Catherine... and New Digs

Violet Catherine has finally arrived! Well, she arrived 11 weeks ago - but this mom has been super busy readjusting to life with a new baby and maintaining the schedule of a 9 1/2 year old!

Ya ya – there is a HUGE gap in this post and my last. One reason is, I was waiting for Violet's arrival before unveiling the name of my new blog as we were keeping her name hush hush. The other reason is, I had forgotten how much work newborns are and didn't get to do a fraction of the things I thought I was going to be able to get done.

In my pink hazy memory, I remember the Bean easing right into a sleep schedule and my easily cleaning the house and preparing meals. Either Mother Nature rose colored the bejeezus out of my memory or I had truly forgotten all the work involved in getting to that infant eutopia. Between feedings every two hours, endless diaper changes and a wee one that adored being held and vocally disapproved of being put into a bassinet for naps – my website did not get updated, my blog sat untouched, photography projects I had envisioned remain on the "creative shelf". Not to mention the fact that these little people need so much stuff!!!!

I knew we wouldn't last long term in our two bedroom condo, but I kept saying to myself "People in Manhattan do it all the time" and "Folks in Europe don't live in as much space as we do". Well, New Yorkers and Europeans are made of much sterner stuff than myself – or maybe they do it because they have no other choice. Maybe it is my post pregnancy/less sleep brain railing against clutter. I don't need a lot of space and I have no problem living modestly, but whatever it is, the small space/larger family dynamic is not working for us.

Ideally, a newborn and an almost ten year old could sleep in the same room. Violet is sleeping through the night – but she goes to bed so much earlier than Bean. That's a downer for Bean if she wants to play in her room or even just read in bed. Not to mention, Bean has school and needs her sleep, so putting her 11 week old sister in the room with her probably wouldn't be conducive to a good night's rest.

And then I started worrying (and my husband, Eric, will tell you worrying is my super power) about small toys. With the first one, it's easy to keep all tiny things that could cause choking out of reach of a curious baby. With the second, now there are tiny toys every where – even when you pick stuff up, Polly Pocket's shoe is lurking just under the sofa skirt and The Littlest Pet Shop babies are peeking out of a partially open closet.

Eric and I had done a lot of creative legwork in terms of using what space we did have wisely. It was about looking at an area and redefining what it's potential was. I admit that I took a lot of  inspiration from the folks over at Ikea and their amazing use of tiny spaces while still looking clean and well designed – and I think we did a mighty fine job of doing just that. We de-cluttered closets, added cabinets to walls, used baskets and bins to organize shelves... but at the end of the day, we were just feeling too cramped. Add to that the sleeping arrangements, it was time to move.

Dealing with a downward market
Condos have been hit hard and ours has not been spared from the drop in the housing market. The property, when we had it appraised, lost almost 50% of it value from when I had purchased it four years before. Yikes! We are not about to hand over cash just to take it off our hands and we refuse to short sale as a first option. After swallowing that bitter pill, we started looking at our condo as an investment property – because really you don't lose money unless you sell low – making our only real option to rent it out.

Next, we had to decide whether to buy a second home or rent a larger apartment. I spoke to our very helpful mortgage broker and found out that we qualified for a mortgage on a second home (yay!) but because we hadn't established a rental history it would be smaller than if it did (boo!). So, we could buy a second home, but it would be small and modest and possibly need some updating. We are all for fixing stuff and making it our own, but we would rather wait and have more options in terms of amenities and location. Plus, we aren't sure where we will be in a few years. Renting gives us time to decide where we want to buy – whether it's in this area or out of state. So, renting it is!

Finding our tiny piece of (rented) heaven
That decided, I haven't lived in  anything I haven't owned for well over 10 years and was shocked to see the limited choices of three bedroom apartments that are out there - avocado bathrooms and dingy carpeting galore! Since I have no desire to live in someone else's filth and I am quite particular about "the look", not to mention the area, of a place - the search took a little while before we found a place that fit all of our requirements - off street parking for two cars, a yard, a nice quiet, safe neighborhood, three bedrooms, updated kitchen and bath, laundry hook ups (more on that later) and hardwood floors (I DESPISE wall to wall carpeting... all the dirt and dust mites... blech!). And we found one! The fact that it has a refinished claw foot tub and beautiful fireplace is just bonus awesome-ness.

Laundry Hook-ups!!!!

This two-family home was just renovated and restored to it's hardwood and Victorian detailed glory! The area is lovely, quiet and ideal for what we were looking for. It's not a huge, over the top space, but perfectly sized for our little family to nest in – and we found fabulous tenants to rent our condo to boot! All the pieces are falling into line nicely (thank you good karma!) and I can't wait to move in and start decorating! I'm thinking it needs some POP of modern to accent it's turn of the century charm. Now to find a washer and dryer set...