An Icy Monadnock Makes Do

Upland roads in towns like Dublin, Jaffrey and Harrisville were still covered with ice Sunday, three days after the storm.
Heavy trees held up only by power lines threatened motorists.
And local residents still without power drove into Keene for hot meals at local restaurants.
Most of the town of Peterborough was still powerless, with downtown business almost nonexistent.
Drivers tried to avoid accidents with courtesy and attention at the intersection of Routes 202 and 101 – since the traffic light there wasn’t working.
(Diner under)
The Peterborough diner was a sort of oasis, with a generator providing heat, running hot water, and steaming meals.
Local residents and others from surrounding areas came in to have their first hot meal in days.
Business was hopping at 2 p.m.
The Bossert family of Peterborough was enjoying a hot meal and debating whether Bill and Mary Leigh Bossert should return with their daughter, son in law, and granddaughter to Lexington Mass.
They’d stayed there since the storm.
Bill Bossert 1: “You know, there’s the mentality which says you know tough it out. Obviously we’re not going to die, we’re going to be fine, we can always get into the car and drive to Keene if it gets really cold … It’s a little bit of a stubbornness, us against the elements. I don’t know what where gonna do.”
They’d come back to town to get their Christmas tree, check on the house, and put the house plants into the basement so they wouldn’t freeze.
The thermometer in their house read 41 degrees – in the warm spots.
The Bosserts were leaning toward staying in their home with their two golden retrievers.
Bill Bossert 2: “We’ll bundle up, chuckle, cuddle up with our two dogs probably, in the basement, in the basement.”
The thermostat in Lori Ann Tessiers home doesn’t go lower than 50 degrees. It had bottomed out at 50 well before she decided to head to the shelter around 11:15 Saturday night.
Tessier slept on a cot in a corridor of South Meadow School in the company of about 30 other people.
Tessier 1: “It was a little bit cold in that hallway but not as cold as my house, so I just made sure I had enough clothes on.”
She was trying to maintain a positive attitude Sunday, blessing the quiet and absence of electronic devices.
Tessier 2: “I’m treating it as an adventure, that’s the way I can see to get through it, and I’m learning more about myself, I’m learning I can tolerate more than I thought.”
Most of Keene was spared the worst of the storm, but ice still shone like glass coating the trees in the hills.
(Wright farm)
The Wright Christmas Tree farm, with frozen trees too brittle to handle, was turning away customers on Saturday as a generator ran at the family home.
Dave Ganio helps the Wright family sell trees this time of year.
He said much of the lost business Saturday was made up for on a busy day Sunday.
Ganio: “Our trees are so heavy with ice I was afraid that if they loaded them the branches would break, but we still have a lot of ice but people need Christmas trees so they’re back.”
Power had been restored Sunday morning at the Hurricane Road farm, which can count itself among the lucky ones in the Monadnock Region.
For NHPR News, I’m Donna Moxley.