I am at my Lake House right now in Ashburnham, Mass. Technically I live on a pond. I've never heard of a "Pond House" before. It also doesn't sound good like that. Who would want to go to a Pond House? The only difference between a Lake and a Pond is the depth of the water. The average depth is supposed to be greater than 6.6 feet year round...In the winter the water is lowered to prevent the ice from doing havoc on the docks and walls around the lake. My guess is that my body of water is just below that 6.6 feet of average depth. In one spot it hits about 20 feet deep. I think the Pond is about 60 acres. There are docks and motor boats. No Jet Ski's are allowed. That's a rule I don't like. There are a good amount of motor boats. There is a speed limit of 40 mph and no horsepower limit. Most people use it for water tubing and water skiing. I would think it gets boring going around in circles for awhile. We don't have a motor boat. We have two kayaks and a pedal boat. There are three good size islands that you can walk on. I'd say one of the islands is about 50 yards long. Most important though is that it's quiet and private. There is no public access so there is no competing for space on the water. Either you own it or you don't.
There is plenty of fishing to do. There are a lot of bass. I've caught a cat-fish before too. There are other kinds but I am not familiar with them.
July 4th is interesting. We just got this place a year and a half ago and we've experienced one July 4th. There were lot of fireworks, but they weren't organized. People just lit them whenever they wanted.
In the winter there is a lot of ice fishing and some people building skating rinks for ice hockey.
There is plenty to keep busy with here. I like that.
It's also really unique. I live on a one lane dirt road. When two cars are on the road, you pull over to let one pass. The mail man doesn't stop by, you go to the post office. This is also why we don't have any mail sent to our lake house. Deliveries of appliances are always interesting. Large Trucks and Truck drivers probably dread reading any address on my street.
But it's nice. I love being on a one lane dirt road because it's really different. It's unique and it keeps things quiet.
My house is a great place to read and write...and get away from the world. After I traveled to the Final Four in 2008 I came back to my lake house so I could catch up on school work.
Being in the middle of nowhere also makes it difficult to find. I've gotten lost getting back here before. Not lately though. Still we over-run one of the streets we need to take every once in a while because everything blends in in the woods. Countless souls have gotten lost trying to get to this place. If I invite you and you make it without taking a wrong turn you deserve a gold star...which we might have considering my mom is a kindergarten teacher.
Being in the middle of nowhere also means you don't meet many new people, which means life can get boring after awhile...especially since I'm of college age and looking to meet new people.
But again there is plenty to keep me busy. I can play my sports video games (which I don't spend forever on, I am not a "video-gamer" but I play on occasion...Most sports fans enjoy Madden and NCAA Football...I'm enjoying FIFA 2009 right now...and I'm the Arsenal and we usually win), watch sports, play pool, ping pong, horse shoes, swim (yeah right), fish, play cards, watch movies, read, write, split wood (which I enjoy as a workout), lift weights, hike, run, cycle...yeah there is plenty to do.
My game room also has tons of posters, newspaper clippings and magazine covers/pictures covering the walls. Many of that is UConn stuff. Every poster from this year and most from last year are up. Also gameday posters for basketball. All the schedule magnets too. Before I met my friend Meghan Nanfeldt I said to myself...I recognize that name...that would be because she was hanging up on my game room wall. I don't really have many autographs there...those are at home. Some of my UConn ones are.
I also collect license plates. I have those in the garage. I have ten states so far (Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Also have one from Venezuela.) I bought 3 of them, the rest came from family.
Ashburnham doesn't have a lot going on downtown. I haven't noticed a bar. It is home to Cushing Academy, a famous prep school. Two UConn Men's Ice Hockey players and Baseball pitcher Dan Mahoney went there. There are a couple of churches downtown. A pizza place, antiques store and hardware store. There is a small marketplace too. We generally travel up the road to Rindge, New Hampshire to the Market Basket, Wal Mart and Hannaford up there to buy food. It's about a 15-20 minute drive to those places...maybe 5-10 to downtown Ashburnham...not a huge difference and there is a bigger selection and no sales tax in New Hampshire.
That 15-20 minute drive is also a main part of my bike ride. When I cycle I generally go down route 119 for awhile. I go past Mount Watatic, a Mountain with nice hiking trails, and on a clear day views of Boston in the far distance and Mount Monadnock just 20 or so miles away. I go into New Hampshire and take a right on to a road that leads to the Cathedral of the Pines. It is a non denominational religious area dedicated to veterans. Every President since Harry Truman has donated a rock to the altar up front. Every state also has sent a rock and rocks from famous battlefields are also a part of the altar. It recently went through a transformation in landscaping after the ice storm did damage to a lot of trees. I went today and it still looks beautiful and peaceful.
http://www.cathedralofthepines.org/
After I pass the Cathedral I take another right into a residential neighborhood. I go down a hill that I usually get up to about 38 mph going down. I go to a certain point and turn back. Every time I go on the route I go up to the Cathedral Parking lot and salute the flag as a tribute to our veterans. Then I return home.
I'm working on a running route and I think I found one. If I don't run around my street I will run up and down Mt. Watatic.
I am staying at my Lake House so I can work in the Franklin Pierce athletic department. I am really looking forward to helping the Ravens. They are a Division II school. Interestingly enough I read today that their women's basketball team was the first team in the State of New Hampshire to play in a NCAA Championship game (Division II). Unfortunately they lost. Their Women's Soccer team also had a really great record this past year. I heard that their baseball team and men's soccer team are also pretty good. There head men's soccer coach recently left the program to take an assistant coaching position at Boston College.
Also Franklin Pierce College is really in the middle of nowhere. People say that about UConn. Franklin Pierce is much further out in the middle of nowhere. I think that's a plus. Most others don't...I fell in love with UConn because the two lane country roads that I had to drive on to get to campus. It reminded me an awful lot of New Hampshire and Lake Winnipesaukee. I didn't see a bar near Franklin Pierce. (I'm not much of a drinker but I know many others are) Nothing is within walking distance that I know of. There is a great pizza place called Pizza Haven down the road. There is also a Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken 5 minutes away near the same grocery stores and Wal-Mart that I use.
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