Sam and Julie's Stairs - Nelson In Common

Sam and Julie would like to know what critter is doing this damage. We think there is some wisdom in town that might have the answer. To be perfectly honest, it would be more interesting to get some conflicting opinions! You can say what you think it is (and any reasons why you think so) in the comments field, below.

Nelson Small Talk

We think that the northern part of heaven lies down a stretch of dirt road that leaves the paved Harrisville Road in southwestern New Hampshire. We get there, as we say, by going down the rabbit hole. That’s a bit of fantasy, I know. The “rabbit hole” is a 500-foot descent down a tree-covered road that opens onto a kind of Wonderland—Tolman Pond and vicinity.

from Roy Edelfelt, intro to an article on the Nelson History website. [READ ENTIRE ARTICLE]

More Nelson Small Talk

On the Hill Above Nelson School

My house is up on the hill above Nelson School and I can often hear the children playing outside when I am home during the week.

In the Line of Duty

In the late 1970s the old Josiah Whitney home, owned by Peter Flint, caught fire. Peter’s Aunt Kate was home at the time.

The Nelson Nutcrackers

Every year at Christmastime I am reminded of the very first Christmas we had here in Nelson. I don’t remember the exact date, but on one particular day in mid-ish December near suppertime there came a knock at the front door.

Fancy Vocabulary

In a recent edition of the Black Fly Express, our editor used the word “plethora.” It reminded me of a town meeting a number of years ago . . .

The Brigadoon Article

To see if the town will vote to proclaim the Town of Nelson a voluntary and positive anachronism, and to authorize the Selectmen to . . .

Our First Day in Nelson

In 1977, Sam and I saw an ad in the Harvard Crimson (thank you Karen Tolman) for a camp for rent in Nelson, near a place called Tolman Pond. We had some friends in Peterborough and Hancock, so we decided to rent the cabin to get out of Cambridge in the summer.

Edgar Seaver’s Penny

Edgar Seaver made a daily trip to the post office in Marlborough to pick up the mail for delivery. One day . . .

A Souvenir of Appreciation from the Post Office

On the evening of November 28, 1989 the Munsonville store burned due to a faulty ballast in one of the fluorescent lights.

A Parking Meter in Nelson

One day I spotted a parking meter. I loaded it into my truck, and by the time I got home I had contrived a plan.

Finding Ancestors

Cemeteries are a wonderful place of quiet calm and the surroundings are perfect for meditation and contemplation. On a warm spring day I was walking among the souls in the Munsonville Cemetery and came across the final resting place of one of my great aunts.

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Berries of Yesterday and Tomorrow

The Nelson Trails Committee is wrapped up its eleventh year with an effort to restore blueberry picking on Hurd Hill. And raspberries we hadn’t noticed are thriving in the new clearing, too. In a few years we’ll have berry picking restored.

12 Next

Are there other mysteries? Submit your photos to editor@nullnelsonincommon.org.

Mystery – this object (a working cement mixer) is for sale. But where?

You can find out more, as well as listing your items for sale, items wanted, help wanted, situations, and services.

Click to go there.

6 Comments

Kathy+Schillemat September 22, 2021 at 7:20 am - Reply
Porcupine is likely.
Val Van Meier September 22, 2021 at 7:35 am - Reply
Porcupine, it’s at the right height for a hungry prickly visitor.
Miki Clements-Collier September 22, 2021 at 9:33 am - Reply
Sure it is a porc. But sure would be scarey if it were a beaver!!
Judith Putzel September 23, 2021 at 6:28 pm - Reply
Porcupine….
Julie Snow September 25, 2021 at 1:35 pm - Reply
Crazy, because we almost never see them, but thanks for the info, all four diagnoses match!
Marcia Smith September 25, 2021 at 3:59 pm - Reply
We’re near Julie and Sam’s and have nightly porcupines eating our clover. That’s my guess too!