Nat Scrimshaw takes the Curious George Cottage Studio on the road and chalks it up at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium.
Below: George and the Dragon.
Audrey Eisenhauer
I get as excited as the kids do every time I pull my net out of a pond or stream. The anticipation builds as I get ready to empty my haul. At first glance, the net appears empty, but upon closer inspection, there is something wriggling on the bottom of the net. What will I find this time? Will my net be filled with graceful Mayflies, their three tails stretched out behind them and their abdominal gills waving with the motion of the water? Maybe my net will be filled with the juvenile stages of mosquitoes. Perhaps I will find their larval stage known as “wrigglers,” which use a wriggling motion to move through the water and have a snorkel to breathe air from the surface; or maybe I will discover the pupal stage known as “tumblers,” named for their tumbling action as they navigate through their watery home preparing for their metamorphosis into adulthood. Or maybe I will find my favorite catch – a dragonfly larva. These amazing predators of the pond are jet-propelled (they squirt water out of rectal chambers), and have an extendable lower jaw to reach out and snatch their prey. The list of options is long, and each one is as fascinating as the next.
Above: John S. Gianforte from the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium with young astronomers. Below: A magical moon (from the 2-20-2008 lunar eclipse).
Above: Nat Scrimshaw entertains three maidens at the Plymouth State University Earthday Fair.
Brenda on the trail. Photo by Deb Dibona. To see more photos, click here.
The 2008 Rey Center Earthday Celebration is dedicated to the life of Edward Norton Lorenz, 1917 - 2008, avid explorer of Waterville’s mountains, and whose scientific work contributed to the understanding of Nature as a complex system.
Above, left to right starting in the upper row: Paul Norton, ?, Ellie Swain [Gallagher], Debbie Austin, ?, ?, Ed Lorenz, Arthur Goodrich, Margaret Lorenz [Ensor], Mary Goodrich [Scrimshaw], ?, Nona Norton [Wilke], Barbara Norton. If anyone knows the missing faces, please comment.
by Nat Scrimshaw
On April 12, Ed’s sister, Margaret Ensor, passed. Margaret and Ed shared a Cottage in Waterville Valley. Margret’s husband, John Ensor, was an active member of the Waterville Valley Athletic and Improvement Association (WVAIA) during his lifetime. John Ensor and Seymour Smith were my first instructors in trail work.
The photo above (circa ~ 1930) shows Margaret Lorenz [Ensor] on the far lower left. Ed Lorenz is second from the right in the upper row. The group of teenagers are sitting on the porch of Goodrich Cottage in Waterville Valley.
by Nat Scrimshaw
Rey Center friend Edward Norton Lorenz passed away this morning (April 16). I was fortunate enough to visit with him last week. He was his usual humble and good humored self. Earlier in the week I had spoken to him on the phone. Knowing he was facing his last days, he said me, “Well, you can’t live forever.” Ed seemed to be the sort who just might live forever. In August 2006, on the 74th anniversy of his finding a cave on the date of the 1932 eclipse, I scurried to keep up with Ed as we bushwacked up the Welch ledges looking for the cave (we found it). As many of us do, Ed loved to hike Welch and Dickey mountains, and meeting him on the trail was a common sight.
Ed was a great supporter of the Rey Center, and will be honored permanently through the Lorenz weather station on Mount Tecumseh and a special exhibit on chaos theory at the Rey Center. Those with a careful eye will recognize the “Lorenz Attractor” in the Rey Center logo and in the clouds in the 2008 Rey Center Earthday poster. Internationally Ed is best known for coining the phrase the “butterfly effect” (sensitive dependency on initial conditions) and being the “father of chaos theory.”
As I left him last week he presented me with a $15,000 check for the Rey Center in memory of his wife Jane.
We will miss Ed. You can go to the MIT website for more information on Ed and the announcement of his memorial service.
Selected links on Ed’s passing:
Hans and Margret enjoy a trip to Waterville by windpower — based on a needle point by Margret Rey and the WVAIA logo done by Hans.
Above: Susan, John and Kendra discuss seeds.
Kendra Bumpus (Rey Center assistant director) and Susan Schofield (Garden Coordinator) recently took a field trip to Mooarhill Farm and Greenhouses in Mount Vernon, Maine. Susan spent 5 years working at Mooarhill, learning firsthand some of the innovative practices that earned Mooarhill Greenhouses one of the first Organic Greenhouse certifications in the state.
Owners John and Michelle Pino extended their gracious hospitality with homemade sweets and bread while we talked about plans for the upcoming season at the Curious Gourds CSA.
In addition to growing some of the seedlings for the Curious Gourds CSA, John will also be consulting for us this year on organic practices, pest management, integrating live stock, maximizing production, and will hold workshops on the farm during the summer.
Spring skiing in Tamworth, NH with Mount Chocorua in the background.
At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the New Hampshire Environmental Educators, held on March 12 at the McLane Center in Concord, NH, Rey Center Education Program Director Audrey Eisenhauer was elected NHEE Co-President along with Jessica Morton, Indoor Air Quality Program Specialist with the NH Department of Environmental Services.
Founded in 1979, New Hampshire Environmental Educators (NHEE) is the state professional organization for people working and/or interested in environmental education. NHEE is dedicated to promoting, supporting and improving environmental education in New Hampshire and providing professional support to its members. NHEE is a non-profit organization whose members include environmental and conservation educators, classroom teachers, students, administrators and others.
Continue reading ‘Audrey Eisenhauer Becomes Co-President of the NHEE’
The Plymouth Record Enterprise recently featured two articles by Mike Dickerman: “The Goodrich of Waterville Valley trail fame” and “Nathaniel Lewis Goodrich: trail builder extraordinaire.” With permission, the The Waterville Valley Athletic and Improvement Association (WVAIA) has reprinted these articles.
Arthur L. Goodrich and Nathan Lewis Goodrich never lived in the White Mountains, per se, but for many summers were closely associated with the Waterville Valley area. Arthur, the father, began summering in the Valley in the mid-to-late 1870s and over the course of the next 30 to 40 years was an instrumental figure in the development of the fine trail system that pretty much exists intact today in Waterville, more than a century later.
Arthur’s son, Nathaniel, whose ties to the Valley go back to his days as an infant, closely followed his footsteps, at least in terms of his dedication to trail-building in the Whites. Nathaniel, along with fellow Appalachian Mountain Club members Charles Blood and Paul Jenks, are considered the “fathers” of the modern day White Mountain trail system, for it was the three of them working together as a team who pieced together over a period of two decades the interconnected trail network that has long been enjoyed by area trampers.
Loli and Lisa in the sun.
The day began cool and the snow was firm and fast, but as the sun splashed against the snow beneath a brilliant blue ski, the conditions quickly improved. Kicking and gliding along a variety of groomed back-country trails with outstanding views of Mt. Whiteface and Chocorua, Loli, Dorothy, Lisa and Jeff, as well as Dan and Nat, had a fantastic 13 mile adventure. Weaving through evergreens and whizzing past hardwoods, the group enjoyed views of the Swift River, lunch at a boy scout cabin, the chapel at Ferncroft and the many twists, turns and undulations of the trails.
To see more photos by Lisa Reid and Dorothy Dibona, click here.
Nat and Jeff (or is that Mutt and Jeff?) perform ballet along the trail…
Nat Scrimshaw
In the Spring of 2006, while volunteering on the Franconia Ridge Trail, our crew came across what we considered to be a poorly constructed cairn (pictured above). We joked that it looked like a bird sitting on its nest. After some deliberation, we decided to rebuild the cairn to something more of what one expects to see in the White Mountains. 
I forgot about the cairn until a little over a year later when Laura, a girl from Canada who regularly visits Waterville Valley, NH, began playing with stones by the Curious George Cottage. She piled the stone in a form that startled me into recalling the misshapen cairn. She called me over and proudly showed me her Inukshuk. She explained to me what this was, and a little research on the internet yielded more information:
An inukshuk is a stone landmark used as a milestone or directional marker by the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. Inuksuit differ from some cairns in significance. The Arctic Circle, dominated by permafrost, has few natural landmarks and thus the inukshuk was central to navigation across the barren tundra. Inuksuit vary in shape and size, and perform a diverse array of tasks. It is a symbol with deep roots in the Inuit culture, a directional marker that signifies safety, hope and friendship. (from Wikipedia)
Above: Sierra and birthday roses. Below: Sierra enjoying cake with her proud father.
Happy Birthday, Sierra!
Sierra, a friend of Curious George, celebrated her 11th birthday recently. Sierra enjoys all things George, and has an original “chalk-talk” poster from the Curious George Cottage Studio. Sierra is a special needs child from Minnesota who is considered non-verbal. However, she works very hard to communicate, and her friendship with George is one way she shares her joy in the world. She loves to eat breakfast with Curious George on PBS before school. She thinks George is really funny when he gets into a big mess!
Nat Scrimshaw gets some help with his drawing at the Community School’s evening of “Soup, Story and Song.” The Community School, located in South Tamworth, NH, grows seedlings for the Rey Center’s Curious Gourds Garden at the Sandwich Mountain Farm. It regularly holds community dinners with locally grown food open to everyone.
