In the summer of 2017 we moved to Portsmouth from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. To most people, this was not an obvious move. We are both retired and in our sixties, an age when people typically move south rather than north. So, why did we move to Portsmouth, New Hampshire?
Initially whenever someone would ask me this, I would jokingly respond with, “We moved for the weather.” This would almost always result in quizzical looks. Over time, I realized that it was not a joke, it was reality. The weather up here is wonderful.
While I enjoy the cooler and less humid summers, it is the winters that I really love! Portsmouth winters are cold, but they are not that much colder than Maryland, and, once I bought the appropriate clothing, it became very comfortable to walk around the city, usually taking pictures. Since moving here, I have continued to marvel at the snow removal. The streets are plowed completely and almost continuously, and then there is my favorite, the sidewalk plows. I woke up one morning to see them plowing the paths in the park across the street! All I could think about was how, in Maryland, they couldn’t even manage to plow the roads.
In Maryland I hated the ugly winters and the prospect of being blocked into our neighborhood for days waiting for a snow plow. In Portsmouth I love the winter. I love the greater freedom of movement, and, more importantly, the ever changing and variable beauty.
