Editor’s Note: Everything Became New Again

The first two months of the year is when my mother and I celebrate our birthdays, mine in January, hers in February. This will be the first year I won’t be able to call her to wish her a happy birthday.

I will be thinking of my mom Jan. 29 when my wife and I visit 3S Artspace, an intimate venue in Portsmouth (3sarts.org). On stage will be California singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet, fresh from a tour of Europe to promote his latest album, “Wake the Dead,” a collaboration with a cumbia band that was released in October to rave reviews for its inciteful lyrics and Latin dance rhythms.

My favorite song, though, is the gentle ballad that closes the album. I heard “A Good Day To Be Alive” a couple of months after my mom died. The song, written to celebrate Prophet’s remission after a two-year battle with lymphoma, presents a random to-do list of everyday activities, including “It’s a good day to call your mother.” 

For more years than I can remember, I called mine every Sunday. But the song didn’t bring me sadness. It just made me smile. The cycle of birth and death defines us more as we grow older and learn to appreciate everything that has come before and what’s yet to come for however long we enjoy our stay on this planet. 

I borrowed a line from the song’s bridge for the title of this column: “Time stood still, and the seasons changed. Everything became new again.”

Welcome to 2025

Our January/February issue hangs around for a couple of months so we wanted to be sure to make this one count. 

Marshall Hudson checks in with a children’s story written more than a century ago about a little girl who went missing and survived a few days in the wild thanks to — as the legend goes — the help of a large, furry friend (page 34).

For this month’s “In Their Own Words,” Emily Reily talks with NH author Sy Montgomery, who has a new book about chickens that might change the way you think about our barnyard friends (page 36).

As we always do each winter, New Hampshire Magazine heads outdoors and braves the cold. Writer Jill Armstrong and photographer Joe Klementovich team up to explore the Mount Washington Backcountry Ski Festival and its “Women of the Wild” all-female course (page 62). Armstrong also visits with craftsman Bill Novacek, who makes traditional wooden snowshoes at his home workshop in Lancaster (page 86).

Writer John Koziol and photographer Adam Perri venture out “On Thin Ice” to examine the impact of warming temperatures on ice fishing at Lake Winnipesaukee and the celebrated Great Meredith Rotary Fishing Derby (page 52).

Attitash Mountain Resort celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Elisa Gonzales Verdi talks to long-time employees at the Bartlett ski destination for this month’s “Informer.”

We also have stories best for reading while nestled in a comfy living room chair.

Portsmouth author J. Dennis Robinson revisits the notion that the American Revolution began in New Castle — “rather than on the bloody battlefields of Lexington and Concord” — with the 1774 winter raid on Fort William and Mary (page 70).

Kathryn Marchocki, whose graceful writing and exceptional reporting made her byline standout at various NH newspapers over the past 30 years, contributes this month’s “Our Town” about Mont Vernon, the community she called home for two decades (page 14).

Liz Barbour, a regular on WMUR “Cook’s Corner,” shares recipes for winter comfort food, including Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs and Stracciatella Soup with Spinach (page 20).

Frequent contributor Brion O’Connor closes the issue with an “Live Free” essay about his grandfather, “Upright Hank,” and their mutual love of hockey (page 96).

See you in March.