Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

Haden!
Wednesday, October something or other (I think its the 27th), 2004
RE: Concord, City in a Coma
Well, this week, I shall tell you about Concord. Concord is the capital city of New Hampshuh. It has a population of little over 40,000 people, if you include the small township of Bow, that bumps it up to a whopping 47k. I think the last census revealed an Asian population of 0.18%, which means, NOT VERY MUCH. So, with us moving here, we probably tripled the Asian population. In fact, I think we have seen the other 8 Asians that live here in Concord. And they all work at the Manchu Wok in the mall.
Okay, just kidding. In truth, I’ve counted 9 Asians. And every time I see another person of Asian descent (I can’t be politically correct any longer), they stare at me with a look on their face that says, “Hmmm, you’re new. Haven’t seen your face before.” Its like, we should all know each other or something. In fact, last week I took the kids on a brisk walk through the neighborhood (I wasn’t pushing the double stroller briskly, the weather was brisk), and one of our neighbors is a Slant eye (okay, I said the PC thing was going) family. Wow! He stared at us as he fertilized his lawn. Then we went up to the porch and started yelling in Chinese to the old lady of the house. I am convinced he yelled, “Hey, old lady!! Come out here and stare at the Korean slant eye and half breed kids! They must be the family that moved from OR-EE-GONE!!” Or, something like that.
To drive the point home, one last Asian story (although more are sure to come). I took the kids to the story time at the library. The YMCA kids were there, all seated and listening. One little girl (looked Korean), turned around and smiled at Haden and me. Then she turned again. The girl next to her said, “That’s not your mom.” I don’t know what that meant, but I find it funny. Are all Asians in Concord related to one another?
Okay, so Concord is a nice little city. In fact, I think of it like a suburb, but its not a suburb of anything. It has a nice little downtown area with lots of neat looking church spires and the Merrimack River next to it. And then there is Loudon Road. Loudon Road is a main road the ends up going to Loudon, where the big NH Raceway is located. This is where the big NASCAR races occur three times a year. The raceway can fit 100k people for a single race (as my friend Dave put it, “100 thousand people, and not a full set of teeth in the place) and when there is a race, Concord turns into a very interesting place. Back to Loudon Road. As you driver further East on Loudon Road, you eventually get to the main commercial area – well, a bunch of chain stores and a mall. Every chain store and restaurant you can imagine is on Loudon Road. There are like, 12 Dunkin Donuts – even one in the mall. Its got all the chain restaurants and stores, like a suburb, but nothing of Concord’s own. This is why I think Concord is like a suburb – OF NOWHERE!!! Oh, and on the end of Loudon, is the big Wal-Mart. This place is a source of constant entertainment. On a race weekend, you wouldn’t believe the number of RVs and truuuu-ucks that are in the parking lot.
Okay, let me discuss the Dunkin Donuts. They are freakin’ everywhere. Where we have a Starbucks, Seattles Best (which merged recently with Starbucks) or coffee cart – here they have a Dunkin’ Donuts. Even in the grocery store. Just in case you need a sick cup of coffee and a mouthful of sugared fat. It explains a lot of why people around here look the way they do (that’s another e-mail). So, due to the fact that NO STARBUCKS exists in Concord, we are all set to save a bunch of money. Because we don’t eat donuts on every block. Okay, there is a Starbucks in the Manchester Airport, but you have to have a boarding pass to get to it. The next Starbucks is next to the Costco, again, 45 minutes away and pretty much in Massachusetts. Starbucks is the only major chain restaurant to have not yet made it to Concord.
Okay, enough of that. Let me tell you something very cool about Concord. After asking many, many questions when we first moved in, Lee finally found out who picks up the garbage. See, it doesn’t matter who picks up the garbage. We don’t pay a garbage bill either. Each week, we just stick our garbage out at the curb. We can put as much out there as we want. And guess what, we don’t receive a bill each month. The City of Concord picks up our trash. Why is this so freakin’ cool? Because our property taxes pay for the garbage removal. Very cool, eh? A city government that efficiently uses my tax dollars, such that I don’t have to pay Waste Management to remove my trash, yard debris (doesn’t exist here), and recycling.
The interesting thing about this is that people have to buy their own garbage cans. And some (I’d say most) people don’t buy garbage cans. They just throw their bags of garbage out next to the street. Yep, no cans. Just bags of garbage. Oh, and we don’t have a yard debris can. Lee just takes our clippings out back to the 17 acres of conservation land behind our house. One time he found a Christmas tree. Oh, and the dogs do their waste removal in the woods too. Very cool. No more scooping for me! As far as recycling goes, I can gather my own stuff and drop it off, which is a bit more work.
And, I forgot to mention that the parking meters downtown are $0.25 an hour. Yes, that’s 25 cents an hour. It seems kind of cheap, but whatever. Did I also tell you how freakin’ nice people here? People see me coming with the kids and the giant stroller, and they go out of their way to open doors and help me. Just the other day I had a nice conversation in front of the Home Cheapo waiting for fries at the hot dog mobile home with a gentleman who is missing several front teeth. He told me about winter, me being from Oregon and all, although I am unsure he knows anything about Oregon. That its pretty interestin’ an all, that some years we have a winter, and some years it ain’t so bad. Oh, and that he as a 19 month old son that won’t stay seated in the cart either. Right about then, the lady in the hot dog mobile home told me that I was all set. People around here are real friendly. And to prove it...
Okay, so we went to a non-chain restaurant that was recommended to us – a steak and lobster place. Yes, lobster is plentiful here. We met some nice people next to us from Canterbury – just north of here. They were interested that we are from Oregon. He asked how I like Concord, and then laughed. He said, “Its a bit dull, huh? We used to call it, ‘The City in a Coma.’” I thought that comment is a bit too truthful and funny. And I share that with you. You all now know where we live...in a suburb that’s in a coma that really isn’t a suburb of anywhere. I think I shall make a tourist pamphlet for distribution.
As far as we are concerned... Haden gave me my first kiss last week, and continues to kiss me when I ask him (well, sometimes he does). Hannah is busy being a “pink fairy princess,” while I am a “blue princess.” And Lee is at work most of the time. In fact, he just came back from Portland, City of Roses – in the rain. I am so jealous.
All our love, Stasi