October 8, 2011

Heaven On Earth

Our main destination for the day was the Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, New Hampshire, where we were made “kindly welcome.”  Canterbury Shaker Village was founded in 1792 and was the sixth of nineteen Shaker communities from Maine to Kentucky.  The Shakers lived apart from the world in self-contained communities, and their goal was to make their villages a “heaven on earth.”  Shaker beliefs were revolutionary for the era and included common ownership of goods, pacifism, dancing in worship, equality of the sexes and races, celibacy and living simply. 

Meeting House

Brothers Enter Through the Door On the Left,
Sisters Enter On the Right
Canterbury Shaker Village is now preserved as a museum, and we took a wonderful tour with Jim, our knowledgeable guide.  Our tour included the 1792 Meeting House, Dwelling House and Laundry.  What I found most interesting is that the buildings have not been restored to a particular period.  Various rooms in the Dwelling House, for example, interpret not only the nineteenth century period of significance, but also the early twentieth century period as well. Many of the other 25 original buildings are open to the public for self-guided touring.

Dwelling House

Trustees' Offices
We sampled Shaker fare at lunch, including corn pudding and chicken pot pie.  Although the meal was very good, it took what seemed like an eternity to get our food, thus cutting into our time for touring for the afternoon.

We did have time to drive through the lakes region of New Hampshire, including a loop around Lake Winnipesaukee.  We’ll save the Kancamagus Highway for tomorrow.

Fall Reflections
Kitty has been enjoying her walks at our last two campgrounds, both of which have been heavily wooded with lots of small critters.  Kitty is particularly fascinated by chipmunks and is hoping to get her paws on one of them.  We hate to disappoint her, but that’s just not going to happen.

Where Did That Chipmunk Go?

I Can Hide In These Leaves

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