Hardy As A Rock

Linda Burton posting from Concord, New Hampshire – New Hampshire is the Granite State. So called, it is said, due to its extensive granite formations and quarries. But I don’t think that’s the only reason. Consider the state motto, proudly displayed on the state coin and every license plate: Live Free Or Die. Such is not the motto of the wishy-washy, or the faint of heart. New Hampshire isn’t very big – 190 miles from top to bottom and no more than 68 miles wide, ranked 46^th among the states in area. New Hampshire doesn’t have a lot of people – a little over 1.3 million, ranked 42^nd among the states in population. But New Hampshire was the first of the colonies to break away from Great Britain (January 1776); six months later it became one of the original thirteen states and the first to have its own state constitution. Look at some of the outspoken and daring people who have come out of New Hampshire: orator and statesman Daniel Webster (right, 1782-1852); reformer and newspaper editor Horace Greeley (1811-1872); Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910); the first American in space, astronaut Alan Shepard (1923-1998); author of the bestselling and controversial Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (b 1964). These are not people who coasted along on the Status Quo. They had their opinions, and they acted on them. In fact, the opinion of everyone in New Hampshire takes the national spotlight on a recurring basis – with both the New Hampshire primary, and the casting of the first votes in the Presidential election. Only a few delegates are chosen in the New Hampshire primary, but it often changes the face of national politics. Along with the first caucus in Iowa, it is a major testing ground for all party candidates, garnering massive media attention. And then, there’s Dixville Notch. » read more