Posted on 12/15/2004 5:07:33 PM PST by Templar Knight
This last Fourth of July my wife, myself and our Jack Russell Terrier ‘Mac’ traveled to New Hampshire from our home in Westchester County, NY.
Full Article follows in Comment Section.
Published: Op-Ed Page, The Berlin Reporter (7/14/04) (Berlin, New Hampshire)
© W. N. Kilarjian 2004
W. N. Kilarjian, FRGS
This last Fourth of July my wife, myself and our Jack Russell Terrier ‘Mac’ traveled to New Hampshire from our home in Westchester County, NY. This was only the second trip to the granite state for my wife and the first for Mac. In my youth our family had traveled often to New Hampshire on summer vacations, frequenting Manchester, Portsmouth, Nashua and Lake Winnipesaukee. Those summer trips and subsequent trips thereafter always engendered a feeling of being drawn to the Old Man of the Mountain. New Hampshire’s appealing qualities are manifest. In the muscular natural beauty, the open, friendly and forthrightness of the people, the dignity of her cities and towns. Admirable traits abound.
On this trip we planned to visit Keene and then continue north to stay with friends in the Berlin and Gorham area. We departed NY and made our first port of call. We found Keene and its environs to be thoroughly lovely. The Main Street, which we strolled along amiably, is nonpareil. Reasoned development policies clearly in evidence, Keene possesses the needed commercial attributes and infrastructure without sacrificing the feeling of neighborly community.
Our next stops were in Berlin and Gorham. Here we met friends, took in the beautiful fireworks display in Gorham and basked in the wonderful surroundings. Berlin, while obviously a factory town, fortunes ebbing and flowing as the tide thereon, seems as if the tide is coming back in with a vengeance. In many locations we noticed new or just getting ready to open businesses. There is a sense of optimism about town. This augurs well for the future. A note about the Fourth of July fireworks show in Gorham. When the National Anthem started it was heartening to see the vast majority of people stand while it played. In me this evoked clear thoughts on the meaning of patriotism and brought to mind Adlai Stevenson: “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” A short frenzied burst of patriotic emotion is what we saw in New York after recent events. True to type, New Yorkers have reverted to their particular and peculiar form of condescension towards not only our nation but to those who evince the tranquil and steady patriotism of a lifetime. Being a life long New Yorker, born in New York City in Jamaica, Queens and raised in Astoria, I am keenly aware of the attitudes of New Yorkers toward what they regard the “lesser States” and those who dwell in them.
One of the reasons we made the Keene area our first stop was because of our intention to move there over the course of the next year. Deciding to leave our settled life in New York was not done on a whim. Sadly, or perhaps not so, it has become a necessary reality. New York as presently constituted no longer resembles the New York of my youth. Decades of misguided government policies both fiscal and social have taken the empire out of the Empire State. Also, as a life long conservative and republican one no longer feels especially welcome. A monolithic political structure is not conducive to representative government. The State itself, particularly in the area of government, has become unwieldy. In light of the stark differences that exist in the three main regions it may be time to consider devolving to three smaller states – North, West and South New York State. Perhaps this might stem the tide so to speak and bring sanity back to governance. Well, enough about New York.
After deciding to make the move we researched New Hampshire and several other states and in nearly every measure and survey year after year New Hampshire ranks at the top or highly in nearly every category. Its admirable qualities and policies of government at every level plus an abiding belief in the fundamental ability of the individual or business to make their own way sans the tender mercies of government are attributes seen all to infrequently in government these days. Frankly, there was really no way New Hampshire was going to lose in our book. Our minds had already been made up; we were just going through the motions in cursory fashion.
The entire trip was thoroughly enjoyable. All that we saw and did along with the people we spoke with reinforced for us that we made the right choice in deciding to move to New Hampshire.
We look forward to making New Hampshire our new home.
W. N. Kilarjian is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of the United Kingdom. As a freelance editor and writer he has indited for, among others, The Berlin Reporter (Berlin, NH), PardonMyEnglish.com, IsraPundit.com, MichNews.com, OpinionEditorials.com and The Templar Intelligencer.
Published: Op-Ed Page, The Berlin Reporter (7/14/04) (Berlin, New Hampshire)
© W. N. Kilarjian 2004
Also, as a life long conservative and republican one no longer feels especially welcome.
I know how he feels, but NY needs more conservatives
Sean Hannity lives in New York,
In fact this is where all the media is !
I don't know what the hell that means. I do, however, go to Keene to see foreign language movies and to get Chinese food.
Otherwise, it's full of people who wear socks and sandals at the same time.
It's full of people who think Al Gore and John TerriKerry are too conventional.
These are people who wear round frames on their glasses. You know the type.
Clearly you didn't spend enough time in New Hampshire. The southern half of the state, Keene included, is full of Massachusetts refugees who are socially liberal. The vast majority of people in the state are against a marriage amendment and for abortion. The results this past election weren't a fluke: New Hampshire, once a proud conservative stronghold in the Northeast, is trending blue; it'll be that way for a long time to come. This is the wrong time to move here, if you're looking for someplace that's conservative-friendly.
Very soon,NH will have the same crushing taxes,the same amoral criminals and the same worthless (foreign) refugees as any of the "bluest" states.
This guy had to have inhaled - I have lived in this state for over 30 years. This description reminds me of the travel brochures of England - where everyone carries a 'brollie' and wears a bowler and France - where all the 'men' wear striped shirts, berets and have Galluises hanging from their mouths.
Let him come, someone needs to pay the taxes. Actually, we'd be just as happy if they stayed in their own #$% states and just mailed checks to us. The roads would be less crowded, the beaches cleaner, and we wouldn't get asked dumb questions about how to get from 'heah to theah'!
My eyeglasses have round frames: they are issued by the military for submariners. As for Keane, I agree in general with your assessment. I go over there from time to time from my place on Spohnam Lake.
The nasty tar-smelling cigs are still a reality in France. They do overpower the BO.
Spofford Lake. I'm tired tonight.
Forget the Fourth of July.
I want to see how enthusiastic he is about Keene or Berlin on the Fourth of January. ;)
Keene is surpassed only by Durham and Hanover when the views in the Granite State turn left. Keene is a liberal place for NH folks, but maybe not for someone from Astoria.
There are lots of conservative enclaves around Keene.
Actually, we'd be just as happy if they stayed in their own #$% states and just mailed checks to us. The roads would be less crowded, the beaches cleaner, and we wouldn't get asked dumb questions about how to get from 'heah to theah'!
YES
In the dialect of the natives, I believe the term for them is "massholes."
Shhh! Please don't let New Yorkers find out about New Hampshire. Please let them know how much happier they will be in Vermont. (I intend to retire to New Hampshire so don't spoil it.)
Having a chucklefest over your comments. Yes, I know the type.
Deadly serious about Global Warming, Hurting Bunnies and Kitties and Puppies and All.
It's Mean to Own Guns and to Have Bad Thoughts if Bad Men want to Kill You.
They'll Stop If We Just Have A Protest and Carry Signs and Puppets and Stuff.
Yeah, I know the type, gigglegiggle.
Precisely. The little towns that surround these schidddwholes are all conservative. They are what came to the rescue of Bob Smith when the networks called the election for "Big Dick" Swett.
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