Don't Take NH for Granite... (it's a joke)

Hey Guys!



Sorry for not posting! I have been very busy the last two weeks, and things just seemed to get out of control. But, I am back, and I will make up for lost time.



I hope you all had a great 4th of July. I spent mine in New Hampshire with one of my best friends from college, Andy. I have only been to New England once (and that was just a trip to Boston), so I was really excited to go northward. As Andy said, "I needed to celebrate independence in a place where they actually were involved... not Tennessee." I'm pretty sure my ramblings for this post will be of more interests to my American Lit friends, but maybe these little blurbs will excite my 8th graders and pump them up for 11th grade! Here are some things to ponder:



1) This will sound pretty dorky, but while I was in New Hampshire, I told people I was "Tocqueville-ing." Alexis de Tocqueville, for my 8th grade friends and forgetful AmLit-ers, was a Frenchman who lived in America during the early days of the republic. He is most famous for his work Democracy in America. As you probably remember if you've read excerpts (check your Nortons), Tocqueville basically travelled the States and noted all of the things that marked American living. Many people thought his work was completely favorable towards the US, but if you look carefully you can glean some not-so-nice remarks, too. Anyway, my assessment of New England was full of praise. Southern New Hampshire is full of hundreds of wonderful towns. Though often pretty small, each seemed to have a distinct flavor colored by the history and the natural beauty of the area. We were in the Monadnock region, and it was very mountainous and green. All of the towns had a meeting hall and a "first church." In the colonial and early US days, these religious houses, often Congregationalists' churches, were the centers of the towns. It was very Scarlet Letter.



2) Interestingly enough, my friend Andy's parents own a house right next door to Uncle Sam's. Now I know many of you will say, "I thought he was fake," but in actuality, the title Uncle Sam came from an early American named Samuel Wilson. While I was in NH, I got a chance to tour Uncle Sam's house, which was really neat. It was covered in posters, magazine cartoons and advertisements dating back to about the Gilded Age. Some of the most impressive pieces were the old Saturday Evening Post covers and illustrations from Puck (a periodical in the 19th century). I loved seeing how the depictions of Uncle Sam changed, as did the ways in which Uncle Sam was used.



3) Birches. This is a short note. But, I saw bent birches. I took pictures, Robert Frost fans... get excited!



4) I don't know if y'all know this, but Willa Cather is buried in New Hampshire. In fact, she wrote some of her most famous works in New Hampshire ( O Pioneers, My Antonia, etc.). I visited her grave in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. It was in a little cemetery behind the meeting house.



5) Peterborough and the Summer Lyceum. On Sunday, Andy took me to something called the Monadnock Summer Lyceum. It is basically a weekly lecture series in the summer that has been going on since the 1820s. It is housed in the Universalist Church in Peterborough, NH. It is a pretty famous intellectual event. In fact, Emerson was said to have given a talk back in the 19th century. Sadly, he's dead, so I missed that. But, I did hear a really interesting speech by a Dartmouth professor. She discussed the Good Samaritan's role in politics. It made me think. Is there room for the Good Samaritan's deed in government? Should that even be on the table? What are y'all's thoughts?For more info, hit this:http://www.monadnocklyceum.org/. I think they also replay the speeches on NHPR (New Hampshire Public Radio), so if you're interested, listen online.

Okay, hope that wasn't toooooo boring.

I miss you all,

Peeden out!