I’m starting my first full year in New Hampshire. I haven’t actually lived here for a year yet but I first visited a year ago January. I’ve had my first Thanksgiving here, my first Christmas. My daughter’s first New Hampshire birthday has passed. My youngest is learning to read here. The newness of being here has mellowed but not passed. And every day I’m grateful to be here.

I was speaking with a neighbor recently about the Free State Project and my affiliation with it. Some natives feel a bit resentful about a group of folks coming in and wanting to take over. But, I explained that coming from first the People’s Republic of California and then her little sister Oregon, being here is like a breath of fresh air. New Hampshire is already so liberty oriented it’s like night and day compared to where we’ve come from. We’re not just about creating a more free society. We’re also about stopping erosion to liberty and enjoying the already existing liberty oriented culture here. So many of the personal attitudes I hear support individual responsibility and choice. In fact, anything else seems not to fit! People move for many reasons - jobs, family, a change of scenery. Moving here, to enjoy the liberty oriented culture, is as good a reason as I can imagine for a move. My neighbor understands better about the Free State Project now … and me!

New Hampshire is a wonderful place in so many ways. We’ve found a small town to live in that’s close to larger towns with resources like large supermarkets, Home Depot, Borders books and more. My kids have a wonderful selection of activities including karate, dance, musical theater song and dance, soccer and more. But my ten minute trip to my nearest grocery store is such a beautiful drive that I have to remember to watch the road! Rolling, wooded, hills, a small frozen pond with an island in the middle, frozen waterfalls on granite cliffs created by the work of engineers clearing space for the highway - all that and more catches the eye with every trip.

And winter, ah winter! I was born and raised in San Francisco and didn’t leave until my mid-30s where I escaped to only slightly less temperate southern Oregon. Now, a bit more than 10 years later I find myself in the land of hard winters and serious snow. So far, I find very little to not like about it. On warmer days the snow is a haven of fun for my munchkins, who make snowmen and snow forts and pelt each other with snow balls. Colder weather doesn’t slow them down much!

Depending on the temperature the snow clings to the trees or ice shines on branches. I vaguely remember a line in a movie called “Smilia’s Sense of Snow” about how in Greenland there are a thousand ways to describe snow. (I’m sure I’m butchering that, but … ) So far, and granted with limited data points, no snow fall is like another. They have personality in their fall and in their resting state after falling. Whether sunlight seeping though grey clouds to light up a frozen lake, or a sunset escaping over the hills every view out the window is different from the next. The beauty of winter here is breathtaking. I’m enjoying every second!

I love New Hampshire.

I am sitting in the warm, mild breeze created by our new pellet stove enjoying the view of sunshine through the evergreens and now naked deciduous trees. It’s late fall - cold at night but pleasant most days. Winter is coming and with it, I will have known New Hampshire for a year. Almost newlyweds no longer, I continue to be thrilled to be here and contentedly set down more roots with every passing week.

I was born, raised and lived a West Coaster until late last year when we started east. New Hampshire wasn’t my first choice in the state vote. It was 6th. (I was focused on West Coast options.) But, my husband and I would have moved to any of the ten candidate states and had decided to move as soon after the state vote as we could arrange it.

We spent quite a bit of time touring New Hampshire, looking for just the right spot. We found it in the Hanover/Lebanon area.We live down 89, 10 minutes from New London and 20 minutes from Lebanon. We have a country residence but access to all the resources a major hub like Hanover/Lebanon offers - a Borders bookstore, Home Depot, wonderful restaurants, etc. And New London is a find as well. This small, well-to-do college town offers more than we imagined when we moved here including a very nice small playhouse. There is a great karate studio for my boys in Lebanon and a great dance studio for my daughter just a handful of miles from our home. The state capital is 40 minutes away and porcupines who preceded us here in all directions.

We moved in only a couple of months ago and now, each holiday and event brings new opportunities to reestablish our traditions. We found an interesting spot for pumpkins this year. Poverty Lane Orchards’ focus is apples - big apples, small apples, cooking, eating, unusual, heirloom, delicious apples. And Farnum Hill Ciders are made from apples grown there. They had pumpkins, too, as well as other produce and products. Two wonderful labrador retrievers greeted us and entertained my youngest while the older two and I filled bags with apples. Fresh apple pie was enjoyed that evening.

We didn’t make it this year, but, next year we will go to Keene for their Pumpkin Festival. Keene holds the Guinness world record for the most lit pumpkins at one time in one place. It’s quite a sight I hear! I heard our Monadnock Porcs enjoyed the event and there was a pumpkin carved with “Free State Project” displayed!

In researching pumpkin patches I found a list of small growers throughout the state. I haunt such places during the summer and look forward to finding out more about these. I think I found a great place to get a Christmas tree this year. Picking out just the right tree is always a fun adventure!

I’m learning to make chowder. Growing up in San Francisco I learned to make cioppino and finding new ways to enjoy seafood is not a hardship. The cooler weather makes these wonderful milky concoctions welcome and appealing. And I’ll soon be experimenting with tomato based and other variations. Portsmouth has an annual Chowder Festival I hear. I’ll have to head over there next Spring.

The winters are harder than I enjoyed in the more temperate West Coast. I’ve learned that hats, gloves and scarves are far more than fashion accessories and that parking as close as possible to the entrance to the grocery store isn’t a sign of laziness but a survival skill when it’s 10 below! My friend in Canada taught me the gracious welcome of a steaming cup of tea. My kettle is whistling regularly now and the pantry well stocked with brewing material.

My brother-in-law and his wife are now focused on moving to New Hampshire after visiting us during peeping season. This from a couple who recently sold their Ft. Lauderdale home and who said they’d never live north of Virginia! Their view is that while many places have snow and cold weather, New Hampshire offers so many opportunities for outdoor winter recreation and the people are so wonderful that living here is a done deal. My brother-in-law fell in love with Mount Washington and they both fell in love with Gorham!

We would have moved to the north pole in pursuit of liberty. We would have moved anywhere. But I’m finding with every passing day that New Hampshire is not only a great place to keep and expand liberty but a wonderful place to be. I’m glad to call New Hampshire home!