My Home State

I am not really certain how much play the NH primaries get in the rest of the country, but here in the metro D.C. area the political coverage is non-stop. Pages and pages of it in the newspaper. On the radio. On the television.

My only regret this year was the short amount of time between Iowa and NH changed the focus slightly. But this past week, the coverage really amped up.

Until 2005 I was a registered voter in NH. Lived there until 1984 and again 1992-1994. When I lived in state, I used to vote in the primary, then go back to the Town Hall and reregister as an independent. (To vote in the primary, you have to choose one ballot or the other and your voter registration reflects that choice. If you vote Republican, you are a registered Republican unless you go back and change it to independent.) All those years of absentee voting - I won't say which party I voted, but careful readers will know.

In NH we take this voting thing seriously. In 1976, every presidential candidate came and spoke at my high school - or sent a serious representative. In Gerald Ford's case, he sent his energy czar, Frank Zarb, who came because his daughter was at our school. And Mo Udall sent his daughter, Bambi, and the actor, Cliff Robertson. They were such a huge hit that the student body voted overwhelmingly for Mo. Later Ford did make a brief campaign stop at which a friend of mine got taken in by the Secret Service as thought his camera was a weapon...but that's another story.

I got to see Ted Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan. People I don't even remember. Jesse Jackson was a tremendous speaker when he came to my college. Absolutely mesmerizing. I was sorry to move away and lose these experiences.

So today, my family and friends are going to the polls. Exercising their rights and showing how they appreciate the responsibility of voting.


In Stitching News

We went to Fredericksburg on Sunday and, yes, I added to my stash. At the used bookstore I found a copy of Needlework in Minature by Virginia Merrill and Jean Jessop from 1978. And at Everything Cross Stitch, I first hit up the discount bin and at 75% off came up with the Threads Through Time "Horse Farm Sampler" by Nancy Sturgeon and the Cricket Collection's "It's in the Basket" and "Regatta." I'd like to stitch this for DS and will change the letters on the sweaters to reflect his school.

Then because DD was seriously looking for a new project, I kept looking and found Elizabeth Foster's "Old Stone Church." Which I will modify the stained glass window and add words. My great great grandfather was a baptist deacon who would fill in for the regular minister when he didn't show up at what is now the Old Stone Church.

DD came away with Little House Needleworks, "Captain's Inn" and Maggie Bonanomi's "Fair Daffodil."

And I moved up scroll frame to work on the third row of Agnes Scott. I knew I needed to stitch the satin and queen stitches, only to find that I had stitched the queen stitches already! What a gift! Especially as there is no rhyme or reason to how she stitched this band. The colors, the direction of the stitches, whether it's over one thread or two - all different. I'm nearly finished with this row and it has been a pita. I've got one flower in the middle to add satin stitch to and then it's back to finishing the roof of the house and ground around the house and the two remaining queen stitched floral motifs. The end is in sight.