The North Country Chronicles - "The Essence of the Difference Up Here is Community" - Granite Grok

The North Country Chronicles – “The Essence of the Difference Up Here is Community”

Steve MacDonald asked me to write this to show the rest of the State why the North Country, Coos County, in particular, is different. I’m not a writer. I have been many things, but never a writer. I write as I speak, so I beg your pardon if I am not grammatically correct.


“When the going gets weird, the weird turn Pro” – Hunter S. Thompson


I was born in Bergen County, New Jersey, in 1967. I was schooled in Jersey and managed my first business there in 1986. A beautiful place, but it was too expensive to live there. I almost made it North in 94, but my parents called and asked me to move to Florida to help them in their decline.

I did what a Son has to do. Twenty-Five years later, my time finally came. Where to go? No question for me, the North Country of New Hampshire. Why?


We want to thank The Dealey Lama for this Contribution. If you have an Op-Ed or LTE 
you want us to consider email us at Editor@GraniteGrok.com.


I was 10 years old when I first looked off the top of Mount Washington and saw the whole world surrounding me. I fell in love with the mountains. They have called to me ever since.

The people here are the kindest, friendliest people to be found anywhere. The trails to hike, the streams to fish, and at night, the Milky Way stretched across the sky in all its glory, as few City folk ever get to see. Throughout my life, I have visited whenever I could to see friends that had already left Jersey, for Littleton, Franconia, and Conway.

So, decision made, I packed all I owned and sent it to storage in a small town outside of Berlin, the largest and only city in the North Country.

I made my move during the height of the Covid crazy, leaving Florida on March 26, 2020. What was supposed to be a 3-4 day drive became a month-long ordeal, resembling a post-apocalypse B Movie, as my Son and I tried to find a place to rent in order to buy a place to stay. That journey alone is a story for another day.

Once we finally rolled into town, it was like all the doors of opportunity were thrown wide for us. The first hotel we came to, expecting to have to justify our stay as “Necessary” travel, I was pleasantly surprised by the Front Desk manager instantly agreeing that a home search is “Necessary.” I explained our situation.

Before we had even checked into our room, she had put me in touch with her friend, the real estate agent. The next morning, she told me a friend of hers needed help at the Dollar store. I put in an application for part-time work just to get started. Within 24 hours, the Manager called me, told me she needed an assistant manager, and asked me to re-apply for management. I started work the next Monday.

Within a week, I had found my home. Within months I was asked to join the BOD of our Co-op trailer park. In December, I threw my hat into the political ring and now have a voice in the Republican party.

In Florida, even after 25 years, I was a “damn Yankee,” looked at askance, never fully accepted. Here in the North Country, I was accepted, welcomed even. I have never heard anyone utter the dreaded slur-Flatlander! Here, everyone in town knows me by name, and I know them.

I fell in love with the mountains. They have called to me ever since but the essence of the difference up here-COMMUNITY.  People know and respect each other.  The church is still a vital part of life. That respect even extends to politics. The Left up here are not like the radicalized SJWs in the Southern half of the State.

I spent a month working in a West Lebanon store after a mass walk-out. That month was an education. Rampant shoplifting, disrespect, and IMPORTED SJW’s from Seattle, escorting groups of illegal aliens around the store, explaining WHAT DEODORANT IS AND HOW TO USE IT. (Shameless tease for my next entry)

Politics being what they are, I choose to remain anonymous.

My friends always thought I was paranoid, but time has proven me correct.

Just a Stranger in a Strange Land. Can you Grok THAT?

 

Editors note: 1)I think you write more than well enough Dealey Lama. 2) The closed MicroGrrok is Gilford but if we seem more like this out of Coos, Upper Grafton County or even Carroll County, we will start a Micro Grok for the Region. And we want that!

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