9-8

Where to begin?


Touched down in Manchester, NH yesterday and immediately set to a whole slew of errands that apparently do not let up even when one is unemployed and homeless. Like the phone. Kind of fell out of my pocket into a tidal pool up in Acadia National Park. It works. Sort of. But the camera is a complete wash. har har.

Last night I went to Tap Room Tuesday at Murphy's in Manchester to have my personal first meeting with the Free State Project members and friends. As is typical of any group of people that has been around each other long enough to establish roles in a particular social setting there was no welcoming smiles right when I walked in. In fact, most of the groups were so immersed in individual conversations around each table that I would not of known them to be free staters save for the fact that I asked. Though the diversity, and a couple of the conversations in particular were fantastic context clues.

The first welcome I received was from a rather stern faced young lady (her smile came later) who I am told is one of the bigger civil disobedience characters of the town. Aside from her deceptive stoic features she was easily one of the most receptive people I first encountered. From there I thrust myself into group conversations with instant success every time. I was concerned that I would walk into a wildly divergent group over minor differences. Specifically the divide that is wildly popular in forums between political activists and civil disobedience activists. While, there was talk and some heated discussion between the two sides, mostly they were all there to grab a beer and relax in good company. And relax they did . It wasn't long that from cool beginning reception before I was being immersed in new faces, names, attitudes, aspirations all eager to welcome a new companion in the fight for liberty. They were helpful, interesting, vivacious, and everything I could of hoped for out of a first introduction with the liberty movement.

If people aren't willing to socialize then they won't be willing to participate, and there was a lot of socializing. Though invited to after events, sadly I had to abscond off to Portsmouth in search of employment. I'm happy to say I like the feel of this town.

Manchester was a lot like Ft. Wayne, IN (my hometown) in feeling. More so than I expected. While Portsmouth has a much, much older feel. The downtown is a bunch of twisty, thin streets with brick buildings that mostly predate 1900. Oh, and it's by the ocean....awesome. I got to see though, what the activist scene is like there. More in a bit.