Rainy Day Thoughts

Okay, whoever has been praying for rain in New England can stop now. It's like asking for a drink of water then being thrown in the pond, which our neighbor to the east has been. With close to a foot of rain over the last few days there are over 200 schools in New Hampshire closed for flooding. Although Vermont remains relatively well-drained. It is a constant curiosity to me that two states separated by no more than an imaginary line down the west bank of the Connecticut River can be so completely different in politics, weather and geology. I can see New Hampshire from my kitchen window, but as soon as you cross the river you can see and feel the difference. It's made out of solid rock and is not called the Granite State for strictly poetic reasons. Vermont, on the other hand, could appropriately be called the Blue Clay State, at least according to the 400 feet of the stuff holding up my house. They call it the Green Mountain State because we have mountains and they are green.

I admit a grudging admiration for New Hampshire. If you're going to live in a Red State, that's the one you want. "Live Free Or Die" is the coolest in-your-face state motto in the Union. Vermont's bilingually redundant "Green Mountain State" shows a surprising lack of imagination in a state so filled with Yankee independence, creative thinkers and alternative lifestyles. Wouldn't something like, "Vermont - It's all Downhill to New Hampshire" be more fun? Or perhaps a tip of the hat to the fact that Vermont was an independent republic before Texas was even a twinkle in Sam Houston's eye. How about "Vermont - The Original Lone Star State" or "Vermont - Not Just Another Colony"

In any case, it's still raining in the Green Mountain State and it's still overflowing the rocky banks of the Granite State rivers. So, like I said, you can stop praying for rain now. Let's pray for drainage for awhile.