Oh New Hampshire.

So, my daddy sent this to me the other day and it made me smile.

It also made me miss the East, New England and New Hampshire very much.

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working his way East. Going to a very large church, he began taking pictures, making notes and talking to religious leaders. 

At one church, he spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued when he read the sign. "Calls: 10,000 dollars a minute." Seeking out the pastor, he asked about the phone and the sign. 

The pastor answered that this golden phone was, in fat, a direct line to heaven and if someone pays the price, he can talk directly to God

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, and other major cities in the United States, he found more phones with the same sign and same explanation from each pastor.

Finally, he arrives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Upon entering a church in Laconia, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read: "Calls: 35 cents"

Fascinated he asked to talk to the pastor:

"reverend, I have been in areas all of this country and in each church, I have found this golden telephone and was told that it is a direct line to Heaven and that if I payed 10,000 dollars a minute, I could talk to God. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?"

The pastor smiled and replied: "Son, you're in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This is God's Country. It's a local call."

I'm proud to be from the East, to be from New England and to be from the beautiful state of New Hampshire. I will forever and always be in love it it's groves of birch trees, grids of old rock walls, the majesty of the White Mountains, the windy Kangamangus Highway, the Pemigewasset, the Ammonoosuc and the Androscoggin Rivers, the small country towns of North Conway and North Woodstock, Franconia Notch, Twin Mountain, the reds, oranges and yellows of New England Autumns, and of course all 12 miles of solid, beautiful coast line.

New England, and more specifically New Hampshire will always be home to me, and I hope that some day, my life will lead me back there. 

crossing the state line into New Hampshire Coast Line. Taken by Ashley

Sunset over the marshes. Taken by Chelsie

The Marshes right before Twilight. By Chelsie

Another Sunset. By Ashley

An Incoming Thunderstorm. By Ashley

Thunderstorm over the Ocean. By Ashley

After the Storm. By Chelsie

After. By Chelsie

Sisters at the Beach. 

My backyard in the Fall. By Mom

Across Sunset Lake. By Mom

The White Mountains of New Hampshire. By Dad

My heart will always belong to New England.