Whenever I’m in New Hampshire, I get strong feelings of contentment. There’s peace out here- a vastness that captures the imagination. The deeper one gets into the state, the more the signs of ‘normal’ simply disappear. Fellow auto travellers become sparse. Large urban areas reduce to small towns, which further reduce to the odd home whose closest neighbor is miles away. Pristine landscapes become the new normal. Then the mountains come in to view.
And as I drive through here a voice rises inside me, imploring I could live here. It feels right to be in this area…
“Mooommmmmm, are we close?”
Reality bites.
The kids were peppering us with questions, getting antsy for an arrival of some sort. Anything to be out of the car. As we were trying to explain our destination we started talking about the mountains, which took a death grip on the boy’s imagination. The new round of questioning causes me to make a desperate ploy to stop them- I tell him that he’ll see mountains so big he won’t be able to see the top.
The mistake is twofold. First, his patience is stretched further. Mountains he can’t even see the top of? That’s something he just has to see. Now. Sooner if possible. Second, well, there really aren’t any mountains that tall up here. I had hoped a simple white lie might get him to settle in and think a little. Anything to stop the questions.
Clearly I need to rethink my strategies in these situations.
As the mountains came into view, the sheer size was enough to impress even him. These were bigger than anything he’d imagined to that point. Then, the Wife hit the jackpot. In the distance, a peak was completely obscured by cloud cover. A spectacular view. But more importantly, it was a mountain that was “so tall he couldn’t see the top of it.” We told him that it was touching the sky. The kids were clearly impressed with the site.
And as we drove, the pace of the questions slowed. The peaks got closer and taller. We passed Mt. Coolidge, and the Twin Peaks, and finally Mt. Washington. So big and unmistakable, with it’s weather station just barely visible. We stopped here so the kids could get a better look. No questions here. All the answers were right in front of them.