Week Seven

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New Pilgrim Chronicles:
One man's story of the trials and rewards of moving to Free State

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Week Seven: Back to the Future

by Brian Wright (copyright 2005)

So many uncertainties when you walk out to hold hands with people on the leading edge of the freedom train. This week I've finished my business in Michigan, cleaning up some loose ends and prepping myself for an extended residence in the southern Free State hills. "Come Home to New Hampshire." (Someone at the festival thought this would make a good slogan, and I like it.)

Because of the uncertainties, pledgers and movers realize the nature of the choice they're making. It's a life-altering commitment, especially if you're accompanied by family. For almost anyone, though, the decision to be part of this project rises above practical benefit into a morality plane, where the focus is on the long-range conditions that make any practical benefit feasible.

Was talking to Steve Cobb and others regarding other leading libertarians' varying perspectives on the FSP. With exceptions, my experience has been many of the celebrities in the movement (including Harry Browne, Mary Ruwart, Carla Howell, to name a few) have been at best cool to Jason's concept. The same is true of the LP national leadership, I do believe, but I haven't read much in the LP News lately, whether it's taken an official position.

I also had the experience in Michigan of one local LP activist dissing the FS generally because apparently one FS representative in Michigan denied him a literature table one day—I think I mentioned this in an earlier column. He succumbed to a fit of pique, as it were. "Oooh, cocktails on the veranda, dear?" But what of the esteemed people I've mentioned who have major skin in the liberty game already? Is it a NIH (not invented here) thing?

Personally I've seen many instances of people wanting to stay comfortable as big fish in a small pond, then being averse to ideas or people that would make the pond bigger. In the case of FSP, the pond stands to become substantially bigger, which may make them feel unacceptably less vital to the future of freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Also, the Free State is going to happen naturally, without a lot of repeat fundraising. My problem with several of the existing LP-peripheral movements is they continually tap the seed corn for sustenance, keep coming back to the well of stalwarts who always send money. Instead of self-financing through constant influx of new blood.

I'm pretty sure Free State solves the new blood problem, because you have so many willing bleeders, so to speak, on the ground. Relatively speaking that is. A great thing already about the Free State is you can fall out your back door any given morning, then turn around and join a meeting of libertarians or near-libertarians on the lawn. It was only that way for me back in Michigan during the Clark-Crane phenomenon (Ed Clark, LP presidential candidate 1980; Ed Crane, current CEO of the Cato Institute) roughly, 1975-1985. And I do love it so!

Why don't more of the elevated ones see FSP as complementary to their work, rather than detracting? Indeed, FS is a microcosm of what's going on nationally in any given organization. It stands to reason the Free State is the best soil for the growth of all these pro-liberty efforts. Because, relative to the surrounding population, there are so many of us! As Paul Gere mentioned to me at the festival, if we get 1,000 active people moving here, the state is done like a dinner.

That's true. According to the site, we have 377 here now. The political establishment in New Hampshire, such as it is, is already at the point of being unable to ignore all the pro-liberty people who continually "act up" through various groups. FSP is serving as the fireman stoking these groups with good, solid people. So we freedom people, especially the FSP, are close to the threshold of common public perception right now. Critical mass is just around the corner.

That being said, readers should know that in response to the letters I recently sent to my new senators and representatives at both national and state levels, not one responded. I had high hopes that when I returned from Michigan after three weeks, I'd be picking up several responses from these poobahs. My letters regarded the depleted uranium issue, which is potentially a massive public health problem. (Well actually, it already is a massive public health problem, it will become a catastrophic public health problem.)

And no one wants to even talk about it!

Scary, isn't it?

My point isn't to revisit the horrifying topic of DU. Rather I'm just sharing the observation that beyond the local town level, it you have an issue pertinent to general liberty, let's just say public officials aren't going to beat a path to your door to find out more.

New Hampshire has a land area of 8969 square miles with 1,235,786 people, per the 2000 census. This works out to approx. 140 people per square mile, of whom 377/8969 = 0.04 are FSP, let's say 1000 active liberty types are here = 1000/8969 = 0.11. So we have probably roughly one tenth of a libertarian per square mile!

What legislator or public official is going to give two hoots about a measly 1/10 of a libertarian?

But if you get that ratio to 20 or 30 thousand per 8969 square miles, that means you're going to have a full two or three liberty gadflies in every nook and cranny of the state! Believe me, that's going to make some movers and shakers out of these otherwise recalcitrant politicos. We'll have their full attention. They're going to need to do some real thinking and some real work to hold their crummy jobs.

Also, don't underestimate the effect on the media, on the information systems that typically block the flow of pro-liberty data both from the street to the reader and from the reader to the street. You think the Onion Reader will squash stories on the negative effects of government aggression on the people when 20,000 angry people threaten to use it for birdcage liner? Not likely. In the meantime, we early movers have to keep up the good work.

Talked with Joel Rauch, who runs the Merrimack Valley Porcupines, he's a young man, one of the earlier early movers. He shared some thoughts with me that early people are tending to be overloaded with more groups than they can properly support, either from the leadership or from the membership perspective. I know what he's saying, check out this wonderful page from the site. This gives you a lot of great information, especially about the pro-liberty groups who are working here.

It's impossible to support all of them effectively. And depending on one's goals, one may not be into any of them, or may want to start one's own. So a lot of these groups are going to seem low attended. Just keep in mind, the day is young. It's all relative. Back in Michigan, you have a tenth of the libertarian activity you have here, if that. Stay the course and develop individually as you wish, prioritizing your action so as not to burn out. Oceans of people are coming behind you.

Well, at least a tsunami or two. My friends, we are the thin edge of the wedge. The breaking open of the chains in New Hampshire is going to happen quickly in political timescape. Stand by for some serious excitement.

I don't have a lot more for you this week. My trip across Highway 90 was uneventful. I do want to comment on a peculiar New York state roadsign saying it's a state law to turn on your headlamps when you turn on your windshield wipers. Also, I believe in Pennsylvania it's a state law you have to turn on your headlamps in construction zones. (!) Does anyone issuing these Cider House rules really think people will take time to noodle them all out, much less conform to them?

Remember ignorance of the law is no excuse (unless, of course, the law you're ignorant of is the Bill of Rights).

By the way, here's a comical rule from our own Free State: I've joined the YMCA in Goffstown. In the locker room it tells you that it's a state law you have to take a shower before you swim in the pool. Good Gawd, what if I showered at home? They going to check up on me there? Is it a felony? These are important issues, folks, government at work for you.

Speaking of important issues, I find I do like the front license plate in New Hampshire. It's very artistic, as you can see from the following photo. See the vanity phrase: BWRIGHT, get it? As in "be right" with living free or dying. Oh well, you have to appreciate the laid-back subtlety of my approach to automotive signage. I don't want anyone here actually knowing who's writing all those letters nobody's reading or publishing.

I just don't think such an attractive license plate should be mandatory in front. When I finally receive my plates and am looking for attachment bolts, I go to a local auto parts store.

By the way, I think I've stumbled on another quiet truth of New Hampshire, at least southern New Hampshire: besides ice cream parlors and Dunkin Donut franchises, every third store is an auto parts supplier. I'll bet the Free State supports more than its fair share of—note, I did not say redneck—NASCAR aficionados. Funny, I never imagined oval-track race fans would go for the mountains around here; but it sure ain't Formula 1 they're interested in. Maybe some hard core rally (dirt surface and other irregular tracks) racing fans, I could see that.

Since the screws are for the back plate, I ask the young clerk at the counter, "Why front license plates?"

He says, "It's a communist plot."

"Well, what constituency could possibly support such a wasteful use of funds," I inquire.

He concludes, "Every law enforcement officer knows you have to have a front license plate to quickly identify a perpetrator as he's driving away from you."

(to be continued)

NH Links

This page is here for reference purposes.

Week Five

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New Pilgrim Chronicles:
One man's story of the trials and rewards of moving to Free State

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Week Five: Observations During Absence, Part 1

by Brian Wright (copyright 2005)

Back to the former home state now for a week, I want to take some time to reflect on the main differences between here and there. Especially, regarding pace of life, population density, and population composition. These are subjects I brought up in the previous columns.

Recall I mentioned that the pace of Free State and the pace of say, Montana, are similar. People don't hurry as much and in terms of driving, virtually no one climbs up your rear end as a matter of their daily motoring behavior. Is pace of life, a healthy rhythm or lack thereof, a function of population density, population composition, both, or something else entirely?

If you go by population density per state, New Hampshire ranks 20th at about 20 people per square mile from the top while Montana ranks 48th at about 1 person per square mile. Obviously, the much larger area of Montana, a lot of it uninhabited, skews the comparison when you do it statewide. All I can say is from experience, living in a small town like Bozeman or Belgrade, MT, feels similar to living in a small town like New Boston, NH.

You don't sense being hemmed in by people everywhere. A lot more elbow room. Driving through suburban Detroit areas this week, geez we got people everywhere. Dense-packed. It feels crowded. I'm pretty sure the sociologists have done studies that show bad karma—whether crime, stress, anxiety, accidents, fights, etc.—is exacerbated by population density. Imagine the effect in Southern California or New York City, or in the extreme, say, Third World cities.

When it comes to human population density, what's healthy?

My mom has always told me I was an easygoing, well-adjusted kid. But I would get uncommonly nervous and anxious, even start crying, in large crowds. Surely most people are sensitive to being pressed in upon by others. Part of the Free State's appeal has to be that masses of human beings aren't swarming you. Here, and in other lower-density areas, every individual becomes additionally special by virtue of the amount of space surrounding him/her.

So Free State has the quality of open space.

How long can that last? Good question. This is the classic conundrum we'll be facing as time goes by. To the extent our freedom from congestion is desirable. more people will want to immigrate for that reason alone, thus, at some point, possibly increasing congestion.

Every system has a limit to the number of individuals it can support without experiencing the overcrowding most of us would like to escape. Look at any white-flight suburb (WFS) surrounding big cities—by the way, WFS is largely a creation of eminent domain, federal highway money, tax policy, and subsidized mortgages—and you see how not to solve the problem.

I remember taking a drive one Saturday while I worked on a contract in Houston. Houston is a hub city, with wide circles of automotive pavement surrounding it; effectively, three of these rings are in place now. I picked a section of the second ring in the north where I knew the neighborhood would be affluently homogeneous. It took me an hour to travel five miles to the next spoke, where I hurried back south. I was suffocating!

This is another irony: reliance on automotive travel in big cities increases crowding. A good book on how the cities have been basically destroyed by the federal government (and its affiliate governments) over time, neighborhoods covered by asphalt, quality of life disintegrated, is Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. And the automobile, by virtue of state preference, is our fiat transportation (no pun intended). Reasonable, open-space market alternatives to one-man one-car are impeded by law.

Down here on Practical Street, I'm going to learn to do what I can to preserve the open-space feeling of the Free State. I'm wondering if I'll succumb to zoning or restrictive land-use policies implemented by the towns. Could be a dilemma. Obviously, any ideas readers of this column may have along these lines will be greatly appreciated.

In the long run, thinking of population pressure on the human race in general, we have to encourage a practice of quality vs. quantity in the procreation sector.

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Note: At this point I went into "heavy columnist" mode for about three paragraphs. Backing off now, boss. We can deal with the whole "quality of humanity" issue some other day.

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Like it or not, we Free Staters are representatives of the productive class. Producers are going to need to step up and make some important decisions regarding what to do about nonproducers. Here is an area where private initiative is sorely lacking, and the governments have created an illusion of humanitarianism. The response to Hurricane Katrina is grim evidence of the failure of the current system.

I look for Free State to make some imminent improvements to health, education, and welfare systems, mainly via government divestiture. Many regard the idea of taking HEW away from the state as mad ravings, but at one time many regarded the idea of freeing the slaves as lunacy, too. Guess what! We're on the leading edge of the reason-liberty movement, now, here. I believe these improvements are going to happen remarkably soon and quite quickly.

I want to end this week's ruminations by talking a little about ethnic composition.

Both Montana (91%) and New Hampshire (96%) are predominately white, and both have less than one percent black population and each approximately 2% Hispanic populations. Have opponents of the Free State Project pointed out the preference of the project for white-European regions? Don't some leftists want to tussle with us here?

The conventional wisdom has it that areas that are mainly white-European have less real crime, fewer sociological problems in general. A quick surf of the Web reveals little to confirm or deny the conventional wisdom.

Obviously, any scholar who produced a study that demonstrated conclusively a "more-white less-crime" thesis would be skewered by mainstream media. Posturing politicos would try to pass laws, kids would protest in the streets, the scholar's career would be in jeopardy. Personally, I think it likely a journalistic correlation exists between ethnicity and crime. That is a far cry from a causal connection.

If there is such a journalistic correlation, we owe it to ourselves to inquire as the reasons for it.

It is certain the drug laws have disproportionately destructive effect on minority populations. All the government aggression that keeps down minorities—especially the drug laws, minimum wage, forced government schooling, licensing and regulation rules—skews the data and our perceptions. My feeling is that race is a nonsignificant causal factor in real crime; rather a strong correlation exists between government aggression and race/crime. In other words, the amount of government aggression visited upon an ethnic group—especially "aggression for the group's own good"—makes members of the group more susceptible to social dysfunction.

What we find more in white-European communities in America is a traditional resistance to government aggression. Especially in New Hampshire we see this insistence on self-government, maintaining control of government by all the citizens at the level where we all live. Government on top of this self-government is largely viewed as aberrational. Less aggression, fewer social problems.

In other words, particularly in the Free State, we have highly functional, self-governing society. It happens to be mostly white-European because that's who founded it... and the day is still young! For the most part, that's where the historical ideas lie. Nobody needs to be defensive about this. Indeed, we have the privilege of extending the blessings of the freedom methodology—totally race-neutral—to all mankind. In the end, minorities will benefit the most.[~/1] Indeed, I look forward to the Free State becoming the multicultural haven/springboard for 21st-century freedom lovers.

[~/1] Remember what Rand said, "The smallest minority in the world is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." More positively, those who advocate and defend individual rights are minorities' true champions.

(to be continued)

Varrin & Edi Swearingen

We Made the Move! – Varrin & Edi Swearingen

Date of move: October 25, 2004

Reported by Tim Condon, FSP Participant Services Director

Two of the Free State's newest Porcupine residents have a secret: "We originally opted out of most of the states, including New Hampshire, because we could not commit to moving to them without taking a tour and giving it more serious consideration," recounts Varrin Swearingen, who lived in Fresno, California with his wife and two children up until recently. "After the vote, we took a week and a half trip to New Hampshire," he said. "In late November 2003, we decided to move to Keene, NH. The move was to take place in October 2004, and was accomplished right on time."

Meet Varrin and Edi Swearingen, refugees from the Peoples Republic of California, who "made the move" with their two children, Edison (age 4) and Erin (age 3), in late October 2004 to the Free State of New Hampshire. Although they had originally "opted out" of New Hampshire, that quickly changed. "Once we toured the state, we began working on the move as soon as practical," says Varrin. "It took roughly a year from the time we decided to move to the time we arrived, partly because we decided to build a house in New Hampshire, as well as because of work and other schedules."

It wasn't a hard decision for Varrin and Edi to move early, even though as FSP members they're not obligated to move to the Free State until after the organization reaches 20,000 participants. "We decided to move now because we were ready to get out of California and begin working in a less futile environment to promote liberty," explains Varrin.

Prior to the great state vote, he says, "We researched New Hampshire and the other candidate states extensively. After the vote, we took a week and a half trip to New Hampshire and that sealed the deal." During that time, in November 2003, they "drove all around the southern one-third to one-half of the state."

What was their first impression of New Hampshire? Says Varrin, "Favorable. The attitude is noticeably more liberty friendly, though there is certainly a need for the FSP. No state is libertarian, but New Hampshire is better than most. The scenery was beautiful, the roads were well-maintained, shopping was suitable, and there are a variety of sizes and styles to the towns. We were able to find something that fit our personality well."

What was the weather like when they visited on their exploratory trip in November? "The weather was variable but not very warm," says Varrin. "It was only noticeably cold-near or below freezing and/or windy-only a couple of the days. There were rainy days, clear days, calm days, windy days, and everything in between. The variety was nice, and the cool clear days were stunning." As for the winters, Varrin notes that central California where they moved from is "hot and dry. It rarely freezes there, and even more rarely snows. However, we lived in northen Kentucky near Cincinnati for several years, so we have at least lived in the snow before."

"I believe the weather in Keene will be colder and snowier, but overall nicer than the Cincinnati area," he continued. As for the supposedly fearsome winters in the Free State, Varrin says, "My stock response to the concerns about the cold is that they do have heaters in New Hampshire. We had our builder install heaters in our house, and our car, which we bought in California, already had one installed in it. Imagine that! So far the weather inside has been a comfortable 71-74 degrees."

Varrin is an airline pilot who will continue working for the same company, while Edi has a Mary Kay cosmetics business that she's already working on expanding in New Hampshire. While visiting and exploring, they met lots of other liberty-lovers, including Kelton Baker (then the President of the FSP), Amanda Phillips (now President of the FSP), and Alan Weiss (former VP of the FSP), not to mention other Porcupines from Derry, Keene, and Hudson.

Why did they settle on Keene as a place to build their home (a custom two-story colonial; "of course we love it, since we designed it")? After all, with his airline job, Varrin must fly in and out of Manchester. "While it's a longer drive from the Manchester airport than I desired," Varrin explained, "Keene has everything else we wanted in a place to live. Cost of house was a major factor, as was shopping, suburbia, eating out, and other creature comforts. In the end, we decided we would rather have lower cost, higher quality house, and meet all of our other needs, than be closer to Manchester."

Any new friends in the Free State? As always, the answer is resounding. "Yes! Many. They are scattered about, but several of them are in Keene," Varrin says. In addition, he met tons of Porcupines in the summer before their move. "At the Porc Fest I met a lot of them. It's probably impossible for me to name them all right now. We love 'em all!" He and Edi were also delighted to find that the freedom-lovers they met in New Hampshire are "surprisingly normal, for libertarians" (Varrin says with a wink). "The most noticeable favorable trait is the desire to actually do something positive rather than sit around and argue about what to do or how to do it."

The couple also found willing hands to help them move in once they got to Keene. "Big, big, big thanks to Kat and Kira Dillon, Dawn Lincoln, and David Murray, for the help moving in," says Varrin. In addition, "Double thanks to David for taking about 800 pictures of our house as it was being built, so we could watch it go up from afar." Varrin and Edi also hired their realtor's nephew to do most of the work of unloading the truck. They did excellent work for a reasonable price. Varrin recalls, "This is our third move into a new house in eight years, and the first time the load in was completed without dinging the walls or staining the carpet."

There were also some happy surprises for Varrin and Edi as they settled into their new house in Keene. "It was refreshing to hear this question," says Varrin. "'So who are you going to have pick up your garbage?' Having dealt with city garbage in Florida, Kentucky and California, it was music to my ears to hear that there's no monopoly trash pickup in New Hampshire."

"Also," he continued, "I've noticed many businesses here operate 'smaller', so they're more family and customer oriented. For instance, on our first full day here, Edi had to have a tooth extracted. The kids were sleeping in our hotel room, so I couldn't pick her up. So one of the people in the dentist's office gave her a ride back to the hotel. That would never have happened in California."

How will Varrin and Edi work to reduce the size of government in the Free State, as all Porcupines intend? "We'll be working on delivering the liberty message to the Christian community in New Hampshire," he says. "I'm also looking forward to the town social and recreational events. Even though Keene is roughly one-twentieth the size of the Fresno area, the atmosphere here is cozy yet lively." He's also looking forward to trying to hook up with a band in the Keene area (he plays mostly jazz drums), and figures he and Edi will be hiking and mountain climbing in the summers, while skiing in the winters. ("I've skied twice and enjoyed it quite a lot the second time," he said.)

Overall, the portents are good, Varrin and Edi feel. "We embrace change for the better," says Varrin with a laugh. "We radically embrace radical change for the better! Freedom is like good health. You don't appreciate it until it's gone. For the health of your family, it's worth it to live and promote freedom in a place where you can make a difference. As a result of the Free State Project choosing New Hampshire, this is now the finest place in the world to do that."

"Come and take a tour," he counsels. "Meet the people. Look for houses and jobs. Explore the towns and enjoy a family vacation. Then when you go home, start packing!"

Back to We Made the Move!

We Made the Move! -- Keyes

We Made the Move! – Margot & Bradley Keyes

Date of move: January 31, 2005

By Tim Condon and the Keyes Family

It's not unusual to hear whining and grumbling about moving to the Free State because of "the bad winters" in New Hampshire. At least one set of migrating Porcupines respond, "Are you kidding? The winters in NH are mild compared to...."

But wait! We get ahead of ourselves. Say hello to the latest Free State Project dynamos to move to New Hampshire, Bradley and Margot Keyes, along with their four children (ages 6, 5, and two-year-old twins). They completed their Porcupine migration in the middle of winter by moving from Forest Lake, Minnesota to their new home in Epsom, NH (which is just outside Concord, which as the state capitol is an increasingly popular area for incoming FSP participants) in January 2005. It was a move "from one brrrrr state to a lesser brrrrr state," says Margot. "Moving from Minnesota to New Hampshire is a great distance, but not a great deal of difference in climate...except NH is milder than our part of the Midwest."

Bradley Keyes is the lead "computer architect and database designer" for Minnetronix, Inc. a medical technology firm based in Minnesota. As such, his job allows him to work from "anywhere" over the Internet, which he'll be doing from New Hampshire. Says his wife, Margot, "He plans to focus on his recruiting efforts. He says it will sure be easier after demonstrating that the move is possible, by doing it himself!" Bradley also runs his own website at www.ActiveMind.com.

Margot Keyes, a full-time mom, is an energetic activist for the FSP, and holds the position of FSP's "Greeter Coordinator," as well as being one of the organizers of this summer's Second Annual Porcupine Freedom Festival. One of the reasons they chose Epsom, explains Margot, is that "the girls will be in a Montessori program at Pathfinder Academy in Epsom, directed by Free Staters Wayne and Julie Anderson." (If anyone is in the area on Saturday, March 12th, Pathfinder is having an Open House from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)

Did this dynamic family have any problems when New Hampshire was chosen in the vote as the Free State? Not at all! "We were 'glass-eaters'," says Margot, "and we would have moved anywhere the Free State was to be. It works out well for us to move so early as a family with young children. It will be easy to get them established in their Montessori school at a time when they were transitioning into a new school anyway because of grade levels. Kids this age are very versatile and adapt well when an event like this is presented positively. It also helps that we'll all be closer to our extended family members too!" (Bradley originally came from New City, NY, while Margot was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA; so moving to the east coast, and closer to their families, was easy.)

Margot and Bradley were bitten by "the Free State bug" last summer, she recounts: "After attending the 2004 Porcupine Festival last June, we came back to Minnesota and started planning for an immediate move. Although it took longer than anticipated for our home to sell, everything ended up being timed perfectly for finding both the right home to move into, and the perfect buyers for our MN home. Though the process was frustrating at times, we NEVER lost hope in the big picture of WHY we were moving to NH. Freedom can't wait any longer!"

The process of planning and making the move was helped greatly by other Free State Project participants, said Margot: "The forums on FSP's site were great! I really liked being able to talk to FSP-ers who are natives to the state, as well as those who had recently moved or visited parts of the state. We gathered a lot of information during our Porc Fest trip, including town magazines, real estate brochures, local newspapers, etc. The website 'nh.gov' was also helpful, as was obtaining the NH Guidebook from the state Chamber of Commerce. I began subscribing to New Hampshire Magazine and NH ToDo Magazine, in order to observe the local color and find out what NH'ers wanted the world to know about their state. It was fun to see those come in the mail each month, knowing I was closer to actually getting there myself."

But the Porc Fest in 2004 wasn't the only scouting trip that the two made to the Free State. "Bradley and I each made trips out to NH after our Porc Fest trip in June. The trips were in the fall, to search for homes, and what a beautiful time to see New Hampshire! The leaves are breathtaking!! I was truly surprised to note how wooded the state is. Minnesota and the Heartland is very flat and wide-open. NH is much more wooded than either areas of NY or PA where Bradley and I grew up. I was also impressed by the mountains. While not the Rockies by any means, the White Mountains are majestic and humbling to behold."

What about the house? Any trouble locating a suitable home for a family of six? "On Bradley's second trip," recounts Margot, "he found our new home. Videotaping was essential to give each other a feel for the area, the homes, etc. There is no better tool than the Internet for searching from long-distance; there are several realtor sites that will let you enter your requested home information, and then send you updates daily on homes available that meet your criteria. Even though we used the services of a 'realtor/tour guide', most of the legwork was done by us.

"Most of our research was based around homes available within a decent driving distance from our kids' new Montessori school. When we met with the Andersons at their school, Pathfinder Academy, in Epsom way back in June 2004, we knew that was where we wanted our children to be educated. Wayne and Julie Anderson are Free Staters themselves as well as being Objectivists and overall wonderful people that we immediately felt we could trust with our girls' education. The Montessori school teaches students from pre-school through junior high, which was also a strong factor for us. After this big move, we didn't want to have to do the 'school shuffle' every few years as grade levels changed."

What about Epsom? How did they decide on that town? "Back when we were unsure of where to move in the state," Margot explained, "it was great to follow discussions by fellow FSP'ers who were discussing their favorite locations. But once we honed in on the Epsom/Concord area, we relied on our own research. We were delighted to find that there wasn't just one, but two local Free State Project groups that we could belong to when we arrived: the 'Seacoast Porcupines' and the 'Merrimack Valley Porcupines'. They are both really active and have offered us an instant sense of belonging.

"We also realized how close Epsom was to Concord, the NH state capitol," says Margot. "We wanted to live near the capitol and be active in the political scene in the coming years, if not immediately. Being centrally located was also a plus, since it's only a short drive to just about everywhere! We're coming from a state large enough to put about eight New Hampshires into it, so the driving we'll be doing to go anywhere in the Free State will seem very minimal!"

"Bradley and I moved from a semi-rural area of Minnesota that is about 30 minutes north of the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. We lived on five acres there with lots of mature trees and lots of privacy. Now that we have our new home in the Free State, it's eerie how similar it is to our old one. We simply know what we like! After playing with the endless options, we happened upon our new home, a New England Cape on 5+ acres, surrounded by woods and off the main road via a private drive. Although the place is in solid structural shape, we have plans for both updating it (five new appliances in the first two weeks!) and doing inside construction to accommodate our large family, frequent planned get-togethers, and eventually adding a guest house/detached garage."

And to give us an idea of just how "in sync" this Porcupine couple is, Margot disclosed that she "hadn't even seen the home, except on video, until the walk-through prior to closing! Although that may seem odd to many," she says, "you have to just trust your spouse to know what you want."

What about the people in New Hampshire, I asked Margot. How do they seem, and have they met very many fellow Free Staters? The answer was immediate: "I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was to see about a dozen FSP-ers show up within an hour after our closing! They were all there to welcome us and help us move in! We even had a note from someone who had dropped by WHILE we were in the closing! People simply couldn't wait to help us!! What really did the trick was to put our impending move from Minnesota onto the web site at www.nhlibertycalendar.com (a free service that ALL pro-liberty groups, not just the FSP, are using in NH). We offered refreshments to all who would come, and it turned into a great party! By the time the grandparents showed up with our kids, all the work was done, and our helpers were leaving so as to let us settle in."

"Within one week of our arrival," continued Margot, "a Meet and Greet was hosted on our behalf, as well as for two other participants who had moved to NH around the same time we had. There were 60 or more people there to welcome us! People we didn't even know were giving us lasagna plates and gifts for our children! We can't wait until WE can be the gracious hosts, and offer the same kind of 'royal red carpet treatment' that we received!"

It's well-known that many people respond with a "you're crazy!" when FSP participants announce intentions to move to the Free State and live in liberty in their lifetimes. To many people, such a move for individual freedom is just too radical...even for people who profess to believe in real liberty. But for the Keyes family, there wasn't any hesitation at all. "We truly didn't think of a move from MN to NH as any 'radical change'," explained Margot. "The climate is similar, only milder in NH. The New Hampshire winters aren't as long or as cold as they are in Minnesota. Snowfall is about the same. Since we're both from the east coast (NY and PA), making the move to New England seemed like coming back home, only more quaint than the places where we grew up.

"To tell the truth, every time we went to NH, we felt like we were on a vacation in a mountainous, woodland paradise. Even touring into the 'big' cities of Manchester and Nashua, they seemed more like small tourist towns than anything like the huge Twin Cities or Pittsburgh, not to mention New York City. Our main concern when we faced the move was our children, and then missing our friends in MN. But the welcome the girls received at their new school, Pathfinder Academy, was fantastic! Personal letters and pictures from every child in class and a school group photo! We received a very kind welcome from our new neighbors, complete with maps and a family directory -- well, that's enough to make us feel immediately 'at home'. We solved our worry about staying in touch with our friends back in MN by installing AT&T's 'Callvantage' Internet phone service. Pay only an extra $5 per month to have ANY area code number attached to YOUR phone number. Friends in MN can call us without long distance charges!

"So any fears or hesitations we had were blown away by our very first day in our new home." Margot continued. "We're surprised by how nice everyone is in town, people in stores, etc. doing things like holding doors open for us, greeting us on the street, etc.

What's the bottom line from Margot, I wanted to know. "The feeling that I am HOME!!!" she responded. "I love blending right in with the local scene, and the immediate opportunities to expand the freedoms that are already present in New Hampshire! From my understanding, we're one of the largest FSP families (with four kids) to move to the Free State. When I talk with friends about our relocation, some think we were nuts to take on so much with such a large, young family. But then I think of what our Founding Fathers and their families endured to live in freedom. It seems ridiculous to even try to compare. Freedom doesn't wait for the 'right time' or for a 'comfortable point' in our lives. We felt we had to move NOW, and get going to help make things happen as part of the Free State Project. We want to 'make it happen' TODAY."

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