Tom St.Martin for State Representative

I will not be a member of the 2009/2010 legislature, but I have much
to be thankful for this post-election morning.

To everyone who worked on my behalf or for other Democratic
candidates - thank you. Your efforts helped every single one of us, up and down the ticket and contributed to last night's historic election results.

To those who campaigned for Republican, Libertarian and Independent
candidates, I also offer my thanks. We have had - and will have - spirited
differences of opinion, but vigorous debate is good for - even essential to - our way of life.

To all the candidates - thank you for having the dedication and
courage to stand up for what you believe in.

To all the voters, and especially the many new voters, thank you for
coming out. Please stay involved. It matters.

To all the election officials - as I waited for results last night in
Northwood, I couldn't help but think how lucky we are to have so many dedicated people willing to be objective, to put aside their personal political opinions, and volunteer their time and energy to making the machinery of our democracy work. NH has honest elections, and we couldn't have them without you.
Thank you.

To our newly elected officials, congratulations on your
success. My well wishes to you. May you rise to the challenge of
finding fair and workable solutions to the problems facing our towns, state, nation and world. You have plenty of work to do. Good luck and thank you for taking on the task.

Well, someone stole my Obama sign again.

Now, I'm not talking about a sign on the side of the road; I'm talking about someone coming into my yard and stealing my personal property - not to mention denying my basic American right to free speech.

Fortunately, I have more, so they'll just have to burn the gas to come get it again.

And ... they'll have to work a little harder this time

Ok, here we are starting to come into the season ( just as soon as Halloween is over) when little kids start to exhibit 'the look'. A munchkin will look at me and an astonished - even awestruck - look spreads and I know it's happened again - I've been mistaken for Santa.

It used to kind of bother me, to be honest, but I've come to realize that being mistaken for a guy who is just about universally loved and thought of as full of good wishes for all is - as mistaken identity goes - not so bad

So it wasn't totally a surprise when a friendly supporter yelled out "what are you? A member of Santas for Obama?"

Maybe I should start my own affinity group
Anyone got a red jacket or Santa hat?

Here we are going into the last week or so before the election, can you believe it?

We're all looking forward to a little time to relax after the campaigns, but the Democratic candidates are all working hard on one last week of meeting voters.

We've also been putting in a lot of "visibility" time in the towns. You've probably seen at least one of us at your recycling center or on a street corner in the early morning hours. You have to dress warm at this time of the year!

We'll be a little less prominent, but just as accessible if elected!

I've been a bit distracted during this campaign, and on fair weather days have frequently been absent. The cause lies in a hike 30 years ago.

My wife and I did a lot of hiking together after I got out of the Navy. After 4 years at sea, it was good to have solid NH granite under my feet

One of our hikes took us up Mt Lafayette, and I have returned there a time or two since. From Mt Lafayette, looking into the Pemigewassett Wilderness, you can see several other mountains, particularly Mt Bond, West Bond, and Bondcliff. In this picture from last year, Bondcliff is the precipitous ridge along the right.

Since the first time I saw Bondcliff 30 years ago, I've wanted to go there. Family, school, politics, work, something always took priority.

I'm not getting any younger, and the kids are moved out now. I decided I'd better get out there if I ever was going to get it done, and this past 6 months I've been getting into hiking shape. To visit Bondcliff, West Bond and Mt Bond is a 20 mile hike with more elevation gain than bears thinking about at my age; this is not an afternoon trip to Pawtuckaway. So since March I've been taking advantage of every available day to hike some hard hills - Chocorua, Isolation, Moriah, Monroe and others - to get ready.

This past weekend I loaded up my backpack (27 lbs worth), and walked into the Pemi. I camped out two nights under the stars and the moon, and finally succeeded in reaching the summits of South Twin, Bond, West Bond and Bondcliff. 30 years in the wanting, 6 months in the planning and preparation, and 3 days in the doing. Here I am, blissfully squinting into the sun on the top of that ledgy precipice:

I guess I can pay a little closer attention to other things now