Life After Windbird, Day 73: Hillary Rally in New Hampshire
Date: Monday, October 24, 2016
Weather: Sunny, Cool, Still Windy; High 50’s, Low 30’s F
Location: At Home at the Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today was the day of the New Hampshire Democratic Party rally. And it was a great day—beautiful weather, well organized and exciting political rally, time with Helaine and my niece Lynn.
It would have been nice to be able to sit down, but that is not part of a rally with a couple of thousand people. You stand in line, stand while waiting for the speakers, and stand while they are speaking. Today that was about four hours of standing. But it was worth it. This rally was sponsored by the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Helaine and I drove to the rally in my car instead of driving separately because we knew parking was going to be limited. We were going to meet my niece Lynn in the parking area at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, NH, the site of the rally. Helaine and I were about ten minutes late getting there that I had predicted, but my niece Lynn was stuck in traffic and was also running a few minutes late. Miraculously, she drove in just after us and parked just one car away. Then we spent a lot of time standing in line waiting for the gates to open to the rally site. Originally the rally was to be held inside, but more people responded than expected, so last night an email was sent out explaining the venue would be outside. St. Anselm’s campus is beautiful, so the outside venue was perfect for this beautiful fall day. The temperature was in the 50’s, but with the bright sunshine, a vest and a jacket were just a little too much. But better warm than too cold. After waiting in line for what seemed way too long, the line started moving slowly toward the rally site. We went through airport-type security and finally we were within the fenced area and herded by young volunteers to keep moving. When we were in ‘our space’, we then had to keep standing. It was nearly an hour before things started and then standing for the hour-long rally.
So there was a lot of standing today. But there was music, people watching, and media watching (we were standing just in front of the stand where Andrea Mitchell was reporting for MSNBC).
We listened to speeches from Colin van Osten, the young man running for governor and Maggie Hasson, the current governor who is running for the US Senate against republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte. Then we were treated to a rousing speech by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren that led to the introduction of Hillary Clinton.
Hillary gave an uplifting speech that echoed the campaign slogan of “Stronger Together.”
It was heartening to see the number of young people in attendance today and the number of parents with young children. The whole experience gave me renewed hope in what has been an incredibly negative political season.
After the rally I drove Helaine back to Bow and left there about 4 pm to make the two and half hour drive home. Tomorrow morning, I am up early to walk with friend Olivia White. And after that I might just chill. It was a wonderful weekend, but I need a little down time.
