Manchester

New Hampshire looks cold, although it currently feels similar to the sweltering Virginia heat that I have grown up with. I've been told that the weather has been uncharacteristic, and when I look at the steely, distant clouds around me I believe it. The scenery on the ground and in the sky makes me believe that I am on top of something very big. Exposed to and weathered by the great natural forces that surround it.

The city of Manchester is small. It sits on a plateau overlooking the surrounding rivers and mountains much like my previous home: Blacksburg. And, like Blacksburg, it requires one to make the best out of the simple things it has to offer. There is nothing conventionally striking or exciting here, but I spent much of the last four years in a town that offered nothing conventionally striking or exciting and regard those years as some of the happiest of my life.

Manchester will be fun and, although I do not know how long I'll be here, I am

comfortable calling it my home.

Scott