By now everyone nows the horrible news about the Old Man of the Mountain. Ann and I were really kind of sad when we heard. I know it was just a pile of rocks, but it was really one of my favorite things abut New Hampshire. It never got old looking at him.

When Ann and I were coming home from our vacation a couple week ago I drove us out of our way in a downpour so we could go through the notch and see him. The clouds opened at exactly the right moment for us to catch a glimpse... we didn't know that it would be our last. As Ann said to me after we heard the news: "I always thought we would bring our kids to see him."

It's paraphrased in nearly every article about the collapse, but I really like the full quote by Daniel Webster about the Old Man:

"Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

Should they rebuild him? I don't think so. Nature put him there, nature took him away. Ann's idea was to rebuild him on the ground, so people can see what he looked like, but to leave the mountain alone. I think that's a good compromise, considering that the Old man was probably one of New Hampshire's biggest tourist attractions.

One last thing - Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a pretty good story inspired by the Old Man if you are interested.