Dear readers,We are abandoning our metropolis for another this weekend, as we load up the car with the Balsers and head up to Boston for a few days. Forgive us for the absence, but we'll be back and in rare November form on Monday!
Because we are still in the afterglow of a history-changing election*, enjoy this excerpt from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass:
ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER, 1884
If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,
'Twould not be you, Niagara-nor you, ye limitless prairies-nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite-nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyserloops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,
Nor Oregon's white cones-nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes-nor Mississippi's stream:
-This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name-the still small voice vibrating-
America's choosing day,(The heart of it not in the chosen-the act itself the main, the quadrennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous'd-sea-board and inland-Texas to Maine-the Prairie States-Vermont, Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West-the paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling-(a swordless conflict,Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern Napoleon's:) the peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity-welcoming the darker odds, the dross:
-Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify-while the heart pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.
When I voted on Tuesday (my third time voting for the President of the United States), it was the first time I felt like my voting actually mattered, like I was fulfilling the destiny our forefathers fought for: a democratic society based on hope for a better, more equitable future. I was proud; I felt patriotic. It is a day I will tell my children about.
*I know our last post was large on emotion, so if want to hear all of the dry policy reasons we voted for Obama, feel free to drop us a line and we'll tell you entirely too much about the painstakingly thought-out details of our decision. Way too much.
~L
1 comment:
Have fun in Boston! I recommend two places: Your first fresh, whole lobster at a place on a pier called "No Name Restaurant" (they also have other delightful fish)
And then for dessert, in the North end, I recommend a world famous place called "Mike's Pastry".
My dad always took us to these places when we visited Boston (he lived there for a while) - so I'm a little biased about them. Regardless, they are FANTASTIC establishments.
I'm sure you have your plans made already, but if you have time, Syd would LOVE the aquarium. :)
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