By the rude bridge that arched the flood

[edschweppe]

Thus begins Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous "Concord Hymn", written for the dedication of an obelisk memorializing the Battle of Lexington and Concord. That memorial still stands at the Old North Bridge in Concord, part of the Minute Man National Historic Park.

Today, two hundred thirty four years later, I stopped by the Old North Bridge site again - an advantage of living in literally the next town over. The Concord River was again in full springtime flood, and a chilly April breeze was blowing. The local parade, though, will wait for tomorrow - the official state holiday has been moved to the third Monday of April, as a concession for those who like three-day weekends.

Last year at this time, I noted the unpleasant fact that all my Patriots Day postings to date had been with George W. Bush as President. This year, such is no longer the case. And, happily, it didn't take a shooting war to get rid of George III of America; just a bunch of people looking for change and hope, exercising the franchise that those long-ago "embattled farmers" fought to retain.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Happy Patriot's Day, Ed.

[carl-schweppe.livejournal.com]

As a kid, I just thought it was neat to walk with the town minutemen to the bridge - and it was cool to play hide and seek in the garden there.

We grew up less than 6 miles from where, in many ways, America started.

It kind of blows my mind these days.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

We stopped by The Bridge about a week after the 1976 bicentennial celebrations, soon enough after that the grass still bore the scars. As I am crowd-averse, we preferred that timing for our salute to history.