Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."
Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Yes...on this date it all started, the freedoms you and I enjoy. I learned this poem in school, loved it, but it wasn't until visiting New England that I got it.
We even learned on a tourist talk somewhere during our visit that Paul Revere didn't actually row anything LOL. Lexington is a horse's ride from Boston Harbor. But it makes for glorious poetry.
The Old North Church was amazing. Sadly, the other day we attended a funeral at its exact replica at Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. (more on that later.)
So was staying at the Concord Colonial Inn where Sam Adams and other revolutionaries held secretive meetings. On the place reeks of history.
This weekend the inn is celebrating its annual Patriots Day complete with parade. Ah, how I wish I could be there.
And sometimes I wish I'd lived there, then. Or later on and hung out with Louisa May and Henry David. And Waldo himself, who I'll write about later, too.
Or not...hmmmmm. Since there weren't flush toilets or antibiotics or....wait for it, computers. The accouterments of daily living I can't imagine living without.
Thank you, patriots. Minutemen. Founding fathers and mothers. God bless America!
