Lyrics for Sunday and MD vs WVA

The Impressed Seaman's Appeal

Shall that arm which haughty Britain
In its gristle found too strong–
That by which her foes were smitten–
Shall that arm be palsied long?
See our sons of ocean kneeling
To a tyrant's stripes and chains!
Partisan! Hast thou no feeling
When the hardy tar complains?
See the British press-gang seize him,
Victim of relentless power!
Stout his heart is, but must fail him
In this evil, trying hour.

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We spent nearly the entire day in College Park with my parents, Paul's parents, and our kids, primarily at the football game! It was a very nice day despite the Terps' heartbreaking loss in the final seconds to the Mountaineers and despite the rain that started right before the game, continuing into the last quarter, at which point we were all so wet and chilly that we retired to a lounge in Adam's dorm to watch the final minutes. The game has been all over the sports news today, not because either team is expected to finish high in the rankings and not because of the score, though it was an exciting second half, but because Maryland wore uniforms decorated to celebrate the bicentennial of the Star Spangled Banner and the end of the War of 1812.


The Terrapins wait by the one Testudo statue I had not yet photographed this year to race onto the field.


They wore uniforms designed to honor the bicentennial of the Star Spangled Banner, whose hand-written lyrics were printed on the helmets, sleeves, and shoes.


It was, unfortunately, a very rainy afternoon.


So we dressed up in these very sexy rain ponchos and tried not to get drenched.


At halftime the Maryland and West Virginia bands reenacted the Battle of Baltimore, culminating in the conflict at Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem.


There were many sunny moments, especially when Maryland kept the game close...


...but ultimately we ended up quite wet and disappointed in the outcome!

After the game, we walked back to our cars and went out to dinner at Mamma Lucia along with Adam's girlfriend, who had gotten a call that her mother had locked herself out of their house near where we live...and since her father was at his reunion out of town, he couldn't let her in. So after we took Daniel food shopping and dropped both kids off at their respective domiciles -- Daniel has a friend from high school visiting from a college on a trimester system that hasn't started for the fall yet -- we drove Adam's girlfriend back with us to drop off at her parents' house and rescue her mother. Then we came home for Doctor Who (creepily enjoyable) and Outlander (very good, sad, unnerving in the wake of Scotland's impending vote on secession).