By Walt Whitman
I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,
Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.
Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane,
unruly, musical, self-sufficient,
I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,
Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays,
superb,
Rich, hemm'd thick all around with sailships and
steamships, an island sixteen miles long, solid-founded,
Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron, slender,
strong, light, splendidly uprising toward clear skies,
Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, toward sundown,
The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger adjoining
islands, the heights, the villas,
The countless masts, the white shore-steamers, the lighters,
the ferry-boats, the black sea-steamers well-model'd,
The down-town streets, the jobbers' houses of business, the
houses of business of the ship-merchants and money-
brokers, the river-streets,
Immigrants arriving, fifteen or twenty thousand in a week,
The carts hauling goods, the manly race of drivers of horses,
the brown-faced sailors,
The summer air, the bright sun shining, and the sailing
clouds aloft,
The winter snows, the sleigh-bells, the broken ice in the
river, passing along up or down with the flood-tide or
ebb-tide,
The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-form'd,
beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes,
Trottoirs throng'd, vehicles, Broadway, the women, the
shops and shows,
A million people—manners free and superb—open voices—
hospitality—the most courageous and friendly young
men,
City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!
City nested in bays! my city!
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Daniel had a big project to work on for a class, so we had a quiet Sunday hanging out at home watching football while he worked. We went out for Starbucks but that was all the excitement. The R-words played as badly as I could have hoped; by the end of the season, I'm hoping their name is such an embarrassment that they decide to change it for marketing reasons alone, since fairness to Native Americans seems not to matter to the owner.
Since Daniel hadn't seen my parents, we went over there for dinner, then drove him back to College Park so he could finish the project, which is due Monday. We came home to watch Worricker: Salting the Battlefield, which did not have as solid an ending as I had hoped, but the performances were smart enough that I didn't care. We're only two episodes behind now on Madam Secretary, which is excellent. Great Falls kayakers on Saturday:
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