measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patriot's Day Tucked up in the northeastern USA, there's a little state that calls itself a commonwealth. And in that state, there are dozens of markers telling about events that happened leading up to the birth of the United States. a ring of stones in the middle of the city, marking a "massacre" an old church steeple a reproduction of a ship with tea boxes guilded horseshoes stamped into the brick sidewalks, heading roughly northwest an empty green space in the middle of an old New England town. dozens of cemeteries with well-known interrments Most of the year, these places are reserved to the tourists to the area. The residents stay away, since "they can always go some other time." This year, residents of Massachusetts, particularly from Boston to the north, are a bit more aware of Patriot's Day. It's not just "Marathon Monday," as it's often been called over the past many years. It's Patriot's Day-- the marking of the start of the Revolutionary War. It's odd that the rest of the country has never heard of it, particularly this year. In the wake of September 11th, there's a lot more emphasis this Patriot's Day on the original holiday. Even the marathon's getting a red-white-and blue treatment. Parades, the traditional re-enactment of the Shot Heard 'Round the World, an F15 flyover with flags, etc. There's a bit more importance to the holiday here in the place where so much of the freedom movement for the USA started. A little more Patriot than Marathon. --Mel. 9:10 a.m. - 15 April 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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