The warmth peeled off all the frosty wrappings last night, we've watched the snow go from about 2 feet to almost nothing in the 2 days we've been here in Rhode Island, the heretic state. Heretic as in Roger Williams: A book my mother gave Nora for Christmas, R is For Rhode Island Red by Mary Jane Begin reads "W is for Roger Williams....Arriving in Boston in 1631, he was first welcomed, but then the local Puritans disapproved of his views that the king had no right to give away lands belonging to the Indians, that everyone was entitled to their own opinion regarding religion, and that church and state should be separate. In 1636, when the local authorities decided to send Williams back to England, he fled southwest, bought land from his Indian friends, and established the settlement of Providence." All this roughly 200 years before Christmas as we know it was invented by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Charles Dickens.
Too bad I can't boast that I hail from this place, I could use a little more independent thinking.
4 comments:
I can (and do) boast that I hail from this place, even though I live in Windsor Terrace now. I was surprised (and amused) to read that you were spending your holiday here as well. Welcome! And merry Christmas!
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you!
Well, maybe you could say that you are from Gravesend, which was our local version of Rhode Island, founded by Lady Moody, another heretic.
Of course, the early baptists would have considered it heretical to put up statues of baby Jesus and his family, even ones that fall down in the wind.
Lady Moody from Gravesend! You've got to be kidding! Forgive more blasphemy but she sounds so goth!
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