”Never in his life had he seen a river before – this
sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with
a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that
shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and
a-shiver – glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and
bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river
he trotted, as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one
spellbound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank,
while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best
stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at least to
the insatiable sea. “—Scottish writer Kenneth Graham (1859-1932), The Wind in the Willows (1908)
I can think of few cities that owe their revival so strongly
to a waterway-based revival as Providence, R.I. I took the attached picture in
October 2015, when I was visiting the city for a few days.
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