Wonder City

I have a desktop calendar featuring old New York brochure covers that tout that metropolis as "The Wonder City." It may have been true, but isn't every city full of wonders. You cannot have civilization without a city, the Latin word 'civitas' is the root and the route to better living with one's fellow citizens.

There are good things to be said for country living, but they are not in the scope of this essay. There is very little good to say about the suburbs and we will leave that subject dormant, as usual. Your author lives in a black-or-white world, where things are either good or bad, and he has little tolerance for half measures and the middle ground. He prefers a stew to a meal of broth or jerky, but that is about the only instance in which he likes to mix extremes.

Boston has never hosted a World's Fair, so that sets it apart from New York and Chicago. It also sets it apart from Knoxville, Tenn. which may be the proof that a World's Fair isn't all its cracked up to be. Boston has never hosted a winter Olympics. It isn't in the same catagory as Lillehammer, Norway or Calgary, Canada or Lake Placid, NY. Boston may be peaceful, but it is much too busy to be considered placid. This is a sports-oriented city without rival and a winter Olympics wouldn't ripple Boston's Frog Pond if the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Patriots, or the Bruins were playing. Are there sports other than baseball, basketball, football and hockey? Not all sports require a ball, see hockey, but they require teams...Boston teams.

What makes Boston so wonderful? I can't tell you in four paragraphs. You have to walk it to learn it. You have to get out and get your hands and nostrils dirty and let the wind blow the cobwebs between your ears. The amplified sound of traffic needs to drown out your petty, self-centered thoughts. A city is made up of people pressed close together. A good city is made up of the best people. What makes Boston so wonder-full? If you live here, look in the mirror. If you don't, you are due for a visit.