The People: The Mood of the Land

Chilling winds swept in off the Great Lakes, and an early snowfall muffled Midwestern cities. Rain fell from leaden skies over Atlanta and Anchorage, and Denver shivered in sub-zero cold. Across the nation, flags still stood at half-staff in reminder of Nov. 22.

But the U.S. has always been able to look beyond winter to spring, beyond death to continuing life. There is in the nation a resiliency and a sense of renewal, the sort of thing that Poet Vachel Lindsay meant when he wrote:

Man is a torch, then ashes soon,

May...

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