“Crown the Queen”

My day started with a doctors appointment- just an annual wellness check. My appointment was for 10 am, but it was at least 10.40 before I saw the doctor. When I got back, We had a coffee before going down to Christ Church cathedral for Music Live at Lunch - seasonal medieval music this week, sung by five young women. We were so thankful to have some sun back today, so after the music we went for a walk along the riverfront, where we came across this attractive new sculpture, entitled “Crown the Queen”.
Cincinnati has long been referred to as the “Queen City”, a nickname with its roots in 19th century economics, westward expansion, journalism and even poetry. After the city was originally settled in the 1780s and 1790s, it experienced tremendous growth. Incorporated as a town in 1802, and an official city in 1819, Cincinnati flourished as a centre for arts and commerce. Over the course of the next 40 years it attracted thousands of new settlers. By 1820, locals had begun calling it the Queen City and the Queen of the West in conversation and local writing in reference to the culture, arts and civilization the city offered in the midst of the wilderness of the the emerging West.
The nickname likely became cemented by celebrated Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote his poem Catawba Wine as a tribute to the Ohio Valley vineyardsrun by Nicholas Longworth, a member of the well known Cincinnati Longworth family. The poem’s final verse contains another reference to Ohio’s status as Queen of the West

“And this song of the Vine,
This greeting of mine,
The winds and the birds shall deliver
To the Queen of the West,
In her garlands dressed,
On the banks of the beautiful River.”

The sculpture represents a new venture - CROWN (Cincinnati Riding or
Walking Network - which envisions a 34 mile loop encircling the city, weaving together existing and future trails connecting neighborhoods, parks, universities, arts, sports, and employment centers. This proposed urban trail loop will serve as the hub connecting Greater Cincinnati’s regional trails such as the Little Miami trail which we cycle on quite regularly, to downtown, transforming the way people move in the community.
In the evening, I finally got round to making the Christmas pudding mix, then my recipe says to cover it and leave it overnight, and I will steam them tomorrow - better late than never!