a bandage covered my blind eye. 68 years later, i can still inhabit that boy's body without thinking of the time in between. it is the burden of life to be many ages without seeing the end of time. [powerful ringing notes] bourdain: next time you turn off a news cycle filled with shouting bobbleheads convinced that america is devolving into a moronic inferno, questioning the greatness of your nation, maybe you should come here. here are your purple mountains majesty. this is the landscape that generations of dreamers, despots, adventurers, explorers, crackpots, and heroes fought and died for.