July 3rd…

We are still in our hometown.  Writing has somehow been harder to do here.  The ideas do not flow as easily as they do when I am in my home and surroundings.

Today is the third of July.  It has been  40 years since I was in town for a fourth of July.  I thought of this while walking our dog this evening.

We actually have no plans for tomorrow.  Hubby will most likely continue to work on family business and I will cook something here and do what I have done for the past month while here.  Nothing exciting.

I had a conversation with an old friend this past week.  We got caught up on each other’s lives.  She looked at me and said that I had an exciting life.  Those words hit me.  I haven’t considered my life exciting.  It has just been my life.

So, this evening while walking our little pup, I thought about her words and how I have spent the last 40 fourth of Julys.  Here are some of the ways I have celebrated:

I have had a meal in the mess hall aboard a Coast Guard ship.

I have stood in water half way up my leg while wearing a winter coat watching a parade to celebrate America’s bi-centennial in Japan.  The reason for the water and the winter coat?  It was cold, damp and a typhoon was off the coast dumping rain and wind onshore.

I have gone on backyard picnics along the coast of Maine.

I have camped on the beach and climbed on top of WWII bunkers to watch fireworks in San Diego.

I have sat in a parking lot of a Target store to watch fireworks.

I have stood on my upstairs deck and watched fireworks.

I have been with family and watched them in the D.C. area.

I have gone on a lovely boat ride to watch fireworks shot off a battleship.

Tonight, the fireworks are going off as I write this.  We have not gone to watch them.  It is just one of those years.  We don’t need to see the sky lit up with different colors to know this country is worth celebrating.

This year, my patriotism as well as my faith is quiet.  It is not silent, but it is still.  There is a difference.  This year I feel like the two are intertwined a bit.  I know my Lord is a powerful and awesome God.  He has watched over this country since those rebels of so long ago drafted a declaration of Independence.   I am trusting in Him to keep this country safe and to have it remember it’s roots and beginnings.

So,  I close this post with the words of a song by Irving Berlin that makes me cry each time I hear it.

“God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.”

Thanks for stopping by today, Happy Fourth of July!   DAF

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