Fireworks

Last night we went to Cleveland via the television screen and watched a gorgeous fireworks show.  There were some aerial fireworks that I'd never seen before. 

There were some that seemed to depict a bow, others that burst like stars, and still others that painted squiggles in the sky.

In the background were playing some of the songs that tell the story of our love for America. 

When did you start loving America?  I was thinking about that last night while we watched the "bombs bursting in air."  Can you think of a moment when that realization came to you?  Maybe for me it started with the Memorial Day parade in Fairview Park, Ohio, where I was raised.  When I marched in that parade as a Girl Scout.

Maybe it was at Girl Scout camp when at the end of a tiring day we would gather around the flag and sing, "Day is done, gone the sun, from the lake, from the hills, from the sky.  All is well, safely rest.  God is nigh."

Maybe it was at President Kennedy's inauguration when he called Americans to an active life of service. 

Maybe it was when we gathered together and sang the National Anthem.

Whatever the circumstances, I developed a deep love for this country.  I haven't had to travel the length and breadth of her to know that it is an amazing land.  The extremes of hot and cold, the vegetation ranging from cacti to huge redwoods.  Bodies of water enormous, medium, and small.  Flat lands and high mountains. 

One of our graduate students at The University of Akron came from Latvia.  She and a couple of friends decided to take a road trip across a few states.  When she returned from that trip, she had many interesting things to say, but one of them was that she could not believe how kind and friendly Americans are.  She said that they experienced some car trouble and people came to their aid.  She has returned to Latvia where she is in real estate, but she continues to have a deep respect for the United States.  I saw our country through her eyes and it made me even more proud than I already was.

But I am an Ohioan and here I shall remain.

Last night as I looked out the bedroom window at sunset, the yellow rays of the waning sun were casting amazing shadows through the trees and bathing everything below in a beautiful glow.  Another beautiful day in Ohio, and the corn is nearly knee high. 

God bless America.  God keep America.  God, listen to our prayers for America.