I hope you've had a happy 4th!
We out here in the middle of nowhere are thankful for our freedom and the people who protect it. We love our country.
One of our favorite American documents is the
national anthem of the United States, 'The Star Spangled Banner'
The words are beautiful:
O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
In Solsberry, we have our fireworks on the 3rd. It's a big
fundraiser for the local, and mostly volunteer, fire department and
people turn out by the 100s. It's a big party, with music and food and
a fabulous display of fireworks.
And the most beautiful full moon we've had in ages.
We watched the fireworks from the top of our neighbors' hill. It was fun to sit in the dark and listen to the chatter of the children chasing glowsticks and the low murmur of the grownups who mostly decided that the moon was just as glorious as the fireworks display.
After I shot about 2 dozen pics of the moon [mostly a big blurry spot], I handed the camera over to Lily and she got the pics of the fireworks. We're still trying to figure out how to shoot in the dark [Advanced Sports Action setting worked best]
Happy Independence Day!
