Ma Nature does “fireworks” in the very best way.
No bodies of any species in or near Spring Creek Basin were harmed by loud explosions, no fires were started, no fingers were amputated or eyebrows singed off.
Awe was widespread. 🙂
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
~ Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates; music composed by Samuel A. Ward
This Independence Day, especially, let’s help our fellow Americans hold to the ideals of brother(and sister)hood and all lives being equally valued and cherished. We are bound not only by the country of our birth … but also by our planet of birth.
Celebrate freedom. Celebrate each other. Celebrate the wonderful diversity that thrives all across these United States of America.
