I helped The Farmer this morning and snapped this as he prepared to combine his wheat...

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,

Melody by Samuel Ward

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 of 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! 

O beautiful for halcyon skies, 

For amber waves of grain, 

For purple mountain majesties 

Above the enameled plain! 

America! America! 

God shed his grace on thee 

Till souls wax fair as earth and air 

And music-hearted sea! 

O beautiful for pilgrims feet, 

Whose stem impassioned stress 

A thoroughfare for freedom beat 

Across the wilderness! 

America! America! 

God shed his grace on thee 

Till paths be wrought through 

wilds of thought 

By pilgrim foot and knee! 

O beautiful for glory-tale 

Of liberating strife 

When once and twice, 

for man's avail 

Men lavished precious life! 

America! America! 

God shed his grace on thee 

Till selfish gain no longer stain 

The banner of the free! 

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 

Till nobler men keep once again 

Thy whiter jubilee! 

Happy Birthday USA!

(you make my heart sing)

Love Our Country

source here

No, not the usual Valentines post... 

But I do feel passionately about our country's future

and this man's story and message.

A man born into poverty. 

Who fought, worked, learned and worked and worked. 

And made it to the top of the world.

Now he's helping show others the real way there.

This is the Dr who helped our dear friend

And we watched his life story in a movie at our school. 

He's done so much worth learning about.

I really hope you'll watch this video with your heart open to his message.

Where to next?

“There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” 

John Adams

While at a stop sign I watched an older gentleman carefully set up his political sign and flag...

Regardless of election outcome, I'm praying for all Americans to have a brighter tomorrow.

THANK YOU Veterans!!!

We are privileged to have had many friends and family who served. 

We are even more privileged to live in this Blessed Country.

THANKS to ALL who have served!

Fun Family Fourth

I'm ba aack!

How was your holiday?

Mine was a real treat.

Gorgeous views, great conversations and lots of fun.

In addition to all this I bought a new camera to record it all!
It's a Canon EOS Rebel T3.

I'm giddy!!!!

So now I apologize if I bore you with my *many* travel pics...

At least you might prefer them to the last 6 months of phone pics?  ;-)

There was boating of all sorts

And of course watermelon eating contests

Cousins jumped off the dock once again...

And acted silly with their Uncle!!!

We hiked up to see the lake from a different view

And wore some ice cream to cool off afterwards,

And just plain hung out.

Sometimes "upside over" as dear Jack likes to say!

My baby brother and his sweet fiance even snuck some alone time!

We enjoyed bonfires, s'mores, fireworks and sparklers... 

Lotsa games and

memorable cakes of all kinds.

Like Casey's perfectly patriotic one

and the "pro's" crooked, near catastrophe, that kept us giggling!

The birthday girl was extra special and sparkling
as she celebrated the big 7 0 !

I swear I watched my little girl grow up right before my eyes.

She really liked the boys...

Luckily I was distracted by lots n lots of pretty places to practice with my new camera....

 Now I think I get what Billy Joel was singing...

I'm in a New York state of mind.

Hope your holiday was a happy one!