Freedom is not free

Today please take time to thank and honor the men and women and their families for the service given and sacrifices they have made.

Photo by Evan Vucci/AP

Kait Wyatt carries her 1-month-old son, Michael, at the burial for her husband, Marine Cpl. Derek Wyatt, at Arlington National Cemetery, Jan. 7. Wyatt was killed Dec. 6, 2010, in Afghanistan. Kait Wyatt, who was pregnant at the time of her husband's death, was induced the day after he was killed so she could attend the service.

You may listen to the Wyatt's story here

Monday Morning Wake Up Call---From sea to shining sea

Happy 4th to all--let's remember and honor our men and women fighting abroad for our freedom and independence.

Count your blessings!

Never Forget

Hold On

Hold on to what is good,
Even if it's a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
Even if it's a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
Even if it's easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.

A Pueblo Indian Prayer

No matter how many years go by and how far we travel--the memory of those lost on this day will live on.

To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.-Thomas Campbell

Independence Day

TO THE FOUNDING FATHERS

Your light still lingers in our distant morning,
A star that we perceive across the void.

We chart our passage by your words, still burning

Long after your bright core has been destroyed.

No longer do we speak of "natural" rights,

Nor can we think that Reason guides our will.

We've been through far too many gruesome nights

To hope we have reduced our lust to kill.

Yet hope remains the engine of our fire,
Hope that someday all of us will be

Happy in the least that we require:

Well-fed, well-housed, safe, secure, and free.

This dream we still pursue. Though darkness come,

Your wisdom, hope, and courage through us run.

Author Unknown

Working

this musical interlude speaks for itself--hope to be back soon,,,until then, hi ho hi ho...you know the rest..

Theme Thursday-Draft

with the draft...



without the draft...





The draft was discontinued in 1973. Currently, selective service requires men ages 18-25 to register in the event a draft needs to be resumed. To our veterans and soldiers overseas, thank you for your sacrifice, your dedication and a daily reminder that freedom is not free.

It is Theme Thursday and today's theme is Draft. For more thoughts on the theme visit here.

A Dream

How has Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.inspired me? Two words-courage and vision.

For more information and inspiration go here.

"This land is your land.." Woody Guthrie

"This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me" -Woody Guthrie

There is something about the great beyond that calls me and captures my attention. I feel blessed that I discovered a joy in walking through the woods, the wilderness and the rocks. My last post was about 'wild', the wilderness and what it offered to me. To me a new hike is like Christmas morning---the presents are under the tree but the tree is a few miles away!

So when I saw this program listed on PBS I felt Christmas came early. Check it out!

One of the wonderful things about blogging is finding kindred spirits--

Take a look at this site and the wonders that Pat experienced as they traveled through some of the great national parks. Pat's music tells me she felt the quiet majesty and the beauty. Enjoy!

Theme Thursday-Wild

“When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be -- I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought or grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” Wendell Berry

When I am in the wilderness, I feel a connection to the tree torched by lightening or a darkening sky as I walk.

I am wild as I move along the rocks and the red dust covers my clothes.

I am wild as I listen to the silence. I am wild as the leaves of olive trees or aspens whisper in the sunlight.


I am wild as I stand in the shadow of a hoodoo.

I am wild as I find my way home, tired and hungry, knowing that tomorrow offers a new path. Bliss.

More thoughts on Wild here.

PS-Researching this post, I came across the above-noted quote, found it vaguely familiar and absolutely perfect.  I realized a blog I read daily has this quote on its sidebar. Therefore, I must cite where I saw it first. Ruth's blog epitomizes wild in that it captures place, the love of nature, its surroundings and its the ability to offer moments in time and meditation. Take a look.

Independence Day

I Hear America Singing
by Walt Whitman (from Leaves of Grass, 1900)
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

The fireworks have ended and the embers of the barbecue are slowly fading---what song are you singing? How can we move forward and honor what has been given to us? Work, ingenuity,creativity with the remembrance...freedom is not free.