Boom! And Suddenly it is the Fourth of July!
“May we think of freedom not as the opportunity to do as we like but as the opportunity to do the right thing.”~ Peter Marshall
The Fourth of July makes me completely giddy and I’m a passionate aficionado of fireworks!! They keep my eyes riveted to the sky and I always wish they’d last a lot longer. No matter how old I get, I’m ten again every time! I adore the sulfuric smell, and even all the noise! The sizzles, zings, whistles, zips, the quick rat-a-tat-tat of ladyfingers and the occasional distant BOOM are the sounds of summer to me. I get a thrill watching the brilliant colors explode and bleed across the heavens. I watch them twinkle away magically, leaving puffs of white smoke skidding away on the breeze against the inky sky and it fascinates me. The glow on cheeks and sparkle in the eyes of little people in swimsuits? It makes my heart swell to three times its normal size.
What else do I love about this time of year? Rows of American flags punctuating the perimeters of tidy rural cemeteries. Small town parades and main street curbs lined with sun-kissed young faces, excited, hoping for candy and wild with the excitement. Proud, history-making veterans grinning from parade floats and pretty young ladies waving from the back of open convertibles. When the show is over and darkness comes, when the night grows quiet again, the lightening bugs resume their dance while cicadas sing us their mid summer symphony. God Bless America! How I love you!
“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.”~Albert Camus
And BOOM! Suddenly we realize we’re half-way through another year!
Yes, we enjoy unparalleled liberty and opportunity here in the land of the free and the home of the brave! The question is, what will you do with yours? We’ve spent six months climbing to the apex of 2018 and another 26 weeks lie before us, full of promise and gifts to be opened. It’s a good chunk of time to work with. What will you do with the second half of this extraordinary year? How will you begin the work of becoming the best possible version of the person you were created to be?
Think about it. How will you use your freedom? Let’s talk about it! See you next time!
Gail
Reading your words — it’s like being there! Thank you!
Betty Streff
Thanks you cousin! Like back in Iowa, huh?