Thursday, July 8, 2010

Yosemite

Yosemite National Park
I hope you all enjoy the shots from my trip to Yosemite. As Frank Lloyd Wright once said; 
I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.  

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver...... Martin Luther
  
All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God. Thomas Browne
 Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ....John Muir


Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. .....Henry David Thoreau

Friday, July 2, 2010

Happy Independence Day!

Let Independence Be Our Boast
EVER MINDFUL WHAT IT COST!!
This weekend while we are all setting off fireworks, celebrating freedom and being with our loved ones eating BBQ, let us NEVER forget the men and women who make that possible for us. I hope that it never slips anyone's mind that the ONLY reason we are able to enjoy the freedom that we have, is due to the sacrifice made by people who, without knowing us all, are fighting for us and who have laid their lives down so we could sleep safely and peacefully at night.
We have no chance of being free unless made and kept so by those better than you or I; those who are NOT able to sit and have BBQ with their family because they are busy keeping us free, those who will NEVER again be able to be with their families on Independence Day because they have given up everything just to insure that we could have this day to celebrate.
I know that the 4th is supposed to be a happy time, but I can not stop thinking of everyone who passed on defending our country and those who are still out there, in harms way EVERY day.
So this weekend, while you are popping open your beer or eating your grilled goodies, remember those that are keeping you all in the lives you live, undisturbed by it all, while they sweat and bleed for us.
I want to say Thank You to all the men and women of the armed forces, but that just doesn't seem enough. It feels to me like saying "I'm sorry" to someone when a loved one passes away. It seems such a very small thing to do or say to offer some little comfort to those who make it possible for me to not only voice my opinion, but also make it possible to live the life I lead.