independence day

i dislike the fourth of july. i don't like fireworks-noisy, dangerous things. i can't help but picture fingers disappearing and eyes missing after an experience with these explosives. i suppose it is the future nurse in me. and i think fireworks rarely serve as a reminder of the freedoms found in our country. they seem to have become a mere excuse to play with fire...

all this to say, i love independence day!

a few thoughts from other men who i assume by their sentiments, also loved independence day-

this, then, is the state of the union: free and restless, growing and full of hope. so it was in the beginning. so it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. ~lyndon b. johnson

how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~thomas jefferson

i like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.
i like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.
~abraham lincoln

oh, it's home again and home again, america for me!
i want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea
to the blessed land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.
~henry van dyke