Showing posts with label patriotic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patriotic. Show all posts

Monday, May 29, 2017

The Call Of Freedom ...




“Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
  
 Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

        ~ from the inspiring Inaugural Address of
           President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
                    ~ 1917-1963
               35th President of the
             United States of America
                      ~ 1960-1963
                & U.S. Navy veteran
  

It was wonderful to photographic a majestic American Bald Eagle for the first time as it’s perched in the late day sunlight along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap, Slatington, Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend 2017 – and a few days before the centennial of the birthday of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Perched in the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the eagle was apparently disturbed by a very loud crow nearby – and emitted a call to let the crow know! I was blessed to spend 15 minutes photographing the eagle, during which time the crow flew away.

The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States. The bald eagle appears on our nation’s seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States. Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. government’s list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the lower 48 states on June 28, 2007.

The Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Background texture by Jai Johnson added for artistic effect.


Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Freedom Is Golden ...



"I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land."   
                             ~ Ronald Reagan
                                     ~ 1911-2004
  ~ 40th President of the United States of America
                                     ~ 1981-1989 

A gold rush of beauty gilds the night sky at the 2015 Fourth of July Fireworks set off from
J. Birney Crum Stadium, Allentown, Pennsylvania, illuminating the truth that freedom is golden.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire of patriotism - in our hearts every day!

  

Thursday, June 30, 2016

God Bless America ...




“While the storm clouds gather 
far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God bless America, land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.”
                  
                ~ "God Bless America"
        ~ written by Irving Berlin in 1918   
                   & revised by him in 1938
                  ~ Kate Smith’s signature song


The spirit of America and the spirit of the open road that only a motorcycle can give meet on the General Thomas R. Morgan USMC Bridge, Slatington, Pennsylvania, just before the Fourth of July.

I loved seeing the bridge festooned with American flags leading up to Slatington Baptist Church, founded in its current location in 1900. To me, this image quintessentially proclaims, “God Bless America!”

The signs on the lampposts designate Slatington, established in 1864, as the Blackboard Capital of America.


Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Shine On Freedom ...



"I know that for America
there will always be a bright dawn ahead."
                         ~ Ronald Reagan
                                 ~ 1911-2004
                       ~ 40th President of 
               the United States of America  

One World Trade Center - The Freedom Tower -
gleams as April sunshine wraps itself around
Lower Manhattan on a gorgeous spring day
in New York City.

One World Trade Center is the main building
of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex.
With 104 floors, it is the tallest skyscraper
in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth
tallest in the world. It opened November 3, 2014.     

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Confetti Sky ...



"America ! America ! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
... America ....!"

                                                         ~"America The Beautiful"
                                                                 ~ 1910
                                                                ~ Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates,
                                                                    Music composed by Samuel A. Ward

Festive fireworks festoon the summer sky like confetti
as if to say, "Bravo, America!" during the 2015 Fourth of July
Fireworks set off from J. Birney Crum Stadium,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire of patriotism -
in our hearts every day!

As the fireworks ended I heard a little boy say "Bravo!"
I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Red Hots ...


"May the sun in his course visit no land more free,
more happy, more lovely than this our own country!"
                                                   ~ Daniel Webster
                                                                       ~ 1782-1852

Red hot fireworks paint the sweet fire of patriotism
in the summer sky during the 2015 Fourth of July
Fireworks set off from J. Birney Crum Stadium,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.

How wonderful it would be to have fireworks - and the fire
of patriotism - in our hearts every day!

As the fireworks ended I heard a little boy say
"Bravo!" I couldn't have said it better myself.