Patriotism Rains Down ...

“This is my country! Land of my birth!
This is my country! Grandest on earth!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country to have and to hold. 

What diff'rence if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West?
My heart is filled with love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast
I thrill to see Old Glory paint the breeze. 

With hand upon heart I thank the Lord for this my native land,
For all I love is here within her gates.
My soul is rooted deeply in the soil on which I stand,
For these are mine own United States. 

This is my country! Land of my choice!
This is my country! Hear my proud voice!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country! To have and to hold.” 

 ~ “This Is My Country” is an American patriotic song composed in 1940

  ~ Lyrics by Don Raye, music by Al Jacobs

~ The song was completed in 1940 and first recorded in 1942 by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. Among others who have recorded it are the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Patti LaBelle. Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version appeared on his America the Beautiful album, released in February 1970, which was later re-released and marketed as Capitol’s Bicentennial Album.

Rain didn’t stop the fireworks from “reigning” as gold rained down with the spirit of patriotism from the summer sky during the 2018 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!

The Lucky Robin ...

“I think we consider too much the luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”

                 ~ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

                           ~ 1882- 1945

  ~ 32^nd President of the United States of America

                                    ~ 1933-1945

A beautiful robin catches a worm for supper on an early summer evening in late June at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Streaming Summer Afternoon ...

“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

               ~ Henry James

                    ~ 1843-1916

The poetic beauty of an afternoon in summer, my most favorite of seasons, streams through an August day in Henry’s Woods at Jacobsburg State Park, which spans between Wind Gap and Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Jacobsburg offers environmental education programs from the preschool environmental awareness programs to high school level environmental problem solving programs, historical programs, teacher workshops and public interpretive programs.

Once the site where the famous Henry Rifle was made, the Jacobsburg National Historic District lies almost entirely within the park. Henry’s Woods offers very scenic hikes and the rest of the center grounds have multi-use trails.

The park surrounds the Bushkill Creek.

The original land for the center was purchased by the Department of Forests and Waters from the City of Easton in 1959. In 1969, additional land was purchased using funds from Project 70. This brought the total land area of the center to its present size of 1,168 acres.