America - 250 and Fabulous ...

 “I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.”

             ~ Ronald Reagan

                ~ 1911 ~ 2004

           ~ 40^th President of 

           the United States of America

                   ~ 1981 ~ 1989

         ~ from Reagan’s November 5, 1994 published letter to the American people announcing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis

The inspiring words of Ronald Reagan, penned in his heartfelt letter to America announcing his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, fuse beautifully with the spirit of America250, the Semiquincentennial of the United States July 4, 2026.

 I spotted this wonderful pop of patriotism displayed outside a house on the West End of Allentown, Pennsylvania on a June evening about a month before the country’s milestone birthday.

God Bless America! 

Freedom Was Born On The Fourth Of July ...

“No other date on the calendar more potently symbolizes all that our nation stands for than the Fourth of July.”

      ~ Mac Thornberry

        ~ born 1958

William McClellan “Mac” Thornberry is an American politician serving as a U.S. Representative from the Texas Panhandle. He has served since 1995, when the House seated its first Republican majority in 40 years, and signed the “Contract with America” authored by then Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Freedom was born on the Fourth of July, and America’s birthday celebration flashes across the night sky in Fourth of July fireworks set off at Dorney Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Happy Birthday, America! Bravo!

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

An American Trail ...

“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.”

   ~ John Wayne

    ~ 1907-1979

Old Glory billows beautifully in the sun-dappled late spring breeze on a gorgeous mid-June evening along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) that hugs the Kittatinny Ridge at Lehigh Gap. This flag can be seen atop mile marker 95, but many flags such as this patriotically dot the trail.

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, The Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, 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.

I just love this quote from John Wayne – the great, iconic American actor known as “The Duke” – and thought it matched perfectly with the image, especially in these times.

God Bless America!