Patriotic Sunday...

It is Saturday, which of course, means that tomorrow is Sunday, which in my world means singing in the church choir, which always leads me to think, "Now, what were we going to sing tomorrow?" This morning, I remembered that tomorrow, we will sing our patriotic music in anticipation of our country's July 4th Celebration - our Independence Day. Now, I realize that June 26th does not equal July 4th, but sometimes, in the church-summer-choir-communion calendar, things have to be juggled a bit to fit everything in. After all, we don't really have to save patriotism for the actual day of July 4th.

In this case, I have to say that our choir does a pretty fabulous job with this music. It is well-practiced, because we do most of the pieces every year. As a choir member, you eventually memorize it well, which makes it all the more thrilling to sing. For those of us whose second language (or perhaps, our first) is music, I hardly know of any more heartfelt expression than singing this music with the specific intent of taking a moment of our busy lives to remember our history and story as a nation.

I am not one to be open about my politics - I'm a strong believer in the secret ballot. I like to gather as much information as I can from a variety of sources, and sift through it, think through it, and make my decisions. Sometimes, my choice gets elected - sometimes not. Sometimes, I believe that the leadership is doing the best they can - sometimes I think they lose sight of what is important and make serious mistakes. Sometimes I am proud of the way we present ourselves to the rest of the world - sometimes not, but always, I have a very deep love for my country. This is my home. As an entity, it is not perfect - it is run by human beings after all - but I believe that its collective heart is good. I can hope that, given the chance, year by year, we can accomplish some good in the world.

Tomorrow, I will sing for that.

July 4th

Independence Day in the U.S. of A. A very festive time indeed!
On July 4th, Bayou Bend hosts a free 4-hour event celebrating the day with 1st floor tours of the house, crafts for the kids, brass ensemble, fife and drum corps, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, jazz, birthday cake - generalized fun for all who come. Yesterday (yes, I'm writing a day later due to exxhaaaauuuustionnnnnn...), we had over 600 people come to visit with temperatures outside ranging from 100 to 105, taking into account the heat index.
It was a fun-loving and attentive crowd, and if one were to walk around just listening to people's conversations, you would hear many different languages. Many nationalities were represented, and that's not necessarily unusual for Bayou Bend because we seem to attract people from all over the world with a passion for history, architecture, furniture, and for lovely gardens. But I do think it is interesting that they would choose to spend July 4th with us. Last year, we had a family who had fairly recently arrived from Turkey, who were trying very hard to learn about this new place and what it was like to live in the USA, and they were so articulate about their excitement and about the hopes that they had for the time that they would be here. I wonder how they are doing now...
When it is all said and done, I'm very glad that we can watch the fireworks on TV. I have done the thing with the parking and the crowds and the walking and the booming overhead...and it was very grand...but now, it is also ok to watch in amazement on the tube, then roll over in one's cool, cool bed and fall into a blissful sleep.
Happy Birthday, Land that I Love!