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Happy birthday America (2012 edition)!

Once more, with limited finances, there isn’t much that most of my family can do to celebrate the Fourth of July this year except stay home and try to think up special ways to enjoy our nation’s birthday anyway.  Two of our children will be gone from home for a while starting this morning, and they’ll be able to do some memorable things for the holiday.

English: Fireworks on the Fourth of July, 2009...
English: Fireworks on the Fourth of July, 2009; Happy Birthday America! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They can work on building Fourth of July memories a lot like I did when I was their age.

Back in my pre-teen to early teen years, July 4th was always something to look forward to because it was time for Salmon River Days in my hometown of Salmon, Idaho.  That town was fairly bustling in those days, and downtown was the place to see and be seen because that’s where everything was happening — a parade down Main Street, sidewalk shopping, entertainment of all kinds.  One of my favorite things to take in during Salmon River Days was motocross racing at a tough track outside of town, listening to the whine of the engines and seeing bikes fly through the air down a steep, neck-breaking, bone-crunching hill.

It was a time for family get-togethers, picnics, and Salmon had some decent fireworks for a town its size.

It was a small-town celebration done up big.  It was a special time to be a kid.

From there, it was on to the celebration put on in Idaho Falls, a bigger community that also knows how to do an American birthday celebration the right way.

For a lot of years, my family has enjoyed getting together with relatives, saving a spot along the banks of the Snake River for hours, doing some reading, and watching the people go by in preparation for the town’s huge fireworks show — one of the biggest pyrotechnic displays west of the Mississippi.

Idaho Falls’ fireworks show is a huge deal, drawing tens of thousands of people not only from surrounding towns but surrounding states as well.  The show is choreographed to music — rock, country, pop, classical (including the songs found in videos below) — that’s simulcast on a local radio station.  I’ve seen some amazing things in that show, including red hearts perfectly forming in the sky along to the words “I love you” from Louis Armstrong’s version of “What A Wonderful World.”

Those are the kinds of things Fourth of July memories are made of, the kinds of things I want my children to look back on with fondness as they celebrate our nation’s birthday themselves.

It’s part of what makes growing up so fun.

Copyright 2012, Daddysangbassdude Media

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Posted on by A View From The Middle (Class)

AMY’S ANGLE: “Coming home” in style

By Amy Kathleen Miller

I have a painting depicting draft horses pulling a wagon with a man and a woman in it.  There are two dogs in the painting and many trees and fencing.  I enjoyed painting this, because it gave me an emotional escape back to the days when people lived more simply.  They didn’t have the technology that we do today.  The two dogs in the painting represent their need for dogs as workers.  Dogs had many roles, including helping the ranchers keep their livestock together right down to protecting the family.  The border collie is such a dog for this job.  My parents used to own such a dog.  Her name was Bulliver.  She was a great dog for the family.

Draft horses are large horses whose ancestry comes from the forest horse, now extinct.  They came from European descent and are now part of the big Shire down to the smallest Shetland pony.  Humans domesticated horses to perform a variety of different duties, including hauling heavy loads, plowing fields, and other heavy tasks that require the big horse’s pulling power.  Draft horses are big, heavy, calm, patient, well-muscled animals that were desired for work.

In the 19th century, horses that weighed more than 1,600 pounds and moved quickly were in demand for farming, hauling freight, and moving passengers — especially before the railroads came along.  In the 20th century, draft horses were used for practical work, and for war.  Half a million of these horses were used in World War I.  The draft horse was well in demand at this time.

They were also used as transportation for the family wagon in the early 19th and 20th centuries. The stories of the Great Oregon trail had many settlers traveling with their wagons across God’s creation to set up their homesteads in the West in the fine state of Oregon. This endeavor might not have been as successful if it weren’t for the use of draft horses.

Today, these horses are used more to show.  Owners primp their horses and make the wagons look really sharp.  I am used to the smaller, more common riding horses, and when I stand beside these draft horses, I am glad that one does not step on my foot.  Ouch!  My cousin  owns many drafts horses.  He loves the shire horse, which are the largest of the draft horses.  They are huge.  He shows them and has even made several trips to England to buy them.  His horses are a big part of his life.

“Coming Home” By Amy K. Miller (All artwork Copyright 2012, Amy K. Miller’s Studio — ANY UNAUTHORIZED DUPLICATION OR REPRODUCTION IS PROHIBITED)

Editor’s Note:  “Amy’s Angle” is a weekly Wednesday feature in this blog.

Copyright 2012, Daddysangbassdude Media

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My music playlist for today (July 4, 2012 edition)

Cover of "Point Of Know Return"
Cover of Point Of Know Return

I can pinpoint the first truly American progressive rock band that I became a fan of, and the moment that I became a fan.  It was the first time I heard the song “Point of Know Return” by Kansas on the radio, and I heard the sound of a violin playing in that tune, and I thought, “I dig that.”

Oh, I’d heard Kansas before with “Carry On Wayward Son” and I liked that song well enough.  But hearing “Point of Know Return” and that Robby Steinhardt violin made for a “gotta have it” moment.  I’ve been stuck on Kansas ever since, seen them in concert several times — though the first time I was ever able to see them in person wasn’t until the mid-1990s, when they were “past their prime” but still putting on great shows.

Their music “speaks” to me in a very unique way, and it always will.

As we celebrate the birth of our nation today, at least one Kansas song leaps immediately to my mind, and I can remember how I was exposed to that as well.  It was a song that played every night as part of the intro to the local news broadcasts on one of the television stations in Idaho Falls.  To me, it was a great song for a news intro — it commanded your attention, it was powerful, it was majestic, it soared.

I didn’t know the name of the song or who did it until after I became a fan of Kansas and got deeper into their catalog, and there it was.

Cover of "Song for America (Exp)"
Cover of Song for America (Exp)

The music used for the local news intro was the opening to “Song For America.”  It just made me love Kansas’ music even more.

Some people may slam Kansas at times for the honest way that it portrays America, in tunes like “Song For America” or “Cheyenne Anthem,” looking at the kind of stewardship we’ve shown over the land or how the white man has treated Native Americans, taking a look at our country with a critical eye.  It’s that honesty that Kansas brings that makes me appreciate them even more.

They are a true American band.  Some might not always appreciate the statements made in their songs, but that’s what’s made Kansas a standout band for so many years, one that we can take lessons from and learn how to grow as human beings.

That should be the American way.

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