SUNDAY, FUNDAY - FOURTH OF JULY!!

 SUNDAY FUNDAY - JULY 3RD, 2022

INDEPENDENCE DAY

(AKA - THE FOURTH OF JULY!!!)

For 246 years, we have had these United States.  Yes, it hasn’t always been perfect.  We had a Civil War and it seems at times we STILL are in a Civil War.  

Three excerpts from significant American documents:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. …

That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

(Do you know the three documents?)

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We celebrate the Fourth of July - but should it be The Second of July?

“Officially, the Continental Congress declared its freedom from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, when it voted to approve a resolution submitted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, declaring “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

“Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence document on July 4, it ordered that it be sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the “Dunlap Broadside” version of the document were printed, with John Hancock’s name printed at the bottom. Today, 26 copies remain.

That is why the Declaration has the words, “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776,” at its top, because that is the day the approved version was signed in Philadelphia.

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CELEBRATING THE FOURTH - A MEMORY

We didn’t have fireworks (or firework stands) in Iowa - but we could get sparklers.  My sister and I swirled sparklers around in celebration in our yard.

Then we would go to either Hawkeye Downs (home of car races and the “All-Iowa Fair”) or to Memorial Stadium (home of the minor league baseball team) to watch fireworks.  (My sister and I learned to say “ooh” and “ahh”).

We also had a picnic earlier in the day - generally with my grandparents who lived close to us.  We were close to Ellis Park and that was a great place for a picnic.  The fried chicken was generally the main dish with other salads and (if it was in season) watermelon.  Watermelon was NOT seedless yet, so we could have spitting contests to see how far we could spit watermelon seeds!!!

(I do remember one year as I had my watermelon wedge and a young cousin tore off the top of the wedge - where the watermelon was the sweetest!!)

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DO TAKE CARE AND BE SAFE IN YOUR CELEBRATION.  OVER THE YEARS MANY HAVE LOST EYES AND EVEN DIED FROM FIREWORKS!!!

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PATRIOTIC SONGS

“O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?  

(Comment - I do sing the words!! Do you?)

God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru 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,
My home, sweet home.

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From ev'ry mountainside

Let freedom ring!

(Do you know other verses?)

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

(And, other verses as well)

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored

He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword

His truth is marching on

Glory, glory Hallelujah

Glory, glory Hallelujah

Glory, glory Hallelujah

His truth is marching on

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FOURTH OF JULY JOKES:

How come there aren’t any knock-knock jokes about America?
Because freedom rings.

What kind of tea did the American colonists want?
Liber-tea.

What’s the difference between a duck and George Washington?
One has a bill on his face, and the other has his face on a bill.

What did the colonists wear to the Boston Tea Party?|
Tea-shirts.

What was George Washington’s favorite tree?
The infantry.

Who was the biggest jokester in George Washington’s army?
Laughayette.

Why did the duck say bang?
Because he was a firequacker.

Was the Declaration of Independence written in Philadelphia?
No, it was written in ink.

Why doesn’t fire get to enjoy a day off on the 4th of July?
Because fire works.

What do you call an American revolutionary who draws cartoons?
A Yankee Doodler.

Why were the first Americans like ants?
They lived in colonies.

Why did Paul Revere ride his horse from Boston to Lexington?
Because the horse was too heavy to carry!

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LAST COMMENTS:

HAVE A SAFE, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY - LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!!!

LOVE WINS

KAREN

JULY 4, 2022