“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.”
Psalm 67:1-2 ESV
The 99 year old Memorial Bridge serves as the perfect spot to display two very large American flags. The flags, put in place mid-week, are part of this weekends Freedom Fest. I happened along just as crews finished hanging the flags so I eased out on a public pier to get a photo. Our city, like hundreds across the nation, had a well planned celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The bridge was closed to traffic early last night as crews prepared for a large fireworks show to be set in motion from atop the bridge. I imagine there were plenty of similar activities in your neck of the woods!
I don’t know the size of the flags, but the bridge is high above the river, probably higher than it might appear.
Hot air balloons were very popular with the folks out to celebrate freedom and America’s 250th in our downtown area. Quite a few family activities took place both Friday and Saturday. Interestingly, the building in the background is the hospital where Pam, Seth, and I were born!
No balloon rides for us last week…been there, done that. A look into the past as we were preparing to lift off over Napa Valley at sunrise, 21 years ago! We landed about an hour later and had breakfast in a vineyard. A wonderful experience and memory.
Our balloon in 2005 looked a lot like the one in our previous photo from Friday. We don’t remember who took the photos for everyone that day, someone from their staff I assume, but I don’t think they used the finest of cameras. Maybe it was a throwaway camera like we used to take on trips. Light and easy to pack, but not much for photo quality!
Ran into a long-time friend while roaming the streets of Freedom Fest. I tease him at times by telling him if he’s not careful in the way he presents himself, people will begin to accuse him of being a car salesman. He loves that and for good reason…Jaurus is, and has been, the top car salesman for our local Ford dealership for many, many years. He’s probably the best around period, regardless of make or model. We’ve bought a few vehicles from him ourselves! I asked him if the words on his shirt meant anything ugly. He replied, “if it did I wouldn’t be wearing it”! Jaurus does a lot of smiling.
Fireworks shows were happening at locations all around and friends invited us to the lake on Friday to see the fireworks over the water near their place. I actually enjoyed the colors of what looked like a few hundred boats that were on the lake for a great unobstructed view. Did you see the hundreds of boaters that organized and created a huge American flag? Or how about the hundreds of trucks that displayed the flag shaped like the nation out in the Nevada desert? There has been so much excitement and celebration to witness this weekend, both here, and around the world…large and small, elaborate and simple!
We know you’ve had an unlimited number of awesome festivities and unique celebrations to view and enjoy over this July 4th weekend, so we won’t wear you out with ours. Going back to summertime… I was patient in the heat, but it finally paid off. Gold finches are presently around in numbers and love to hang out in the zinnias. I see a lot of zinnias every day that seem to have suddenly lost most of their petals prematurely. And what might be one explanation…?
Our little yellow friends are notorious for hanging out underneath the blooms and picking them apart, one petal at a time. We enjoy seeing them, but they are destructive little critters when it comes to munching on zinnias.
Watching the hay baling take place from the kitchen window simply says “it’s summer”, and reminds us of why we love living in the country! WL, just like his daddy, will stand and gaze when this operation is underway.
After a very dry spring, a few late rains helped enough to get a decent amount of hay. And, no bales rolled out to block the golf cart and bicycle trail! The little folks and PJ will be happy about that.
My favorite color of crepe myrtle, and ours are finally blooming. There’s something about these blooms against a blue sky. It was a nice sight from my spot in the bushes, soaking wet with perspiration (sweat is really more like it) while waiting on the Gold Finches and Hummingbirds!
You may recall the million bells some weeks back that decided to grow through a crack in the patio by the old welcome mat. We decided, out of curiosity, to leave it alone, thinking it couldn’t last too long. We have potted plants that were carefully planted in new, expensive potting soil, fertilized as needed, mulched, watered, and petted, yet some look absolutely terrible. Many are struggling to make it and we are disappointed in their lack of blooming, even with all the attention given. And here, this volunteer, completely left to fend for itself, had 9 blooms on Thursday. Our heat indexes have been around 110 or more all week. No rhyme or reason to gardening sometimes!
I call this crepe myrtle “the tree that always hums”. Honeybees are responsible for my reasoning. I always have to mow carefully, dodging limbs when it is blooming. This year we decided it was not growing or blooming as normal and the limbs would not be in my way. We both wondered what was wrong with the tree. It seems we were both wrong! After the rain on Friday, the wet bloom heads were touching the ground.
We had several days that brought thunderstorms, heavy rain, and hail to places all around and only a few miles away. It seemed as if we were surrounded but couldn’t get a good rain. This weather pattern did provide skies that gave us that early evening, just after sunset reflection which cast an orange, pink, and yellow glow on everything. And finally, on Friday afternoon, we received just over one and one half inches of needed rain, fortunately without the hail and high winds that other nearby places experienced!
I don’t always take time to go beyond the woods line and near the highway to see what’s going on with the evening sky, but a different perspective can sometimes be a good thing.
Have a blessed and enjoyable week!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Life and Linda
Those flags on the bridge are breathtaking! I was thrilled to see all the patriotism being shown this week for our country’s 250 birthday. I am so thankful to live in the greatest country in the world. Hope you and your family had a great 4th of July celebration. Your sunset pictures are gorgeous. Isn’t God’s handiwork amazing?
Thank you Rachel. We too were very glad to see the overwhelming demonstration of patriotism across the land and even in other countries for the 250. We had a busy but good weekend. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
America the beautiful was on full display this weekend. It has been a week full of celebration and unity. People from nations all over the globe were praising the USA, what a sight and sound to see and hear. Didn’t hear of anyone complaining of anything except the heat. Thank You Father for a celebration well earned. Butch the word sweat was the best description of our reaction to 100 degree temperatures.
Thank you Alice. It was a beautiful display of patriotism across the nation and world for the 250th. We’ve seen the news about the wildfires out your way. Hopefully none near you and that these can be brought under control soon. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
There are no fires near me. There is a large fire in southern Colorado and another one high in the mountains but if this heat continues there will be others and the worry is the lack of water.
Wow the flags on the bridge are beautiful. It is so much fun when towns get everyone together to celebrate and have a community gathering. We are all so blessed to be born and live here in the USA. Happy 4th and may the new week bring lots of wonderful experiences and blessing. Hugs. Kris
Thank you Kris. Our community is really relatively small and can’t do things on the scale as we’ve seen in so many places this weekend but they do a good job with things for the community, not just holidays but throughout the year. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Recently I read an article from a trusted doctor that sweating is good for us since it is one way the body is rid of toxins. Well I must have been rid of quite a few toxins these past few days! A gold finch was hanging around the other day, guess I better keep an eye on my zinnias.
Thank you Jillian. I think based on sweating I am currently toxin free. Guard those zinnias. The goldfinches love them, at least they love ours…sunflowers too. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Happy 5th after the America250 4th! We’ve had an extraordinarily robust celebration in our capital city, and it’s been really, really special. What we have NOT had is any rain for 8 days, with those same kind of temps you’ve experienced. Our best best is this coming Wednesday. Isn’t it such a mystery the way garden flowers respond, as your million bells vs those plants given so much attention?? I have the same kind of thing happening. I am ready to go buy a few orphans at Lowe’s to switch some things up! Love the look back photo of your balloon ride and the current thief of a goldfinch in your zinnias, along with the hay bales. Have a great new week, Richardsons.
Thank you Rita. We did get that one rain but still having to water daily. We put sod out in a bare area last week and it needs water twice a day. I went to buy replacement flowers too but couldn’t really find anything I liked. I guess it’s a little late in the season for much of a selection. Have a pleasant week, hopefully with rain!
Butch and Pam
Love your photos every Sunday!!!
One note- I was told that the round bales of hay had been outlawed.
Because cows couldn’t get a square meal anymore! teehee
Thanks for your gift of photography!
That’s a good one! …Roxanne
Thank you Kay. I tell our little Wyatt that the cows talk to me every day and all they ever say is eat more chicken. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Happy 4th Weekend Pam & Butch. We had a wonderful celebration in our little (and growing) community. Since we are a Cape, we have to get off the Cape by the use of bridges (there are 4 that connect us to the “action” so to speak) and one was also closed as was your bridge. There were tents, crafts and food booths everywhere on the main street AND we celebrated the raising of THE tallest flag pole (with huge flag) in the state of Florida… that was put up just days before the 4th. Donations supplied the monies and I have to admit it is pretty impressive…..though very expensive. The Captain and I were able to watch the local fireworks after a stint in the pool and spa. We also watched the huge displays on television which included several hundred drones in Texas forming a huge eagle and other Presidential formations. Simply amazing what technology is doing these days.🤗 Loved the photo of your balloon ride…(you guys haven’t changed a bit. 🥰 )
Loved all the Patriotism in this wonderfully Blessed country of ours. As the song says…’I’m proud to be an American’ and now other countries are recognizing and praising our beautiful U.S.A. and they are expressing a desire to live here, (which we welcome if done legally), as the many before us who’ve passed through Ellis Island, etc; have established their American Dream. God Bless America 🇺🇸🥰🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
Thank you Kari. Sounds like your community had it going on. We’d love to see that flag pole. The technology and expertise with these drones is really amazing. I think they’re doing a lot of light shows with them and I can’t imagine how many it takes up in the sky to do all that in coordination. We’ll have to search and see if we can find that Texas show on YouTube maybe. We are blessed and the recognition across the land and globe was terrific. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Those flags on the bridge are a beautiful sight to behold! What a wonderful 250th Birthday celebration for our great USA!! Love the photo of the three of you before the hot air balloon ride. Enjoy your week discovering lovely things in nature.
Thank you Kitty. It was a great celebration. We hope they leave the big flags on the bridge for a while. I kinda think they will. I guess stormy weather could be bad for the flags though. We hope you have an enjoyable week as well!
Butch and Pam
God bless America! I love seeing America decked out for her birthday! We stayed up til the very end to watch the fireworks over the Mall. (I’m sleeping in the recliner, so the trip to bed was short!). You and Pam look exactly the same today as in the balloon picture…only Seth got older! Have a cool week filled with iced tea and lemonade!
Thank you Roxanne. We stayed up late also. It was quite an event and refreshing to see and experience. We will tell Seth of your observation. Ha! And, maybe to go along with your shoulder surgery you need to get an eye exam. Having iced tea right now. Have a fast recovery and a great week!
Butch and Pam
Nice post and photos 🙂
Thank you Jeanne. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Such an amazing sunset Butch! And that photo of the Gold Finch was also rather amazing! I hope you enjoyed your celebrations, 250 years of Independence is something to celebrate!
Our Crepe Myrtles are all bare at the moment in our cold winter here on the east coast of Australia. Although we have some unseasonal Rhododendrons flowering at present, while delightful it’s very strange indeed. As they’re normally a Spring bloomer.
Blessings to you & Pam for the coming week, Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer. We weren’t sure how cold your winters are but figure you are in your coldest month? It would be our coldest (January). Maybe the rhododendrons will cheer things up even if they are out of season. We did have major celebrations and festivities across the country, to a level we’ve never seen. It was hot but easing a little this week. We hope you have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Yes July is normally our coldest month here on the east coast of Australia Butch. How cold depends on where one is situated to the coast & Antarctica. We get between 5C – 22C (41F – 71F) being right on the edge of the water but the further south can get into minus temperatures with snow on our very highest peaks. 😊
Our January gets on average a little colder than you do on the coast. We are at 34 degrees north latitude but only about 565 feet above sea level, a few hundred miles from the gulf.
The flags at the bridge were awesome. Love the photos each week of flowers and trees. My crape myrtles are not doing well, maybe because we had an unexpected freeze this year. I have been searching for replacement plants and shocked at the prices of things like society garlic.
I spent the 4th in the emergency room. It was amazingly empty.
Stay cool and hydrated.
Thank you Myrna. The ER is not the best place to spend a holiday or any day for that matter. We hope you are doing well now. I’ve had no success finding replacement plants and we sure need a few. Hope your week goes well, no more ER!
Butch and Pam
I live in a rural area and there wasn’t much going on even for the 250 unless I was willing to drive a ways. I still had a great weekend. Love the flags on the bridge and the photo of your garden shed.
Thank you Amy. It’s only about 10 miles for us to get into town so not too much trouble. Glad you had a great weekend and hoping you have a great week as well!
Butch and Pam
Good morning, friends! The flags on the bridge are spectacular! It was wonderful to see how many put on their patriotic hats and enjoyed our 250th birthday! We are youngins compared to other countries in this world.
Your goldfinches are gorgeous rascals. I know how they can pick away at zinnias. I had many zinnias planted this year, but a mole got through the chicken wire and ate them all. Then I had one Zinnia left, but an insect or slug started putting holes in it. I sprayed it, but it still succumbed to whatever was chewing away at it. Last year, it was bunnies. This year, moles and insects. So no Zinnias for me again!
How about that hot air balloon ride? I went on one a few years ago. Loved it! But no need to do it again. Your skies are always so pretty. Seeing The Sunshine Cottage with the sun setting and a colorful sky was quite stunning.
Thanks again for all the beauty!
Happy July!
Thank you Nancy. We had a mole invasion in the spring in the yard and up to the front of the house. I parted ways with them before they destroyed too much and they weren’t around the zinnias. There are so many challenges with growing things. It was so good to see the overwhelming patriotism on display. We sure are a young nation. We are with you on the balloon ride, that’s marked off our list. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
What beautiful and Patriotic celebration! Congratulations! Beautiful photos. Have a lovely week ahead .
Thank you Maristella. It was a special weekend for us. We hope this week is special for you!
Butch and Pam
Oh, those flags do look spectacular and it was good to hear of the patriotism everywhere. It sounds like it was a wonderful celebration! Love the million bells flourishing in the crack and I had no idea that gold finches stole the petals from zinnias and sunflowers – your patience and sweating paid off for that shot. It’s almost comical (unless it happens to be your flowers lol). I also loved the picture of the three of you in the balloon – even if it wasn’t the greatest photography. The evening sky shot is fabulous and I’m so glad that you got at least a little bit of rain. Have a wonderful week ahead!
Thank you Kim. The celebrations were good and encouraging to see. Watching the goldfinches in action is comical, they pick at the flowers rapidly at times as if they are afraid they might disappear. We’ve had a couple more small rains but need more. Hope your weather is cooperating for a nice summer. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Wow, that is one very large flag! Hope your 4th of July was the best ever!
Thank you Mary. Our 4th was spent with family and food so it doesn’t get any better. Hope you’re having a good week!
Butch and Pam
I’m glad you had a wonderful Fourth. As always, gorgeous images that tell the story. And I love the cat-dad shirt!
Thank you Jeanie. I’m running a little behind this week but yes, a wonderful 4th. And I knew you loved cats. Hope your week is going well!
Butch and Pam
The sky over the Sunshine Cottage was SO beautiful! Wow! And what about those hummingbirds being the culprits for the petals disappearing? They are so pretty; I suppose it is quite easy to forgive them. God bless you all!
Cheryl, I hope you are doing well! Thank you for your visit, my friend!
Pam