When I was growing up, I was encouraged to be grateful that I was born in the United States, and to be proud to be an American. Nobody ever told me my country was perfect, or beyond reproach…they just said that I should thank my lucky stars that I live here and can speak my mind, be free to become whoever and whatever I want to be, and vote to have my views represented as closely as possible. In other words, I grew up thinking and feeling that being patriotic was a good thing.  I’m not sure what has happened over the last 45, nearly 46 years but nowadays if you’re patriotic you’re encouraged to hide it, or at least tone it down, lest you subject yourself to all manner of ridicule and whispers behind your back. This year, I have a blog, and I have absolutely no intention of toning anything down for anybody online or anywhere. As always, this year I’ll…

Try To Learn All About Independence Day So I’ll Understand Exactly What I Have To Be Grateful For… (Click the link to visit The History Channel’s Website, the 4th of July Section–Lots of great articles and multimedia)

Wear My American Pride

Get  Crazy Crafty With Silk Flowers and Sparklers…

And Be An American, Head to Toe, No Apologies…

HAPPY 4th of JULY 2011!