santa cruz wharf

29 April 2008

my heart with rapture thrills....

My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside

let freedom ring!


My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.


What difference if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West
My heart is full of love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast,
I thrill to see old glory paint the breeze!



This is my country! Land of my choice!
This is my country! Hear my proud voice!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country to have and to hold.

(This Is My Country)


O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!


America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

(America, The Beautiful)


God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

(God Bless America)


And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

(The United States of America National Anthem)



(just back from Florida and DC....more later...the Jefferson and Washington Monument photos were taken by the Teamster...)

17 comments:

Sandee said...

I. LOVE. IT! Now you're talking. I salute you for posting this wonderful, inspiring, patriotic post. Have a great day. :)

Travis Cody said...

Great shots! DC is on my list of places to go.

none said...

Awesome! That's one place I still need to go.

Linda said...

What awesome pictures! I so want to get back down to Washington DC, especially now that the World War II Memorial is open. This was really well done and it gave me goosebumps, it really did!

So, are you free for Mexican on Friday by any chance??

Gene Bach said...

GREAT post! Awesome pictures too.

Mel said...

OMGosh....what AWESOME pictures, Katherine.
(AND Teamster, of course....)

Go figure I especially like Jefferson's and the cathedral...but really, they're all magnificent.

*happy sigh*
What a grand time of if you must have had....

david mcmahon said...

Never been to DC, but you made my heart sing, my brilliant friend!

Desert Songbird said...

I love DC. I haven't been there since 1990, and now the kids say they are ready for a trip there. Can you say "family vacation?" Yay - we'll have to plan a trip very, very soon!!!

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

GREAT photos...welcome back you two wild kids...hope you had a great time together

Now to start planning that Memphis in May trip for 2009!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous photos! It is like deja vu!! When my daughter comes home from school, I'll have to show her your wonderful and patirotic post. Love the first photo.
My daughter had a great time too in DC!

SandyCarlson said...

Beautifully done! All great, but I especially love Jefferson. He's my hero of heroes. This gave me chills.

Thanks for stopping by.

katherine. said...

sandee: it was great...I'll tell you all about it.

travis: you would love DC I know!

Hammer: When you go...stay two weeks.

Linda: Cancun here we come!!!

Gene: can't take credit for the words...but the songs were in my head the whole time I was there!

katherine. said...

mel: we spent hours at the cathedral...I'll probably post just abou that..it was a grand three and a half days...I could do a month.

david: thank you my clever friend.

DS: what a great family vacation...I hadn't been since i was a kid...

katherine. said...

christine: small world for sure

bond: you never know...if certain people were in the lineup.

sandy: he was an amazing man....we had chills frequently...

Liz Hill said...

Awesome shots--so glad you got the Jefferson Memorial---it's so lovely and so often overlooked.

Jeff B said...

Welcome back. Haven't been to DC for about twenty years, but seeing these great photos makes me want to go again.

Sandi McBride said...

So beautiful...makes me remember why I love this country of ours, reminds me why so many others want it to be the country of theirs...
David sent me
Sandi