Happy Birthday, America!

July 4th, 2007 at 9:51 am by Mark
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     Today’s our country’s most important historic holiday, Independence Day, July 4th.  It commemorates the signing of our Declaration of Independence, the document which began the American Revolution and outlined, in no uncertain terms, that our “colony” would revolt from tyranny and come into it’s own.
     Last year, I wrote about the history of fireworks during the celebration, mostly because I kept hearing people complain about them.  It amazes me how people can forget history and sentiment so easily…

     Fireworks are beautiful, large and loud.  A proud display can give even those with the hardest hearts a smile, and a small display makes us wish for more.
     They’re also one of my favorite things to take photos of — freehand, without a tripod.

Copyright © 2003 Mark Steel, All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2003 Mark Steel, All Rights Reserved

Copyright © 2004 Mark Steel, All Rights Reserved

     Last year’s complaint has this year been replaced by, “Why do we have cookouts and drink beer?”

     For the very same reason I enjoy taking photos of fireworks.  For the same reason we can drive over to a secluded place and set off a massive display.  For the same we complain about “our loss of Freedoms” so much…
     The reason is simple:

     Because we can.

     As Americans, we take for granted what’s missing most everywhere else.  Like it’s been said a million times, “With Freedom comes great responsibility.”  As long as we can continue to act responsibly, we’ll never lose that.

     Happy Birthday, America!


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4 Responses to “Happy Birthday, America!”

  1. damewiggy Says:

    So does this mean i have your blessing to get absolutely loaded and blow shit up?

    yay!

  2. Mark Says:

    I encourage everyone to excercise their Freedom to drink beer from subversive countries. Most places don’t have a choice of imports — someone feels snubbed, threatened or jealous, and all of a sudden even the decent American beer disappears from their shelves…

  3. Mushy Says:

    Good post, great photos Mark! Absolutely stunning shots!

  4. fracas Says:

    Those photos are fraccing awesome Mark.

    We’ve gone down for July 4th twice. Once to Montana, once to Washington State. It’s something we’d like to do again. Happy (Belated) Birthday to America indeed!