This Flag Is Mine

 That's right. 

The American flag is mine. If you're a black American, this flag is yours. If you're Asian-American, this flag is yours. If you're Hispanic, this flag is yours. If you're female or male, gay or straight, this flag is yours. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, an independent, a libertarian or a supporter of the Green Party, this flag is yours. If you are a legal immigrant, a naturalized citizen or someone living here illegally while hoping to become an American citizen, the flag is your, too.

It appears that the American flag has been co-opted by the maga movement, that they are, in their minds at least, the only truly patriotic Americans. But patriotism is so much more than simply wrapping oneself in the flag. 

Being patriotic means having a deep love and support for your country. It balances cherishing our country's values and history with the willingness to hold it accountable, striving for positive progress, and respecting the diverse fellow citizens who make up the community. It doesn't mean whitewashing or removing the parts of our country, such as slavery, that are embarassing to us. It does mean accepting and dealing with our nation's mistakes and striving not to repeat them. It means working to treat all people as equals regardless of gender, race, age or ethnic background. 

Seeking to bring in several thousand white South Africans because of the color of their skin is not patriotism. It is racism, pure and simple.

True patriotism is distinct from nationalism. While patriotism is rooted in devotion and civic duty, nationalsim can become dangerous when it seeks power, demands conformity, or inspites hatred toward others. This is precisely what we are seeing in America under the current regime. Acting to remove those with temporaty ptotected status, as is the case today with hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti and Syria who are facing deportation because they happen to have black or brown skin is not patriotism.

There are those who tell those of us who refuse to celebrate America's 250th birthday. There are those who say if we don't love this country, we should leave. Actually, the exact opposite is true. We will not leave America because we love her so much. We refuse to sit by and do nothing while our country, our Democratic way of life, are stolen from us.

The colors of the American flag are red, white and blue. They're not white or brown or black. They are red, white and blue. And I pray that someday soon we will take back our flag and show the world what it truly stands for.

No Celebration For Me

On July 4th, the United States will mark its 250th birthday. 

Compared with many other nations, the US is still a youngster. But with all that has been happening to this country under the current regime, I have to wonder how much longer America will continue to exist as we have always known it. No longer is our country a beacon of hope to the world. Racism, misogyny, greed and corruption should be the new motto of America. We are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are now the land of the oligarchs and the home of the most greedy. Not much to be proud of, is there?

I am not excited about celebrating this milestone anniversary. Everything in this country has been hijacked by the dictator currently occupying the White House. Recently, he and his cronies held a massive so-called Christian rally on the mall in Washington, DC, paid for, of course, by the US taxpayer. 

We must not overlook the hypocrisy and the irony of the driving force behind this pseudo religious rally being a convicted sex offender, a 34 times convicted felon, someone who has cheated on all three of his wives, who is a con man, a convicted rapist, a racist and a misogynist and who is obviously mentally unfit to lead this country. And let's not forget that he doesn't go to church, and the only thing he worships is money. This is the same person who released an AI generated image of himself as Jesus Christ.

For those who need reminding, the United States is not now, and has never been, a Christian nation. Our founding fathers were very clear about their intentions to keep this country from its very founding as a nation beholden to no single religion. The Constitution itself states that the government shall not establish a religion.

Ostensibly as part of the celebration of America's 250th birthday, but in actuality a celebration of the dictator's 80th birthday, the dictator arranged to have a UFC nofight on the White House lawn inside a huge cage. Supposedly the cage is going to be removed, if it hasn't already, but the lawn beneath the cage has been totally destroyed.

I suspect that I am not the only American feeling apathetic about America's 250th birthday. The political polarization in this country is extremely widespread and very deep. The economy is in the toilet. So many people are struggling to provide food and pay for housing and medical care, not to mention the sky high price of gasoline. And what is the regime planning as part of the celebration? A so called American State Fair. As of this writing, this has been a total flop. Rather than the thousands of people the dictator was expecting, daily attendance has been in the hundreds. 

I think the only positive thing to come out of this alleged celebration of America's birthday is the fact that by a six to three margin, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th amendment must be followed. This amendment allows that any child born in America, regardless of the immigration status of the parents, is a US citizen. 

It's inconceivable to me that something that is an integral part of the US Constitution had to be ruled on by the Supreme Court. It's also incredible that three of the justices voted to overturn the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. 

So I will not be celebrating this independence Day. I just can't. I love my country, and I hope and pray that before too long we will begin the long and arduous task of returning this country to its former principles and standards.

What I Don't Care About

Things I don't care about, in no particular order: 

The former prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle 

The World Cup of soccer 

The NBA championship

The UFC 

Things I do care about: 

Protecting our environment 

Protecting our wildlife, wolves, elephants and bears in particular 

Affordable health care for every American 

Voting rights for all eligible citizens 

Restoring women's reproductive rights 

Keeping religion out of our public schools and out of our government at all levels 

Restoring America's leadership role internationally 

Releasing all of the Epstein files with minimal redaction

Getting justice for the victims of Epstein and his ring of pedophiles, regardless of who is named in the papers

Do Good Stuff Today

I ran across a clip from television reporter Steve Hartman's 'On the Road' features that aired on television for a long time. 

The story that popped up was about a man with his beloved mustang car that he had hoped to restore and drive again. But then he was diagnosed with ALS and wasn't able to do the work. So several of his friends from high school decided to restore the car. Other high school buddies paid for the parts. 

They got the car restored, took the man with ALS for a ride, and then decided to visit him again and again and again to drive him around in his car. In the final segment of the story, one of the volunteers said "Just do good stuff for people. Do good stuff today. "

These men gave the man with ALS a priceless gift. And I believe they were enriched by the experience as well. 

So let's go out and do good stuff today. This world needs all the good stuff weekend provide.

Make Every Day the Best.

Make every day the best. 

I love this quote from a Pennsylvania photographer and blogger named Linda Stager. 

She was writing about her love of photography and her fervent desire to continue photographing the places around her for as long as she can. So, she has decided to make every day the best. 

Isn't this great advice that all of us can follow? We are on this planet for a finite number of years, and as we age, many of us find it more and more of a struggle to do the things we love to do. So while we are still able to pursue our passions, why not make a decision to make every day the best it can be?

I travel a lot. Travel is something I really enjoy and something I have pursued since I retired roughly a 16 years ago. 

I have had people ask why I travel so much. My response is always the same: because I can. I travel because, at least for the moment, I can afford to. I travel because I am in pretty good health for someone my age. I travel because I still have my wits about me. But most of all, I travel because I love it.

Yes, I am much more careful about the trips that I choose because I'm not as strong or as agile or as well balanced physically as I used to be. But after numerous surgeries on both eyes, leaving what used to be my stronger eye pretty much useless for photography, I have redoubled my decision to travel and to pursue my passion of wildlife and landscape photography. I'm hopeful that my team of eye doctors and I will be able to maintain my remaining eyesight, but I won't take my vision for granted.

No matter what your passion is, our time on this planet is finite. So go out there and make this day and every day the best.

No, It's Not Happy Memorial Day

Are Americans clueless or ignorant or do they just not care? 

I suspect the correct answer is all of the above. 

Monday is Memorial Day in the US. But sadly, this holiday that should be a day of honoring and mourning the members of the American military who died while serving this country, has become little more than just another excuse for 3-day weekend. There will be sales and barbecues and lots of drinking. What there won't be, however, will be any attention paid to the real reason for the holiday. Memorial Day, as its name implies, also is not a day for recognizing veterans and active duty military.

Members of the military, as they do every year, have placed a small American flag a boot length in front of the headstone marking the final resting place of thousands upon thousands of US mititary who are buried in military cemeteries. 

Some cities may hold seremonies honoring the war dead. But for most Americans, the day is just another excuse for a three-day weekend.

We need to do a better day of recognizing and honoring the sacrifices made by the 1.3 million members of the US armed forces who have died in combat or who perished from injuries suffered while serving.

Feeling Sparkly

There is an AI character I follow online. 

His name is Bobo, and he is a golden retriever puppy. He recently said something about trying to make other people's and other animals' hearts feel sparkly. 

I love that sentiment. What would the world look like, I wonder, if more people did their best to make other people's lives more sparkly? 

That started me thinking about what makes me feel sparkly. I am writing this post while on a photography trip in Italy. I love this country, its food, its landscapes, its history, everything about it. And of course, I absolutely love photography. 

So the first thing that came to mind that makes my heart feel sparkly is photography. These photography trips are physically hard on me.

Most days we leave our hotel at 4:30 in the morning. We return for breakfast about 4 hours later, have a midday break and lunch, and then go out again just before sunset. I generally skip dinners because I don't like to eat a big meal late at night. 

So the trips leave me feeling exhausted. My schedule is all topsy-turvy. But it's all worth it because the travel and the photography and the landscapes and sometimes the wildlife all make me feel sparkly. 

I wish each of you a beautiful and sparkly day. And thank you, Bobo, for helping me to be sparkly.