A Fitting Tribute to the Fourth of July - Our Nation's Birthday

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives.

His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more.

Standing talk straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July Holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: Freedom is never free!

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.


. . . Author Unknown

Happy Fourth of July!

 
As much as one (as in me!) complains about the summer heat, you can't beat the blooms and scent of the roses at this time of the year. I like to putter around the garden early in the morning before the heat is unbearable and see what the plants and flowers are doing. The roses always smell best with the beginning of the summer day.

Oatmeal Bars - quick breakfast, fast snack . . .

I'm always looking for 'sneaky' cookies for the family . . . You know, the ones that actually have some good things in them. What is better than an oatmeal fruit bar? With the summer heating up, I like the idea of a cookie that is baked in one pan so the oven is on and off as quickly as possible.

Easy Oatmeal Bars

2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (I like unsweetened but use what you have on hand)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (Diced, dried apricots are good, too!)

Beat the sugar, applesauce, and oil until well blended. Combine all except the fruit and add to the sugar/applesauce mixture and mix well. Stir in your choice of dried fruit.

Spread the batter into a greased, oblong baking pan (about 13x9-inch) or two smaller pans. Using vegetable oil spray cuts a few calories.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the edges of the cookie bars start to brown. Cool and cut into bars.

Not the Munich scene we were expecting . . .

 

During one of our lost than finding ourselves walks in Munich, we were very surprised to come upon this scene. From the distance, it looked like some kind of shrine so, naturally, we ventured closer for a better look. Hey, we were still lost so a few steps in any direction didn't matter! It was some kind of tribute to Michael Jackson and it seemed to be ongoing as there were new items and some weather-beaten items.

Neither my son nor I are Michael Jackson fans but we had to snap a few pictures to prove that we did see this. This was definitely not on the guide of sights to the City of Munich . . . but it was fun.

The Wolfgang Sea

 

This was one of the most beautiful places we visited on vacation. We traveled by boat through a rain storm which lifted just as we arrived on the shore. The town was maintained in it's old-fashioned, quaint roots and the views from almost every aspect was fantastic.

Where have all the Christians gone . . .

Life presents interesting stories. A friend shared with me that she could no longer associate with a family because they had gone much too conservative for her tastes and she was afraid of the impact on her family regarding matters of Faith and religion. I found that odd because it often seems that kindness should be in line with being conservative. I heard that the now-banned conservative friend was very hurt and dropped any friendships that were connected in any way with the less-than conservative family.

I was amazed, amused, and shocked because they were all of the same religion. They just had different approaches. It seemed like they were saying my God likes it done this way and refused to include a Christian approach.

It gets better (or worse?) as the less-conservative family got more and more into their Faith going into the conservative mode.  They, now, dropped friends they determined to be not conservative enough! So, now we have several families not talking/associating with each other over . . .God? The funny thing is that all of them are pretty much on the same page regarding their viewpoint on religion yet are too stubborn to acknowledge this and have forfeited good people in their lives.

I can't help but wonder how all these people figured God into this conclusion they reached? How did they decide that we are all not made in the likeness of God and have the same possibilites of the next person?

I, sometimes, think about all these people  and feel sad about all the sharing and caring of which they have deprived themselves. The problem with such outspoken behavior is one can never really go back and reconnect the friendships, again. The trust is gone and you would always wonder if something you say or do is being judged again.

When you don't get the answer you want . . .

God is subtle but he is not malicious.

Albert Einstein