America the Beautiful

Happy Fourth of July, my dear readers!

I hope you're having a lovely Independence Day. I thought for this special holiday in our country I show you some of my favorite places in the US that I have visited so far. More than words these pictures show why and how I love this country - for its beauty and wildness.

This is a very photo-heavy post, so I won't say anymore and leave you with these impressions. Enjoy.

Mount Denali, Alaska

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Arches National Park, Utah

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Boulder, Colorado

Bryce National Park, Utah

Our stunning California coast

Canyonlands National Park, the Needles District, Utah

Eastern Sierra, California

Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Maine

Mendocino, California

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mono Lake, California

Monument Valley, Arizona

Oregon Coast

The prairie, South Dakota

Saguaro National Park, Arizona

San Francisco, California

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sedona and the Red Rock Country, Arizona

Highway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon, Utah

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Valley of the Gods, Utah

White Sand National Monument, New Mexico

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yosemite National Park, California

Zion National Park, Utah

What are some of your favorite places?

Celebrating Independence

Today, on the 4th of July, we celebrate our country's independence from Britain, back in 1776. We have red, white and blue parties with family and friends, we barbecue and we have colorful and loud fireworks. It's a joyful holiday, a great day of celebration.

Sadly, some Americans seem to be unaware what we are celebrating.

photo by Robert Bartz

A couple days ago I saw a video in which random people on their way to the beach were interviewed about Independence Day. Some of the "highlights":

Question: Who did we gain our independence from?

Answers:
- I don't know.
- The South.  - At the end of the Civil War? - Yes, from the South.
- Those countries.
And my personal favorite:
- From California. (oh yeah, baby)

Question: Who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Answers:
- I don't know. Abraham Lincoln? - And when was that? - 1964? - 19... - 1984! (Perhaps it was George Orwell then....)

Question: Who were the Founding Fathers of our country?

- Silence.

Where the Declaration of Independence was written. Photo by Robert Bartz

While reading this, you probably cringe just as I did when I watched that video. And of course this is not representative for all Americans. But it made me wonder why I as an immigrant have to pass the citizenship test when I wish to become a US citizen. Perhaps natural born Americans should take that test as well.

Especially politicians. No, I am not elaborating on this. You certainly have made up your mind about that and so have I.

Gaining independence is a huge step for any country. For me, the most important part of independence is freedom. Let freedom ring - but so often I feel it's the freedom for one group, but not for the other. Freedom ends where it limits the freedom of others. That is a given. Freedom involves responsibility - a lot of it. Freedom without responsibility is not freedom for all, but just freedom for "Me". Freedom is something we have to work for every single day - by giving it to others and keeping it for ourselves.

Freedom is something wonderful that we so often take for granted. It is the greatest good in our country - and many others. Truly a reason to celebrate.

On Top of the Big Apple

My good fences this week come from high up in the sky - from the visitors' platform on the Empire State Building in New York. We visited New York in 1997 when the Geek was working in Allentown for a couple month. We met for 10 days over Easter in New York and spent a gorgeous time there. This was my first trip ever to the United States.

Everything was so easy at that time... no long lines because of security checks. You just waited in line to get on the elevator that would transport you to the top of this famous building in no time at all.

This "fence" of course is more of a barricade, to prevent suicidal people of jumping the fence and throw themselves down. Here's a detail:

It looks rather sharp and you certainly would think twice before attempting to get up and over there. The entire fence was curved as well.

Quite impressive, right?

Just one look down, please - one of my favorite views of this big city:

I'm linking to Theresa's "Good Fences". Please come and visit!

Remember Me

During the twelve years we have been living in California, we never went to the Memorial Day ceremony in our Memorial Park. Every year, the Annual Avenue of Flags is displayed there - I am not quite sure how many flags you can see there, the number must be in the hundreds plus the fifty states flags. It is quite impressive.

Most of the soldiers' graves were decorated as well, with small flags and flowers.

The celebration itself was touching, and I was impressed how many people had turned up despite the lousy weather. There was also a group of men (unfortunately I couldn't find out who it was) who sang the national anthem and "America the Beautiful" in such a beautiful way! Here they are:

I had never experienced something like this in Germany. The military in my country is seen completely differently, and of course our history plays a role in that. After World War II my country has pledged that never again any aggression toward any other country would emerge from our native soil. Until July 2011 we had the draft which was not hugely popular. The Geek served in the German military. However, somehow our relationship to everything military is a bit crooked and can probably only be understood if you try to look a bit deeper into the "German soul".

Even though I grew up with an ambivalence toward the military, I found this Memorial Day ceremony deeply touching. I was lucky enough that a veteran from Connecticut asked me about my camera and thus we started talking to each other. Of course (this happens to me so often), he was proud to tell me the few words he knew in German, and we talked and talked. He could actually understand my feelings about the ceremony.

I'm ending this post with a sentiment what Memorial Day (and every other day for that matter) is about. Let us never forget the men and women anywhere in the world who serve their country.