250 Years of Freedom #ShadowshotSunday

Today, the United States celebrates its 250th birthday. And I will post my picture for #ShadowshotSunday early, at the end of this post.

Today is our Independence Day, the day the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia and formalized the name "The United States of America".

Since then, we've adopted patriotic symbols. 

There's our flag, for example.  

There's this beautiful building near Maine, New York (taken several years ago). 

And parades celebrating our birthday, such as this one in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on July 4, 2023. 

I've been fortunate enough to be around for both the 200th and 250th birthdays. 

For the 200th, my spouse was in the military.  We were stationed at a base in Texas, where there were festivities. Now, we are in our 70's, and we are going to have (we hope!) a quiet day, watching nationwide festivities on television.  For me, it will be a day of gratitude and reflection.

My grandparents came here to escape persecution and to find a better life.  If they hadn't, they may well have been civilian casualties of World War II. So, in a way, I owe my very life to this country. 

I have been fortunate enough to have set foot in 46 states, missing only North Dakota, Mississippi, Louisiana and Hawaii.  I've lived in New York, Florida, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas. I have visited 18 National Parks out of 63 (My spouse, 17). We've seen the Liberty Bell and Mt. Rushmore.  We've been to several Revolutionary War sites (Battles of Camden, South Carolina and Kings Mountain, South Carolina. Saratoga, New York.  Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn (New York City), part of which is on the Battle of Brooklyn battleground.) and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (before the age of digital photography).

These life experiences taught me how beautiful this United States is.  

Yes, our country's history has stains.  Many of them.  Slavery, including the fact that some of our Founding Fathers held enslaved peoples. Jim Crow.  Our shameful treatment of Indigenous people. The internment of some 120,000 people of Japanese descent (most of whom were American citizens) in camps within the United States. Medical experiments, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Various race riots. Deletion of condemnation of the slave trade from the Declaration of Independence between July 3 and 4, 1776, because some delegates would not vote for its adoption without deletion of that passage.

We must teach what happened in our history in schools, both the good and the bad.   But there is so much good to be taught about our country, too.  We enjoy freedoms that so many other people do not enjoy.

Our country is not just the beauty of its landscapes.  Truly, we are a nation built by immigrants.  In my 21 years of living in New York City, I was in nearly daily contact with immigrants from all over the world.  Diversity of cultures was the norm.  It still is.

So, happy birthday to the United States of America.  And, as we enjoy today, please remember the men and women who gave their lives so that we might enjoy those freedoms.

Finally:

For Shadowshot Sunday, hosted by Lisa at This and That:  A Blog, I offer this artwork found in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in early July, 2023.  Only in America can you find art like this.

Tomorrow, day lilies. 

Before the Heat #SkywatchFriday

We are in the midst of a heatwave where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  We unofficially hit 100F (37.7C) yesterday (see below), with a heat index of 110F (43.3C). Ditto for July 1 and our heat index that time was 113F (45C). The last time we officially hit 100 degrees was August 26, 1948.  

So, I am not out there taking pictures.  But I was out there on June 24, enjoying a walk in the park.

I already long for those days.

Afternoon of July 2

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Tomorrow (my country's 250th birthday) it is supposed to be cooler but with a chance of rain.  For us, I think it's going to be quiet, but I don't mind.  I hope that all my American readers have a fantastic 4th of July.
 

Flowers of the First Day of Summer #WordlessWednesday

To my Canadian readers a few hours from me, Happy Canada Day.  On July 1, 1867, the Constitution Act of 1867 took effect, creating the Dominion of Canada.   

On July 4, my country celebrates its 250th birthday. 

 I can't believe it's already July!  It's hot, too. I want to go back to some cooler times.  How about the first day of summer June 21 (for us in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway).

What was blooming on the first day of summer?

 My earliest day lilies, that's what!

The names are long forgotten but day lily season has just begun. 

This is one of two fuchsia plants I purchased from Select Seeds.   It's a variety called Pink Galore and I am loving those pink blooms.

Honoring Canada Day.

 Honoring our Independence Day coming on Saturday.

Times are tough, but I hope the friendship between our two nations can endure.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Clive Davis and David Clayton-Thomas #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday, and it's time for music.

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie (Xmas Dolly), and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us?  Our theme this week is "You Pick".  

It's time for another induction into Rock and Roll Heaven.  Actually, two.

Clive Davis died  at home on June 22 at the age of 94.  He was not a performer but, instead, he had the ability to pick out future music superstars, sign them to recording contracts, and suggest songs or changes in music.  He was a music executive for several record companies.  I may never have heard of him except for a couple of episodes of American Idol years ago, where he worked with Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and Fantasia as they were being discovered by the American public,  He was also a record producer who won four  Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. 

One of his four children is also a Grammy Award-winning record producer.

Here are some of the artists Clive Davis signed or recommended be signed with the labels he worked for: Billy Joel. Aretha Franklin.  Santana. Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company,  Blood, Sweat and Tears, Bruce Springsteen.  Chicago. Aerosmith.  Earth, Wind and Fire.  Alicia Keyes. Whitney Houston. 

One of those bands, Blood, Sweat and Tears (BS&T), was discovered by Davis when they were fronted by Al Kooper.  But, due to infighting, the band broke up.  Kooper left.  As the band's drummer tried to reunite the band, the drummer heard a singer performing at a New York City club.  That singer was David Clayton-Thomas, who joined the reformed BS&T as their new lead singer.

Davis then encouraged well, pushed) BS&T towards a more commercial sound, and they were on their way to a few years of success.  But by 1972, Thomas left the group and went on to other projects.   In 1996, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

David Clayton-Thomas, aged 84, died June 24 from complications of cancer.

My tribute pick is obvious:  Blood, Sweat and Tears' cover of Laura Nyro's And When I Die.

Now, back to Clive Davis.

How about some Billy Joel?  A live performance of the song Captain Jack which became a local Philadelphia radio hit in 1972 caught the attention of Davis and the rest is history. This is the recording and I hope you can access it (you will have to do it directly from You Tube so here's a direct link:  https://youtu.be/-aMs0AlE3S8?si=tSf9H3oSIoD7K5Pp).  Captain Jack, incidentally, was based on a real heroin dealer and this may not be one to play around youngsters.

Davis recommended that country singer Lynn Anderson release a song called Rose Garden as a single in 1970.  It became a huge crossover hit for her.

One of the executives Davis hired was a young musician by the name of Tony Orlando, who was signed by Davis when Orlando was 16.  This was his first hit, from 1961, a song called Halfway to Paradise, a song co-written by Carole King.

In turn, Orlando signed a musician you may have heard of - Barry Manilow. His first hit was a song called Mandy. 

Finally, there was Whitney Houston.  Rather than her first 1985 hit, I am picking  I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) from 1987.

And that's another sad tribute wrap.

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Friday Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

This coming week we are going to have a bad heat wave, but, right now, the weather is still decent.  I got out and mowed the lawn today, and we didn't have any good shadows.  So I'm going with a couple of pictures from Friday. 

This was taken while walking in a local park.

While I was at it, I took a closeup picture of one of the several redbud trees in the park.

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog for her #ShadowshotSunday. 

Skies of the Last Full Week of June #SkywatchFriday

Here are some skies of the week just past from where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

First, a selection of skies from the first day of summer:

 

Then, the weather changed.

Monday was rainy, and I took this picture of mist over our hills.

Thursday, it was cloudy and threatening rain, along with some interesting patterns.  It finally decided to drizzle in late afternoon. It finally rained.

We are heading into a heat wave next week, but in the meantime, I hope the terrible heat in Europe abates.  I hope you can all stay safe from this dangerous heat.

Joining Yogi and other bloggers who watch the sky for #SkywatchFriday.

Flowers of the First Day of Summer #WordlessWednesday

On the first day of summer, spouse and I walked in a neighborhood park and found these flowering plants Some I knew.  Others I used the built in plant ID application within my iPhone photo app.  Sadly, some of these wildflowers are actually invasive species, non natives that grow aggressively and crowd out native plants.  

Shall we explore?

A note first: I am far from a plant expert and depend a lot on my camera plant ID, which too many times, is not that accurate.  So if you know better, please don't hesitate to correct me.

Bedstraw.  Some plants called bedstraw are considered invasive; others are native.  I don't know which this is. 

Cinquefoil.  There is a native species and a non-native species. The latter is considered invasive.  I suspect this is the latter.  There are guides that give pointers for identification but this plant was partially hidden.

Common motherwort.  Yup, invasive.

Forget-Me-Not is not invasive.  But water-forget-me-not (which this is, according to my app) is. Sadness.

I know this one!  Crownvetch is a serious invasive.  When I first started gardening in the late 1970's, I remember these plants being sold in catalogs for erosion control on banks.  This is another example of good intentions gone way wrong.  It is also poisonous to horses and humans.

Creeping jenny is also considered invasive in our area. 

Finally, a native! Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) trees are sometimes used in landscaping where I live.  They are native trees with showy flowers. After flowers, they develop long bean-like seed pods, which are not edible.  I had never seen one in this park before.

It's obvious that I need to sharpen my skills.  What a shame that so many of the "wildflowers" I saw are not welcome plants from other parts of the world.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.