Wednesday Hodgepodge - Feeling Patriotic

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A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  It's a big week in the US of A as we celebrate Independence Day. Do you have any special plans? How will you mark the day? BBQ? pool-lake-beach time? fireworks? homemade ice cream? If you're not an American you can tell us what's happening in your corner of the world on Thursday.

 

Believe it or not, we're still not sure on the details of our plans for the Fourth. There are fireworks shows on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and we love fireworks, so we may go all three nights! As I'm writing this on Wednesday evening, we've decided to stay in tonight. It's raining this evening so we're hoping for better weather tomorrow and Friday! We're definitely going to our church's party on the Fourth and watch the town's fireworks from the church property - there's a great view! I believe our son and his family will come over to our place in the afternoon and we'll go to the pool, but they don't plan to stay late or go with us to fireworks. We are planning to go together to see fireworks on Friday night too.

 

And although we live in the USA and are proud American citizens, we are Canadians and that's our homeland, so we did recognize Canada Day on Monday. This year we didn't have company and it fell on a weekday, so it was very lowkey. 

 

 

 

2. What's your favorite 'All-American' dessert?

 

The All-American dessert that comes to mind is apple pie. I like apple pie, but it's not my favorite pie. I'd much rather have cherry pie. Is ice cream 'All-American'? I love ice cream, and banana splits and sundaes, and milkshakes too, so I guess ice cream would be my favorite. 

3. Does that patriotic feeling come easily to you, or are you having to work for it more these days? What's something that makes you proud to be a citizen of your country?

 I love America and I still wouldn't want to live in any other country. I've been discouraged and worried about the many very negative, dangerous, and divisive things going on in our country, so yes, sometimes that sours the patriotic feelings somewhat. But as one of the commentators I listen to is fond of saying, "I'm long on America." And when the anthem is played or the colors are presented, I'm still very proud to be American and don't for a moment regret our decision to move here and become citizens. I also still love Canada and am proud to be Canadian, but I have the same deep concerns over all the negative things that have been happening in Canada over the past few years, but I have hope that good will prevail. I'm proud of the history, heritage, and the great people of both my countries.

4. Your favorite 'patriotic' movie? Favorite patriotic song?

 Movie . . . I think National Treasure. Haven't watched it in a long time and I'd love to see it again. Weekend watch list, perhaps? Favorite patriotic song would be God Bless America. The Hockey Night in Canada theme song might be a close second! 

 

5.  One simple pleasure on your July 'bucket list'?

 

I'm hoping to get a chance to sit on the porch while in Maryland at the end of the month and enjoy a cold drink and a colorful sunset. I miss that porch!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I always thought the history and chemistry of fireworks would make a great unit study, but I never got around to writing that one when my kids were students. Maybe in my retirement I can write it and sell it for a couple bucks. 

Our Canada Day celebration was, as I said, really low-key this year. But I did write up something for Canada Day to put on the blogs this year. See my Canada Day post for 2024 here: WQ - Canada Day and Fireworks

 

What are you celebrating this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

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Everyday Images #39

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation.

Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week. These were the prompts I assigned myself for the past couple weeks:

June Prompts - Everyday Images #39

~~~~~

season (quarterly)

at home (monthly)

hills

flag

reflection

books

~~~~~

season (quarterly)

at home (monthly)

hills - I didn't expect this to be hard, but I guess we were mostly in the flatlands over the past couple weeks! The Dawes Arboretum is set in gently rolling hills, and there are hills off in the distance in this photo. You can barely make them out . . . 

flag

reflection - just a glimpse of the trees and sky reflected in the water lily pond

books

And a few bonus photos:

Kennady doing her best impression of a sloth bear:

Many of the photos we took of the Big Bugs on this visit included "Dan for scale".

Jack-o'-Melon - so cute, but he doesn't last long in the heat!

I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.

Everyday Images continues in 2024, every other Tuesday. And on the alternate Tuesdays, I'm hosting the Twenty-Six Lists link-up. I'd love to have you join me for that too!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

July Prompts - Everyday Images #40

~~~~~

strong

loud and/or quiet

at work (quarterly)

free

design

wild

~~~~~

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©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

WQ - Canada Day and Fireworks

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Happy Canada Day!

I'm participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. In order to simplify her blogging schedule, Marsha has decided to choose themes for her posts as she goes, and has invited those of us who participate to simply include a quote in our post and choose our own themes as well. I still have the original list of prompts that I'll probably use from time to time, or I may combine my WQ posts with something else. Simplifying sounds like a good option for me as well! 

Therefore, on this Canada Day, I have quoted myself (from my other blog, Homeschool Coffee Break) in order to share a brief history of Canada Day, and added a few quotes about Canada and about fireworks for good measure.

On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act united the three colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada (now the two provinces of Ontario and Quebec) into a single country within the British Empire. This Act of Parliament was known as the Constitution Act, and it granted Canada substantial freedom from England, although it remained a part of the British Commonwealth, and most Canadians of the time still thought of themselves as British citizens. The Dominion of Canada became a kingdom in its own right, although the British Parliament maintained some rights of limited political control. The first official celebration of Dominion Day marking this occasion was held in 1917, on Canada's 50th birthday. The centennial, in 1967, was the first truly widespread celebration of the birthday.

The national anthem, O Canada, was established on July 1, 1980.

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

A few years ago, the third line was changed to "true patriot love in all of us command," but it doesn't quite come naturally to me yet!

Canada received full and complete independence from Great Britain on July 1, 1982, and later that year, the name Dominion Day was officially changed to Canada Day.

Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die. ~Pierre Trudeau

Canada is the homeland of equality, justice and tolerance. ~Kim Campbell

I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind. ~John Diefenbaker

Whether we agree politically with these former Prime Ministers or not, they said the right things on occasion, which I suppose is probably true of most politicians. Here's what a British Prime Minster had to say about Canada:

There are no limits to the majestic future which lies before the mighty expanse of Canada with its virile, aspiring, cultured, and generous-hearted people. ~Winston Churchill

I hope he's right. I hope Canadians value their freedom and all the advantages they enjoy and fight to keep those freedoms.

Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to the North. ~Peter Jennings

I have actually found that to be true, especially when we first moved to the USA and were surprised at how much we had to explain about Canada.

Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain. ~Pierre Trudeau

Hysterically funny, amazingly talented people. That's what I think of when I think of Canada. That, and cold beer. And mountains. ~Richard Patrick

You forgot hockey and curling!

Canada Day celebrations usually include fireworks, and that was the original prompt for this week's Wednesday Quotes too. We love fireworks and plan to take in at least two fireworks shows this week!

Because beautiful things never last. Not roses nor snow… And not fireworks, either ~Jennifer Donnelly

Laughter is the fireworks of the soul. ~Josh Billings

Dont look to the sky for fireworks when you can watch them light up in the eyes of all the people passing by. ~Tyler Kent

The world needed more fireworks- especially now that there was going to be a shortage of beautiful, useless things. ~Scott Westerfeld

Blooming under a cold moon, we are like fireworks... Rising, shining, and finally scattering and fading. So until that moment comes when we vanish like fireworks... Lets us sparkle brightly, Always. ~Tite Kubo

This post was based on the original on my other blog, and you may see it here: Canada Day. The original post also has links to some of my favorite Canadian foods and the recipes I use.

Wednesday Quotes 2024 is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. See what we're inspired by this week: WQ#176: Animals Inspire Us to Slow Down and Enjoy the Little Pleasures in Life

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2024 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.