The Four Freedoms ~ Happy Thanksgiving!

" The Four Freedoms"

Can be click on to see enlarged

The "Four Freedoms" series, was painted by Norman Rockwell in 1942, after he was inspired by President Franklin Roosevelt's speech of the same name. They are seen above in clockwise order as Freedom Of Speech, Freedom Of Worship, Freedom From Want, Freedom From Fear.
Rockwell intended to donate the paintings to the War Department, but after receiving no response, the painter offered them to the Saturday Evening Post, where they were first published on February 20, 1943. Popular reaction was overwhelming, and eventually the United States government used them as inspiration to promote these values at a time when it was most needed.

"In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation...."

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, excerpted from the Annual Message to the Congress,January 6, 1941

A recorded excerpt of this speech given by President Roosevelt can be heard at this National Archives link.

As our nation celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday, I believe the desire that these four freedoms can be one day be achieved throughout the world is still what our Nation strives for.
Perhaps thoughts of these four freedoms would also be good to be remembered and included in our prayers today when we say grace with our families before our Thanksgiving dinner? God bless the brave men and women of our armed forces who continue to keep us free, please also keep them in your prayers today, especially those far from home.

"For each new morning with its light.

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.....

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson



Some fun number facts about Thanksgiving:

5

- the number of deer brought to the first Thanksgiving by Massasoit and his tribe (Pilgrim hunters bagged four fowl)

53

- Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans attending the dinner we call the "first" Thanksgiving

41

- Pilgrims signing the Mayflower Compact while docked in Provincetown Harbor (Nov. 11, 1620)

102

- the amount of passengers of the Mayflower --plus 20 to 30 crew members, and two dogs.

3,000

-estimated length in miles of all cranberries grown in the U.S. last year if stretched end to end

675,000,000
- pounds of turkey enjoyed each Thanksgiving in the United States

source

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,

and thanksgiving,

and honor, and power,

and might, be unto our God,

for ever and ever. Amen

Revelation 7:12

A quick reminder:

If you haven't already left a comment on my give away post there are still a few more days that you can do so. I am so thrilled with the response! Thank you so much! I have been trying to visit every one who commented, although I apologize that it has taken be longer than I intended to do that, as I have had a few family functions to attend in the past few days and we also celebrated our daughter's birthday, all of which have kept me away from my computer.

I am tallying everyone's entry amounts and the draw will take place the evening of December first and I will announce the winner on my blog on December 2. It has been wonderful to find many of your blogs through this give away, and I'll be very excited to see who wins!

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Pink Saturday Christmas Teapot Give Away!

I am approaching 400 blog posts, and my second year blog anniversary, so I thought it would be fun to have a give away of something that would be useful for the Christmas holiday!

It is a brand new, full size, Lenox china "Holiday Gatherings" teapot!

Detail of the lid

The pretty holly design is on both sides of the teapot.

It is also microwave and dishwasher safe!

I'll also include a box of Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Spice Holiday Herb Tea and a few other little surprises to the lucky winner!

I will write everyone's comment number on a slip of paper and have my husband pick it out of the teapot, on Tuesday, the first of December , so that the winner will receive the teapot in plenty of time to use it for the Christmas season.

To enter for a chance to win, please leave a comment on this blog post.

To receive a second entry for the give away please become a "follower" of my blog, and let me know that you have done that in your comment -- if you already follow my blog I will give you two entries.

If you blog about my give away on your blog you will be entered three times. Please let me know when you have done a blog post about it.

If you do not have a blog please leave an e-mail address in your comment with which I can reach you in case you win.

Good Luck!

Thank you for your friendship and interest in my blog. I love sharing my little corner of the world with you, and I love to read your comments and visit your lovely blogs in return.

It's Pink Saturday today on our wonderful host Beverly's blog "How Sweet The Sound," and as my contribution I'd like to show you how my once blue hydrangea flowers have changed to a beautiful dark shade of pink this autumn! This was the first time they changed to this color so late in the season.

Please visit Beverly's blog today to see links of other participating blogs showing off their lovely "pinks" today, and thank you for entering my Christmas give away!

Christmas Shopping

This is a collection of one month's worth of different catalogs that came in my mail! I've been saving them all in a basket to browse through them when I get a chance, in order to get some ideas for Christmas gifts. I've always loved catalogs because they make me I feel as if I am leisurely window shopping in the comfort of my home. Many of them have wonderful decorating ideas, and some include gourmet recipes as a bonus! Of course they will all go into the paper recycle bin when I am finished looking and ordering from them.

I think I've gotten the most catalogs this year than ever before! How about you? I am so glad though, as this year all my Christmas shopping will be done through these catalogs, and through online stores, because of this.......


I have a stress fracture in a bone in my foot! I really don't know how it happened.

If you know me, you know I love to walk, and lately my foot was becoming very swollen after any activity. An x-ray and MRI later confirmed what my doctor diagnosed, and now I have to wear this funny looking, hard bottomed shoe for a month, and keep my foot elevated as much as possible until it heals. It could be worse, so I won't complain, and I expect to heal very quickly. I will still have lots to blog about. In fact, please come back to visit my blog tomorrow, as I will be showing a special holiday "give away" I am having just in time for Christmas! I am getting near to my 400th blog post, and my second year blog anniversary, so I wanted to celebrate these events with a special give away that I think many will enjoy!

Blogging has certainly made me appreciate my world a little more and I appreciate all the wonderful people from all around the world that I've met through it!

The Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming

While my husband and I were on vacation in August we drove from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Cody, Wyoming, where our next stop would be Yellowstone National Park. When we arrived at Cody we saw banners across main street proclaiming that every night in summer there was a rodeo at Stampede Park! Since we are city slickers we knew we couldn't pass the opportunity to see what a rodeo was all about, so as soon as we checked into our motel we headed over to the park.

Now that's a big bull! I'm not sure why I didn't want to sit on his back and have my photo taken, but I decided against that extra dose of excitement for the night

Inside the park the cowboys were preparing the broncos that they would be riding. The Cody Nite Rodeo is the longest running rodeo in the United States, having operated for over 60 years. The announcer told the audience that many of the nation's greatest cowboys started their rodeo careers in Cody.

The festivities began with the singing of the National Anthem, and other patriotic songs and a prayer, all performed in a fast moving ceremony.

The standardized events that characterize rodeo are bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, calf roping and bull riding. Many rodeos also include barrel racing, a sport that is dominated by female equestrians. Quite a few young riders were in the calf roping and barrel racing competitions, as many of the local children live and help on ranches and are quite skilled in the saddle.

It was explained that calf roping is a necessary rancher skill, so that a run away or stray calf could be subdued and brought back to the herd.

The cowboy who caught and roped the calf the fastest won points, and ultimately all the points earned over many rodeos would go towards possibly winning a prize.

"Saddle Bronc Riding is the classic event of rodeo. Both the horse and the cowboy are judged by two judges each who are in the arena. The horse is judged by how hard it bucks but the cowboy is judged on form, how much he spurs, and if he has control of the horse. " source

"Bull riding is the most dangerous and the most exciting of the rodeo events. These bulls are very fast, powerful, and can weigh as much as a ton. Consequently, bull riding is saved until the last and no one leaves until the final bull has been ridden. Not only does the bull rider have to stay on the twisting bull for eight seconds, but he also has to escape on foot once he gets off."

source

It was very exciting to watch the bull riding! Notice the "clown" ready to distract the bull away from the rider if he falls off.

I was happy to see some of the cowboys wearing helmets for safety.

It was actually very hard for a cowboy to ride a broncing bull more than a minute -- most were thrown off.

This is one of my favorite photos from the rodeo, as I think it looks like the bull is daring the cowboys to come and get him!

Luckily, none of the riders or animals were hurt during the rodeo, and the competition came to a happy ending. Now that I saw a rodeo I have great respect for the skills of the cowboys and the strength of the animals. It certainly retains the flavor of the "Wild West"!

I am linking this post to Susan at A Southern Daydreamer's Outdoor Wednesday blog event. Please visit her blog today to see links to other participating blogs. Thanks Susan!

Trees at Daybreak

Some mornings, when I go to take a walk in the park, I arrive just in time to see the sun rise.....

...and on this particular morning the sun lit the sky ablaze in a sudden bright and glorious glow !

The trees in the distance turned a brilliant golden hue when the rays of the sun first touched them. Their shimmering beauty literally took my breath away!

Please click on to enlarge

As I proceeded on my walk that morning, the trees surrounding me kept changing their shades as the daybreak's light danced among their leaves. The display was a beautiful autumnal kaleidoscope of light, shadow, refection and color, and I felt privileged have witnessed it!

It made me remember this prayer that I read recently in the book "Graces," that I'm pleased to share with you today:

TREES!

Our Father, we thank Thee for Trees!

We thank Thee for the trees of our childhood in whose shade we played and read and dreamed; for the trees of our schooldays, the trees along the paths where friendship walked.

We thank Thee for special trees which will always stand large in our memory because for some reason of our own they become our trees.

We thank Thee for the great stretches of trees which make the forests.

May we always stand humbly before Thy trees and draw strength from them as they, in their turn, draw sustenance from Thy bounties of earth and sun and air.

~ Margueritte Harmon Bro


I'm joining in with Mary at the Little Red House for "Mosaic Monday"! Please visit her blog today to see limks to all the other talented bloggers who have also posted their beautiful mosaics! Also, for the first time, I am linking to Mellow Yellow Monday blog event!