Celebrating Our North Park Freedoms
We celebrate the greatest American holiday there is today, Independence Day. This day brings people together to celebrate a common bond… FREEDOM! Freedom to love, laugh and live as we choose. Regardless which side of the fence we live on as Americans, we all treasure that right to be free and make the choices we do. How blessed we are to live in a country that recognizes the importance of freedom and ALLOWS us to have those individual rights. It is a privilege to me to be an American. I’m humble and honored to reflect on what those freedoms are here.
In North Park we are filled with a luxury of freedoms and I’m blessed to call this place home. We take it for granted living here but little things remind me of how truly lucky we are to celebrate living in America and in our grand North Park. I saw a group of young boys riding their bikes down the street a few days ago. The youngest maybe 7 and the oldest maybe 10. They were carrying fishing poles and headed to the nearest pond to drown a worm. It wasn’t about catching for them, it was about the freedom of being able to do this. How many kids in American cities get the luxury of doing this. Leaving on their bikes at dawn then returning as they choose after a day of fishing and paying ball. Our children in North Park are blessed with that freedom.
I owe freedom to people that are willing to give their lives daily for me to live here, our American Military. I’ve shared before that I get choked up on any subject of patriotism. I see a serviceman and shake their hand in respect and gratitude. A few days ago, a local mother shared a photo of a yellow ribbon tied on her tree in front of her home. It was to honor a young man that has been deployed overseas for the next 9 months. This young man, with many others, is fighting a war for freedom to protect our independence in this great nation. The symbolism of the yellow ribbon ties to many folk tales and has been heard in famous songs in tribute to bringing home loved ones safely. John Wayne made the yellow ribbon tribute famous in his Civil War movie “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.” Today, I will tie a yellow ribbon to my own tree in honor of Sergeant Dereck Richard, any other North Park men and women, who are fighting today to protect my freedom.
The song “America,” depicts all things patriotic we find in North Park. We are surrounded with the purple mountains majesty we call the Never Summer Mountains, Rawah and Zirkel Wilderness. We live under spacious skies that are free of light pollution and display amazing astronomical wonders. We work alongside likeminded people who treasure and appreciate the liberty that North Park lives by. May today and everyday be a celebration of our freedom and independence, and a more special one because we call North Park home.
