Every day, an email message from Visual Thesaurus drops in my email box with an interesting Word of the Day.  Today’s word was tricorn, in honor of Independence Day:

“The children’s song that begins ‘My hat it has three corners . . .’ might seem to be an etymological friend of this word, but in fact the -corn part is from Latin cornu, "horn" (from which, by the way, corner is also derived). We salute the three cornered hat today for its association with the American revolutionary period whose culmination was the Declaration of Independence: signed on this day in Philadelphia in 1776.

Thanks, Visual Thesaurus, for teaching us about tricorn hats today.  You might be interested to note that you can purchase a hat like the handsome gentleman above is wearing for $165 from Jas Townsend & Son.  Enjoy!

By the way, tomorrow’s Visual Thesaurus’ word of the day, malleable, meaning “able to be shaped or bent”, just appeared in my email box.  I am grateful that our Founding Fathers and patriots who fought in the revolutionary war weren’t overly malleable. It took amazing courage and resolve to stand firm against what many thought were insurmountable odds to win our freedom from tyranny.  Thank you, noble tricorn wearing, rock solid souls!

In a stirring, impromptu, a cappella performance, an attendee at a Tea Party shares his love of freedom by singing the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner.

The lyrics he sang so powerfully are:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

What a fitting message for this Independence Day, when we express our gratitude to the living God who “made and preserved us a nation.”

Thanks to my daughter Angie for pointing out this moving video.

God bless America!

Some of my dear family members celebrated Independence day by dressing the part – Red, White and Blue through and through.

Cloe dazzles us with her big smile.  Too bad Gramps’s photo-taking skills weren’t commensurate with her smile!

Chloe’s parents, Myron and Angie, are red, white and blue patriots!

Sorry, Holly (our daughter), for cutting off your nose, but you headband is super cool! (She makes these custom headbands herself, by the way.)

Thanks for brightening up Independence Day for us all this year.

PS.  I called my Mom in Idaho tonight.  She also dressed in red, white and blue, but I don’t have her photo.

Thanks to my good friend Arnie Kuenn for reminding Twitterdom today that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day 184 years ago today – July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

These two great leaders, who participated in the founding of our nation, became bitter political rivals, but reconciled and became best of friends in their later years.  Once can only imagine that this friendship survived their mortal passing and continued as then stepped forward together into eternity. 

Thank you John and Thomas for your separate and joint roles in founding and leading our great nation.

Happy Independence Day!  We’ve had a busy day with church and family today, so I am just finding time to post a few of my feelings about independence and freedom on this site.  I will share several items that inspired me this Fourth of July, plus perhaps a few few extra thoughts of my own as well.

First on the list is this great photo of my grandson Devlin experiencing the thrill of a sparkler for the first time.  He is vacationing with his family in Utah where such exciting things are still legal.

Thanks to Devlin’s mom for posting this photo on Facebook!

Do you remember the magic and awe that you felt when you were Delvin’s age and celebrated Indepence Day with sparklers?  It was a great tradition for our family when we were growing up in Southern Idaho.

Happy Fourth of July Devlin and all you sparkler-awed kids!