Every day, I give thanks to have been born in the Greatest Country on God’s Green Earth.  Our country is one of the most beautiful on Earth, with terrain ranging from blazing hot deserts, to grassy prairies, to high snow-capped mountains, to chains of beautiful blue lakes.  The American people are the most generous in the world, voluntarily supporting thousands of charities in the US and doling out the largest share of ANY country, of aid to needy folks in foreign nations.  The Left in the US likes to portray everyone other than themselves as racist, sexist, bigoted (fill in the blank)-phobes, who are only out for themselves, literally taking food from the mouths of needy babies everywhere.  But we’re not.  So, herewith, is a celebration of the beauty of the United States of America, and its people.

Western Washington, this is Deception Pass, looking East from the (scary) Deception Pass Bridge.  That’s Mount Baker in the distance.  You can see why Washington’s nickname is the Evergreen State.

Boats in Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, in the Straits of Juan de Fuca (separating the US from Canada).  Millions of families in Washington own boats, from simple rowboats and small motorboats to huge yachts, and sailboats.  Puget Sound is crowded with boats on any sunny summer day.  I know a rabbi who has seven children, and his big extravagance was a motor boat, on which he and his family traveled whenever they could get away.

This is Diablo Lake, in the North Cascades.  It’s about a one-hour drive there from our house, and we love to go on a day trip when the weather is nice.  Out of view is Diablo Dam, which provides hydroelectric power to the Greater Seattle area.  I have always marveled at the ingenuity it took for people to design and build a hydroelectric dam.

And the people.  This is a crowd of accordionists, at the Gazebo in Leavenworth, Washington, at the Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration.  Players ranging in age from 7 to 77, playing music for the sheer joy of it.  And there is as much variety in the accordions as in the players.

The Eastern part of Washington State is much drier than the Western part, its landscape showing the effects of receding glaciers, and ancient floods.  Millions of years ago, this was a giant waterfall.  Nature sculpts for us to admire.

 

Even in the harshest desert climates, plants grow, and feed birds, insects, and other small animals.  This is the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

There are places where people like to gather, to place their bets, and to just marvel at the beauty and power of thoroughbred horses.  The Sport of Kings, indeed.  Emerald Downs, near Tacoma, Washington.

Of course, a celebration of America would not be complete without a stop at the Grand Canyon.  Think about it.  Through millions of years, the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon.  Remarkable what running water, and time, can accomplish.

Beautiful, blue, Lake Tahoe.

And friends, from all over this country, meeting for the first time on the shore of Lake Tahoe.  Ricochet Meetup.

A true National Treasure, Hillsdale College in Michigan.  Teaching Truth, Defending Liberty, since 1844.

Another National Treasure.  Saint Joseph’s Polish Catholic Church, Camden, New Jersey.  Celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2012.  Polish-language Mass is still celebrated here daily, by the Polish priest.  The parishioners and former parishioners at Saint Joe’s have supported it, and kept it maintained in all its glory for a very long time.

Proof that even amateurs can make it to Carnegie Hall.  We went in the summer of 2006, and played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony.  You can spot me right in front of the tympani.

 

I just couldn’t let this opportunity get away.   Me, in my Rush Limbaugh Club G’itmo t-shirt, in front of the Democratic Party booth, Fourth of July in Albany, New York.  Sometimes, if you search on RushBabe on Google, this picture appears!

From Sea to Shining Sea.  The Atlantic Ocean at Cape May, New Jersey.

Celebrating the Magnificence of the United States of America and its people.