O'ER THE RAMPARTS WE WATCHED

     
     My daughter and I went to see a professional soccer match and as usual, we all rose and sang our national anthem before the kick off.  Afterwards, she asked me, "Why do you have a tear in your eye?" 
I told her, "That song makes me think about a lot of sacrifices people made to make sure we have the freedom to live our lives in our own way.  And... that we are free to enjoy things like soccer games."
     I know she didn't quite understand and we didn't go into any more details, but I told her we would talk more later and that she would come to understand better when she's older.

     Every time I hear our national anthem, I try to visualize the events that took place at Fort McHenry in September of 1814.  The story is told very well in this SHORT VIDEO.

     I reminded my daughter about a children's book we read some time ago that was told from the perspective of the daughter of Mary Young Pickersgill.  The Pickersgill women were commissioned to make the flag that flew at Fort McHenry.

THIS IS ALL I GOT

"The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men."


-Alexander Hamilton- Federalist No. 21 1787






"Nothing so strongly impels a man to regard the interests of his constituents, as the certainty of returning to the general mass of people, from whence he was taken, where he must participate in their burdens."

-George Mason- Virginia Ratifying Convention 1788