Patriotism.  It's a word commonly used around this time of year as we all fire up our grills, gather our family, and wave our flags at hometown parade floats.  Nice weekend with a day off work, to boot.  But recently I've questioned myself about how I feel about my country.  I served in the United States Air Force for 10 years and consider myself to be patriotic?  But, am I really?  Well, I set out to answer that question for myself.  Maybe not in a deliberate fashion, but I did.  Any why?  Well, because of an experience here recently.  I've been watching my community gather around the building of a $700,000 project that has spanned more than 7 ears.  All seven hundred thousand dollars were donated.  Yes, those are people that truly love their country and care about remembering those that gave the ultimate price for people like me that walk around freely.  Yesterday, while sitting at the site of this project, the St Peter, MN Veteran's Memorial, in front of a dozen unfurled flags, I watched young men feverisly work on the final details.  Just behind them was the brand new Statue of Freedom, along with two magnificent walls bearing the names and photos of those who served and those who have fallen.  I thought about some of the words to our National Anthem "Star Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key: "Whose broad stripes and bright stars, Through the perilous flight, Were so gallantly, yeah, streaming?"  The song goes on to speak about how our flag "was still there".  Yes, for those who made it through that battle, it was.  Those who lost their lives, never saw it.  They lost their lives for people like me; to sit in at a park and in peace and be able to reflect.  So, I looked up the definition of Patriotism.  One definition stood out to me:  "A vigorous love for one's country".  I would say giving up one's life for another to have something is "vigorous love".  I love my country.  I am proud to have served.  But, for me, the true patriots no longer walk among us.  To me -- it is remembering their sacrifice that helps define why we should love the United States of America, why we should reverence the United States Flag, and why we should never, ever forget those that gave everything for those like myself that will never meet them -- so that we can gather around our families, fire up our grills, wave those flags at the passing parades and pass on to the generations behind us about what Patriotism really is.  Let Freedom Ring!  Happy Independence Day everyone!

Yes I do!  I would not consider myself to be a fanatic, but as an artist, I really do appreciate the artistic value that goes into these race cars.  I do not post all of the paintings and drawings I do.  Matter of fact, in the past 3 weeks, I am completed 21 paintings.  For July 2018, I only published the Let Freedom Ring piece as my Independence Day installment.  That same weekend, I watched the various NASCAR races and really got inspired.  There are very few other sports (these days) that respect the United States military and veterans.  Therefore, while watching a NASCAR race (in Chicagoland), I began to doodle around and eventually ended up painting the #18 car (driven by Kyle Busch), but not this year's car.  Although Kyle did fly the colors well this year, it was his car from 2011 that caught my attention.  I love our American Flag, respect it and thought Kyle's 2011 version of our flag was absolutely beautiful.  As the race progressed (over several hours), I put the final touches on this particular painting.  Kyle Busch became the leader of the race.  Yes, complete coincidence, but an awesome one.  Then, on the very last 2 laps, he was entangled with a fierce competitor, Kyle Larson, the #42 car.  As an older fan of this sport, the hard racing reminded me of what I witnessed back in the 1970's.  Well, in that 70's fashion, these two sportsmen really put on a show.  If you want to see just how tough the finish was, follow this YouTube link to see a 3-minute video of the spectacle; really tremendous.  Kyle Busch won, but had to fight hard -- down to the very last few seconds.

So, consider today's installment as an extension of my salute to our flag and a huge thank you to NASCAR, who does a wonderful job at recognizing the most wonderful force in the United States -- our military; serving, served, and fallen.  God bless the United States of America!