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4th of July Traditions

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It is during the holidays you miss your family being all together and the traditions of the 4th of July. Parades, watermelon, laying in the grass watching the fireworks and then going home to set off your own. Happy 4th of July, where ever you and your family may be this year. I celebrated in the town of Murdock Nebraska, who celebrated their 125th birthday in style with a parade, breakfast, a road race, pie and ice cream at the church, BBQ, and a fireworks display.

4th of July parade in Murdock Nebraska
4th of July parade in Murdock Nebraska.

My oldest son, I hope, will be watching the fireworks off Navy Pier in Chicago. Last year I spent a weekend in July and a trip down to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks is definitely worth staying up late.

Chicago 4th of July
Chicago 4th of July

My youngest son, an active Marine unfortunately posted a message on Facebook. “Don’t remember a 4th of July that I haven’t worked these past few years. What are fireworks?” He’s on duty tonight, just like last year. Even my youngest daughter will have to work tonight, but at least she watched the parade this morning and had some “Flag Cake” to celebrate.

This is the first year I’ve made a flag cake, but it reminds me of a tradition when I was in high school. My best friend always had a 4th of July Party at the lake and she always brought the flag cake for dessert. So now, after 40 years I think I’ll start a new tradition. It’s super easy to make. Bake a white cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, frost with Cool Whip, decorate with blueberries and sliced strawberries.

A 4th of July Tradition, Flag Cake
4th of July Flag Cake

 

No matter where you are you can still appreciate the patriotic spirit of the day, the red, white, and blue decor and even pull up the Patriotic station on Pandora to recognize Independence Day when we declared our Independence from our “Mother Country” England and decided to become our own country in 1776. The United States is a young country in comparison to the rest of the world and let us never become jaded and forget our countries birthday.

United States of America Flag Vintage T-shirt Flag Shirts #13500ASHERANGEL Women’s Sexy Lace Floral Sleeveless Camisole Crop Tank Top Shirts

Happy 4th of July, enjoy your family and enjoy creating new traditions.

4th of July Traditions

A look at July 4th traditions across the US

July 3, 2014: Fair St. Louis fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the St. Louis Art Museum. (AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The United States marks 238 years as an independent nation as it celebrates the Fourth of July with fireworks, food and music …

4th Of July Traditions: Eight Ways Americans Celebrate Independence

4th Of July Traditions: Eight Ways Americans Celebrate Independence. Eight Traditions For Independence Day. The 4th of July is often filled with parades, barbecues, fireworks, and impromptu baseball games. Families, friends, and neighbors often get …

The Best Places to Watch Fireworks Across America

Plans or traditions for the 4th of July… 4th of July traditions have always included lots of grilling, watermelon, sparklers and being outside! We usually watch fireworks the night before the 4th and then head into the woods for a …

Creating 4th of July Traditions and Frozen Graham Cracker …

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Honey Maid. All thoughts and experiences shared are our own. Sparklers, sprinklers, and cool treats were the highlights of my childhood 4th of …

Sisters Marie: Top Five 4th of July Traditions

Top Five 4th of July Traditions. Our annual 4th of July party is one of those traditions that’s been happening for so long, we can’t even remember life before it. Each year, the excitement begins after the out of office message …

 

Correcting White Balance in Snow Photography

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Winter in Nebraska can be fickle. We can have a season of blizzards, or just a couple of big snow storms that dump 8-12 inches a few times during the season. This year we have had no big snow storms, just a slight dusting at Christmas time, enough to say we had a white Christmas and nothing more.

The news is full of winter storm watches, bitter cold and above average snow falls from Chicago to New England, but nothing in Nebraska. So I’ve gone back into my archive photography files to get a taste of a snowy winter. The year is 2012 and in February we had a really nice, slow snowfall that coated everything. I went out with a camera I just got for Christmas, my oldest Marine son gave me his Canon Rebel before he deployed, and took photo after photo of the amazing scenery.

I have since started shooting in RAW and editing in Lightroom, so I thought I would rework a photo to see how I can improve on it now.

Winter snow on the plow
1. Before SOOC
Snow on the plow
2. After: crop, white balance, edited in Lightroom
Lightroom photo edit: snow on the plow
Click on image to see Lightroom details in editing.

First I cropped the original to a 5×7 and zoomed in a little closer. Then set the white balance in Lightroom by using the eyedropper on the snow, this eliminated the greenish cast. I also increased the highlights, clarity and contrast to give more texture. Below is horizontal crop version where I applied noise reduction. Since this image was originally a JPG shot at 400 ISO I thought it could use some smoothing out.

Which do you like the best, 1,2 or 3?

Winter farm storage
3. Horizontal crop with Lightroom noise reduction

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Covered Bridges in Vermont

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Vermont has more covered bridges per square mile than any other state in the United States. An official covered bridge is not determined by age, but the method on how it is built, by trusses and a covered slanted roof. I have always had a fascination with covered bridges and although I had grown up in Connecticut I had never walked across one this piece of Americana.

Middle Bride in Woodstock, VT
Covered bridge in Woodstock Vermont

Last week I crossed this off my bucket list when I visited Woodstock Vermont and walked across Middle Bridge. I had another surprise as we took the scenic route down Rte 106 and found this picturesque bridge over a small creek.

Covered Bridge south of Woodstock Vermont
Covered Bridge south of Woodstock Vermont

The most famous bridges are those of Madison County in Iowa, so I really didn’t need to travel far from Nebraska to find covered bridges, but there is something special, romantic, and mystical about covered bridges in Vermont.

Facts About Covered Bridges

  1. First covered bridge was built in 1808 over the Mohawk river in New York
  2. Vermont contains 100 authentic covered bridges
  3. At one time the United States has over 10,000 covered bridges, 750 remain today
  4. Covered bridges are painted red because iron ochre was an inexpensive pigment.
  5. Bridges were covered to prevent the wood dry and prevent rot (not to keep horses from spooking over the water)
  6. Town Lattice is the most popular style of covered bridge
  7. There are only 8 railroad covered bridges in the United States, only 2 still function during tourist events.
  8. Only six covered bridges still carry two way traffic all the rest are one way only.
  9. Covered bridges can be found in 30 states in the United States
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“Brother, My Brother”, a Tribute to Veterans

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On Veterans Monday I had the opportunity to merge two of my passions, my pride for my sons in the Marine Corp and my love of music, specifically the Elmwood-Murdock choir and band. Just wanted to share a preview of the the choirs song, “Brother My Brother” before I put together the full post, which will recap both schools and the local G.A.R museum.

It’s obvious this song was written with the American Civil War in mind, but I couldn’t find any other history. If anyone can point me in the direction I’d love to add it to the post.

Lyrics “Brother, My Brother”

Brother my brother
One blue and one gray
Will meet upon a quiet field
The morn of judgement day

Brother my brother
God has heard your battle call
Now he’ll watch his precious children
Learn how to stand, learn how to fall
And his eyes will look away

For his heart will so be torn
As his fields of gold turn scarlet
From the rage of battle born
And the silence of the night
Will be broken by the cries
Of the ones who’ve been forgotten
On the quiet field where honor lies

Give me now a splendid sun
With all his light full clear
Give me now a gentle autumn
Before the dying of the year
And some green unbloodied grass
While I can still see far
Give me one night on a river
And one unfailing star

Brother my brother
One blue and one gray
Will meet upon a quiet field
The morn of judgement day

Brother my brother
God has heard your battle call
Now he’ll watch his precious children
Learn how to stand, learn how to fall

My favorite Veterans Day piece the choir sang, by far, is the one a did a few years back of the choir singing Flanders Field. Take a look you won’t regret it!