Soon fuses will be ignited and flashes of light will burst in the night sky with snapping, crackling and popping sounds following closely behind as our nation celebrates its birthday.

There’s no doubt that the land we are walking on is ancient, but we as a nation are only 234 years young.

Yes, I said young because think about it — there were people back in the biblical days that lived to be way older then 234.

I know that it would be a miracle for one person to reach that age now, but between all the wars and depressions no wonder people don’t live as long as they did in the early histories of the Earth.

The great thing about our nation is how advanced we have become in such a short period of time.

Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we have gone from the “New World” to the most powerful country in the world.

There are a number of officials from all over that consider one man to be the most powerful person on earth and that just so happens to be the leader of our nation — whoever holds the title of The President of the United States of America.

It is hard to admit that wars have been a large part of our history, but as the old saying goes “Freedom is not Free” and that is how we, as a nation, have what we have because we have stood together against those who wanted to control us and take away our freedoms.

Now given that there are some wars like our own Civil War — in which we were divided as a nation — but I believe that every war we have been involved in deals with some sort of fight for freedom in some form or fashion.

My heart goes out to every man, woman or child who has ever put on a military uniform and fought so that I may have a good life here in northwest Alabama where I have lived my whole life safe from tyranny and persecution.

Thank you troops and veterans for all you do and have done and thank you America for being such a wonderful place to live.

There I’ve said my peace. Until next time, Later Dayz…