The vista from the Pikes Peak, which inspired this song that almost became our national anthem, now looks over the scars left by the fires in Black Forest. Yet beyond the physical scars, there rose from the ashes a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude.
Recently, I visited Colorado Springs. It was planned a few months ago, but as fate would have it, I came after the terrible fires in the region - more specifically the torching of Black Forest. [reference: span style="color: orange;"Colorado Black Forest fire burn scar | Earth | EarthSky]
Pikes Peak - 2013
Below is a picture I took outside my motel in southwest Colorado Springs, looking toward Pikes Peak, about a week after the fires were under control - June 23, 2013. And you can see the effects of the air pollution in this shot. It has an eerie beauty from the effects of the disaster ... Pikes Peak - 1893
As the Fourth of July nears, this same region had inspired a teacher - 120 years ago. Katharine Lee Bates wrote a poem, which was first published for the Fourth of July edition of the Congregationalist in 1895. The poem was set to music by Samuel A. Ward and published in 1910 under the title - America, the Beautiful. [reference: America The Beautiful].-------------------------
For the rest of the article with links, pictures, and embedded video of the song - America, the Beautiful, please check out blog at: http://smithsk.blogspot.com/2013/07/pray4america-part-9-america-beautiful.html
|
never stop writing
m