Patriotic? Me?

Hm.
One of those days I'm tired early and not sure what to write.

I've been reading a lot today! Opening a book my brother bought just to "see what the first chapter is like," turned into devouring the first third. My hope was to finish the book today, but I'm not a crazy fast reader and life around family causes things to come up pretty quickly. It's okay, we'll see if I can stay awake past this post.

Today a new realization surfaced as I took my dog on a nice little walk:
I am glad I was brought up in America!

Pretty sure all of cyber space just raised an eyebrow at me.

I know that sounds strange, but yes it had to be a conscious realization for me. I think that is more common among those of us who fall under the category of first-generation immigrant.

I think I look at the world from a different angle than those who's families have lived in their same nation for several generations. All of this cultural-consciousness must have stemmed from a recent trip I took to Texas, but that is for a later day. I have always had a very international outlook on the the world. My first trip overseas was at 2 years old for goodness sake! Being internationally wired is not only in my blood though, it's in my heart.

So stating that I'm glad to be American is a pretty big deal! As a first-generation, my loyalty is pretty evenly split three ways, culturally speaking. Personally, I love hopping the pond as often as the green light turns on. As of late the idea that immigrating elsewhere is a possibility has surfaced in my mind pretty frequently (to clarify: I am not taking active steps toward that). I only say this because I'm trying to make the point that I tend to put the USA on a more level playing field with the rest of the world than I think most Americans do in their everyday, normal lives or thought processes.

But as I continue learning about other nations and cultures, I find even more assurance that this big ol' melting pot, tossed salad, land of the free, home of the brave type of place spells out four letters across my heart: H-O-M-E.

Granted if I got a call from God to plant roots elsewhere, well, I better do just that. As for today: I am here, savoring every single day in the US of A.

(Insert "Proud to Be An American" song here)

HA! Yeah, right. You didn't expect me to be that cheesy did you?


Just an overall good song for any subject:


(Love that: "The Stability of our times will be the Rock that is higher.")