{"id":12572,"date":"2010-07-02T12:19:46","date_gmt":"2010-07-02T19:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=12572"},"modified":"2010-07-02T13:31:44","modified_gmt":"2010-07-02T20:31:44","slug":"on-independence-day-2010-look-around-you-and-fill-your-heart-o-what-a-beautiful-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/12572\/on-independence-day-2010-look-around-you-and-fill-your-heart-o-what-a-beautiful-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"On Independence Day 2010, look around you and fill your heart: O\u2019 What a Beautiful Morning!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are songs that better describe America and patriotism, I suppose, but I can’t think of too many other songs that mean independence to me more than this song. I’m biased, of course, living as I do in the Great Midwest. Some people love the ocean or the mountains. They look out at miles of water or towering peaks and feel something. I’m not one of those people. I confess I love acres and acres of plowed or planted fields standing as a proud testament to someone’s hard work and tenacity. When “the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye”, and “the cattle are standing like statues”, I find this magnificent, thrilling even. The earth itself is abundant and I see that most in evidence on farmland. On a quieter level though, sitting on my modest suburban patio on a sultry summer Ohio evening, I know that “the sounds of the earth are like music” because I hear that particular song in the thick, humid air alive with insects and birds, the crickets and toads operatically calling for a mate, or the delicious evening thunderstorms that bellow across the sky, and I’m here to tell you that this music is a love song. “O’ What a Beautiful Morning” <\/em> is an American love song and I am enthralled with the ideas represented: being in love with a another person, in love with life, in love with the possibilities for independence that present themselves to you every single morning.<\/p>\n

I leave a lot of musicals here, I know. I’ll not apologize. My heart often sings out and I’m compelled to share those songs, and our gracious host is obliging enough to humor me. Oklahoma<\/em> though, is my favorite Broadway musical because it is so very American. Not only the cowboys and the ranchers, or the aw-shucks Americana. Oklahoma is wonderful because it freely shares that American idea of independence: The idea that simple people can own land and work and produce from that land, independent of the government. This<\/em> is America, perhaps the one American thing I love most of all. This Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma is wonderful because it freely shares that American idea of independence: The idea that simple people can own land and work and produce from that land, independent of the government. This is America, perhaps the one American thing I love most of all. This unfettered opportunity for freedom, for independence, is what gives Curly his exuberant optimism as he looks out at acre after acre of cornfield and sees it for what it is: Beauty, majesty, hard-work, independence, and love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,212,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-casual-friday","7":"category-flourishing","8":"category-real-estate","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16029,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/16029\/unchained-melodies-darling-be-home-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":0},"title":"Unchained melodies: Darling, be home soon.","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is our tenth wedding anniversary. Cathleen and I have been a couple since January, 1998, but we got legally, lawfully married on Independence Day in 2002. Our \"our songs\" are No Myth and Thunder Road, but there are some \"my songs\" that I think of often to remind myself\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11557,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/11557\/unchained-melody-redux-two-songs\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":1},"title":"Unchained Melody Redux: Two Songs","author":"Chris Johnson","date":"March 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Proving that happiness is not what happens to you...heard this (famous song): \"Got no money in my pockets...had a job and I lost it...but it won't get to me...\" \"...I'm alive and I'm free...who wouldn't wanna be me.\" I'm not much for country\/twangy stuff.\u00a0 I've heard this song a million\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flourishing"","block_context":{"text":"Flourishing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/flourishing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7462,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/7462\/thats-the-night-the-lights-went-out-in-pike-county-georgia\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":2},"title":"That’s the night the lights went out in Pike County Georgia","author":"Jessica Horton","date":"March 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Pike County Chamber of Commerce has decided not to host the annual Fourth of July fireworks this year because of the current state of the economy. You can read the whole story here: C.O.C. decides not to host July 4th event No fireworks? No Celebrating our Independence? Are you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dirty Laundry"","block_context":{"text":"Dirty Laundry","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/dirty-laundry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"lightswentoutpike","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/lightswentoutpike.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3206,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3206\/chaos-order-and-noble-corruption\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":3},"title":"Chaos, Order, and Noble Corruption","author":"Geno Petro","date":"June 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm pretty sure the simple fear of\u00a0 'getting caught' has kept me from doing a whole\u00a0myriad of things other braver, but perhaps, less ethical men have done with impunity.\u00a0Take the dirty cop trials going on in Chicago this week where 10 city policemen have decided to come forth to reveal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7932,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/7932\/three-songs-for-freedom-fellowship-and-the-resistance-of-things-staying-the-same\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":4},"title":"Three songs for freedom, fellowship, and the resistance to oppression","author":"Brad Coy","date":"April 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been ages since we've heard any Unchained Melodies and we're just under two weeks away folks. Don't you think it's about time? All three from Eddie, to me, to you. This one's for my friend Nick, the Unchained attendees, and believers in freedom. \"Rise\" This ones for The Dean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12597,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/12597\/happy-independents-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":12572,"position":5},"title":"Happy Independent’s Day…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Kicking this back to the top. Happy Independence Day! -- GSS \u00a0Our wedding anniversary today. I've always thought that the best way to celebrate the things that really matter in life is to do the things that really matter in life, so I'm spending the afternoon and evening with my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egoism in Action"","block_context":{"text":"Egoism in Action","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/egoism-in-action\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12572"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12579,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12572\/revisions\/12579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}