Wordless Wednesday...Not! America the Beautiful

O.K., that's it. I've officially renamed the meme "Wordless Wednesday". [At least for me anyway] It is now going to be called "Wordless Wednesday...Not!" Let's face it. I can't keep my mouth shut. [and I'm not the only one out there...you know who you are.] I mean, really, how can anyone ask bloggers to not write? It's like what I'm always saying to my kids when they're pouting, "Whatever you do, don't smile," and, of course, they smile...

You know how they say "a picture is worth a thousand words?" I say, what's a few more? [Words, that is. O.K., pictures, too...]

Now for the pictures. I took them last summer when we went to Colorado Springs, CO for a wedding on my husband's side of the family, which was the second wedding summer vacation in a row in Colorado. [Yes, Texans like to get outta' Texas for the summer - it gets hot here...I mean really hot!]

We were on top of Pike's Peak which has an elevation of 14,ooo+ft [after 14,000ft, I stopped counting - I couldn't breathe - anyway, does it really matter?...It was high.]

And it was snowing! Well, just some small [very small] snowflakes, but...in July! [I know. I know. All you Northerners are thinking, "...And?", but we Texans get giddy with snow. It's just the way it goes! I also don't melt in 100+ degree temperatures with relative humidity at 99.9%.]

The view in the first picture above is the view that inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write "America the Beautiful". Well, not all of it. Just the part about the "purple mountain majesties". Unfortunately, it did not inspire any such poetry in me. [However, the cold inspired my son to chant "Hurry up mom. I'm cold"...over and over and over again. Family vacations - aren't they fun?]

Nevertheless, the view absolutely took my breath away! [Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that there's not much oxygen at 14,ooo+ ft...Maybe... I dunno.]

What humbles me about Pike's Peak is that the view I'm gazing at is the same view that Dr. Edwin James first viewed in 1820. The same view as Julia Holmes, the first woman to reach the summit, viewed in 1858. The same view that inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write America the Beautiful in 1893. While I'm not related [that I know of] to any of these remarkable people and their family story is not connected to my family story, we are connected in one way. We all stood on the same peak and had a glimpse of America's awesome beauty from there. [Not to mention the lack of oxygen.]

All kidding aside, one thing's for sure, Katharine, you got it right. America sure is beautiful!

Now, if someone in our family would get married in a state that I need to do family research in...now that would be awesome...a working vacation!

[O.K., so I added more than 1 picture. Oh well, let's just change the name to "Wordless Wednesday - Not, and Add All the Pictures You Want!" It does have a ring to it...

Caroline