Entry bubble Your 4th of July Photos

By: Joanne | July 07, 2009 | Category: Fun

About two weeks ago, we asked people to share their Independence Day photos with us by adding them to our group on Flickr. Since then, people from all over the world have shared over 200 photos!

We've had a lot of fun seeing how people celebrate our favorite day of the year with BBQs, swimming, fireworks, parades, and time with family and friends. Here is a selection of the many beautiful 4th of July photos people shared with us that capture the variety of ways that people celebrate our independence across the country.

Hope you had a great holiday!

F 23
Untitled by Shawn Farrington

IMG_7137
Untitled by cebasham

Happy 4th of July
Happy 4th of July by John F Hark

Red, White, & Blue
Red, White, & Blue by <Bobby>

Budweiser Clydesdales
Budweiser Clydesdales by Tim Archibald

Independence Day Parade 023
Independence Day Parade by oplkids

swirly
swirly by jasonsbytes

Waterford VA July 4 2009 030
Waterford VA July 4 2009 by NancyTylerPhotos

In the Spirit
In the Spirit by Mr. Saint Spaniel

Neto & BamBam on the 4th of July
BamBam on the 4th of July by erniejon

See more beautiful 4th of July photos shared on Flickr.

| View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: bbq   fireworks   independence_day   joanne   july_fourth   parade   party  

 

Entry bubble Fourth of July on the National Mall

By: Jake | July 06, 2009 | Category: Fun

National Mall FireworksI'm taking a hiatus from my Gov Gab hiatus today to bring you my GSA coworkers' reports about their Fourth of July experiences. My colleague Karen Trebon tells us about the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and my colleague Jonathan Rubin reports out on the National Mall fireworks display. Tell us about your Independence Day celebrations in the comments section and don't forget to post your photos to the USA.gov Fourth of July Flickr photostream. You have until midnight eastern time tonight and we'll be highlighting our favorite photos here tomorrow!

 

From the festival grounds...
The Smithsonian is much more than a bunch of museums!  Every year around Independence Day, the Smithsonian goes alfresco on the National Mall for the Folklife Festival. This year’s event featured the power of words in the African American community, music in Latino culture, and the country of Wales.Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Giving Voice held demonstrations of storytelling and other oral traditions important to the African American community like poetry, radio, and humor. Las Americas: Un Mundo Musical (Musical World) featured Central and South American food and three salons for live performances of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican, Salvadoran and Paraguayan music. Wales (or Cymru in Welsh) showcased their food, music and crafts such as textiles, stone carving, iron and woodworking, and ceramics.

One of my favorite sources of information about other countries is the CIA World Factbook. Don’t be intimidated by the author!  From the drop down list, simply select the country you want to read about and this online encyclopedia tells you about its people, geography, and economy, just to name a few.

Rumor has it that Mexico will be featured in 2010, but watch the festival’s official website www.festival.si.edu to see what other countries and parts of the world will be exhibiting next year.

..and on to the fireworks!
To most of us (myself included), the holiday is a great thing - a day off from work. It's a pretext to get together and celebrate some immediate, tasty pleasures: grilling, some adult beverages, and fireworks, all beneath a canopy of American flags. It's a patriotic picnic with a very large invite list.

Here in D.C., however, it feels a little different, especially now that I am a Federal employee. When you work inside the halls of government every day, it can be very insular. "We" on the inside are working for "the citizens" on the outside, and sadly, it can be rare when the twain meet.

On the 4th of July, however, it's like they turn government inside out; the halls empty and America hangs out on the lawn, together. It's refreshing for me to be with the people I work for and relish the fact that every American contributes to making this country what it is. All our actions, large and small, create the American experience.

D.C. is the epicenter of the 4th of July. It's the heart. Walking down marbled streets, past the Washington Monument framed gorgeously by fireworks (which, despite a recent article by Slate, are really thrilling), you feel like you've been given access to a great thing, like a backstage pass to a fantastic event. It's both exclusive and free at the same time. You are milling about in the most powerful city in the most powerful nation in the world, and yet you feel unmolested. An incredible amount of work, not only by the Founding Fathers but by each of us every day, has gone into creating a country where we can peacefully assemble and praise or protest anything we wish, no matter how controversial or ludicrous.

And that certainly feels like something to celebrate.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: fourth_of_july   independence_day  

 

Entry bubble I Love Living in America Because...

By: Ginger | July 03, 2009 | Category: General

American flag hanging in front of an antique shopThere are things that we all wish were better with our country. Like you, I think I pay too much in taxes (I have yet to meet a person who thinks he doesn't pay enough). I get monumentally annoyed and disgusted when our political leaders get caught doing unethical things. I get frustrated with the red tape and the rigamarole that seems to accompany some of my interactions with the government, and I get angry when I hear my tax dollars are occasionally wasted on stupidity.

It would be easy to sit and gripe all day about our government, but tomorrow is July 4th, a day we celebrate all that is good with our country. Our founding fathers risked their lives to declare their independence. They created this country on some basic principles that hopefully we all believe in even today. Throughout our history people have served and sacrificed for our country to advance the ideas of freedom of speech, equality, and representation. These are rights that many people in other countries don't have or are struggling to obtain.

There are many reasons for all of us to be proud of our country. I would like to see us all set aside the sniping and griping for this one day and think about why we appreciate living in the United States. Please express your heart-felt birthday wishes by sending in a comment. How would you finish this thought, “I love living in America because...”

I will get us started: “I love living in America because I work for a government that allows me to write blogs that are totally my own (complete with embarrassing stories and quirky details. I have the freedom to express criticisms about my government and no one calls me a traitor, slaps handcuffs on me, or throws me in jail for doing so.”

| View Comments [12] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ginger   independence_day   july_4th  

 

Entry bubble We Want your Independence Day Pictures!

By: Colleen | June 24, 2009 | Category: Fun

Every kid who grew up in the Philadelphia area from 1967-1994 has the Sunday morning jingle, "send your pictures to dear ol' 4th julyCaptain Noah" permanently etched in their brains. Dear ol' Captain Noah gathered quite a collection of paintings and drawings over the years, which he shared with the whole Delaware Valley during his much anticipated weekly segment.

It is in that same spirit that GovGab is anxious to announce our own form of picture-share, but with a more modern twist.

With the Independence Day holiday approaching, USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov want to know, "How do you celebrate the Fourth of July?" Submit photos from your backyard BBQ, fireworks displays, baseball games, picnics, parades...whatever it is you do to celebrate Independence Day, we encourage you to share it.

 Anyone 18 years or older, of any nationality, living in any country is welcome to submit pictures of their holiday experiences to our specially created Flickr group.

At the conclusion of the holiday weekend, selected photos will be posted on GovGab, along with special editor posts covering various 4th of July events.

Photos will be reviewed to be sure their content is appropriate, and you're submitting with the understanding that they might be shared on GovGab, USA.gov, or GobiernoUSA.gov.

Just think- it is only in the past few years that we've been able to have such an instantaneous sharing of information...let's use it to have some fun and celebrate together.

Shoot, even Captain Noah required postage...

Again, to submit your photos: here is the link to our Fourth of July Flickr Group.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   flickr   fourth_of_july   gobiernousa.gov   independence_day   pictures   usa.gov