Patriotism

As you may know by now, Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month.  My theme is Count your blessings.

I am blessed in several ways as this journal page shows.

First, I love my country, at least most of the time.

Second, I am proud of my flag.

Although I'm not sure I would say I would die for my flag, I know I would condemn anyone who intentionally defaced or burnt it.   After all, many brave soldiers have died for this flag and what it stands for. 

That may be why our soldiers' coffins are draped with this flag.

On Tuesday (August 7), I will have the opportunity to have my voice heard by casting votes for both federal and state offices.  In the states, we have something called a PRIMARY, part of a two step process, where a group of candidates are voted on and the field is narrowed down to one candidate in each of the parties my state allows.  The winner of each primary election become's the party's choice for the second step, which is the GENERAL election.  The general election is held the first Tuesday in November.  For Kansas, we have the following parties: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, and Reform.  There are at least five candidates in each of the first two parties and at least two in the other parties.

In the primary, you must declare the party you want to vote for.  In the general election, you can vote for anyone you choose in any of the parties.

Voting is a right women should never take for granted.  It took us in the U.S. long enough to win the right to vote, so we must never squander the opportunity.

I am blessed in many ways today.  I have the right to fly my flag without being persecuted, and I have the right to vote in the two step election process.

For this page, I began by running a piece of 110 lb card stock through my printer and printed the words.  Next, I drew the flag using a ruler and metallic colored gel pens.  I colored the blue and red using water soluble crayons.  I went through all my postage stamps that had flags and tried not to repeat any.  They are really quite popular stamps.  Finally, I colored the little girl paper doll and attached her to the page, standing her on one of the flag's stripes.

Bleubeard, my fearless and welcoming co-host and I are delighted you stopped by and invite you to join us at Art Journal Journey where my theme this month is Count your blessings.