American Pride

Sometimes you are just proud to be an American. I had 3 recent events that gave me new reasons and helped me remember why I love my country.

The first was the World Cup. I have not been a soccer fan for long, but have been following the Real Salt Lake team for a few years. Not passionately or anything, but we go to a game or two a year, and watch other games on TV. It was great to see them win the MLS cup last year. The World Cup is a whole other level. It was very exciting to see the US team compete. I watched all 4 games, and had a great time. Watching soccer on that level, especially given the passion of the fans, is very fun. Seeing the US score against England, then come back to tie against Slovenia were great times. I can remember few more exciting sports related moments than seeing Donovan put that goal in the net in extra time against Algeria. We were watching at work on a big screen, and the room erupted. I then saw footage on youtube from bars across the country and the reaction to that goal was inspiring. Two bad about the Ghana game.

The second was the 4th of July holiday itself. I am not much of a parade fan, given the heat and the sun and the heat, but we went to the West Jordan parade. It was fun to see flags, have a flag ceremony, and do the fireworks. It is a great holiday.

The third was my recent trip to scout camp with our ward troop. We had the opportunity to retire a flag while we were up there. The flag was brought by Dennis Caldwell, a member of our bishopbric, who is a Logistics Technician for the Air Force. He told the boys the story of William Driver, and Old Glory, which is a great story. He then had two of the boys help him to retire the flag. It was neat to see the reference and respect given to the flag.

Go USA!