Blog 3868 – 06.25.2026

Gathering Place

My wife loves to pass the time putting jigsaw puzzles together. She is very good at it and yesterday completed two in just a few hours. Today’s picture is one of those and I remember picking it out for her because it reminded me of a fire pit at my brother Robert’s place near James Town, Tennessee.

Sunsets, a majestic view while gathered around a fire with family and friends sharing stories is a tradition as old as time. Sharing the fire, it’s heartwarming and protecting glow, surrounded by loved ones is a dream far older and more sacred than the American Dream that we will celebrate in little over a week. Our nation’s founding fathers 250 years ago envisioned this country as a city set on a hill that would be a shining light of liberty and of truth and justice for all not just another petty fiefdom ruled by yet another power mad greedy king.

There were No Kings Protest then as there are now and gatherings not to hide the truth, but to proclaim it from every hill top. The preamble to the Constitution says: 

Before the new Constitution could be ratified by the states, ten amendments had to be attached enumerating several more of those inalienable rights mentioned in our Declaration of Independence of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Our Constitution and those inalienable rights are under assault. I was a soldier once and swore an oath then to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. I took that oath seriously and still do.  Free speech and the right to assemble peacefully are spelled out in the First Amendment. Whether we choose to do that sitting around a fire or standing waving a sign of protest it is our right to do so.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White