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On June 14 , 1777, the Second Continental Congress issued a resolution adopting the Flag of the United States. It wasn't until 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law.

There have been twenty-seven official versions of the flag to date. The current version of the flag dates to August 21, 1959, after Hawaii became the fiftieth state. More

I write of a tale
from long ago,
bout the place,
the Red Ferns grow.

Compassion for others,
not as privileged as thy,
reviewed from their perception,
of me, not I.

Saying goodbye,
has become tiring,
exhausting me,
in the process.

Dealing with it,
on a daily basis,
yet wanting to
bring closure, but not forget.

I know my beloved is gone.
I know it well.
My current path has become,
a pathway to hell.

Wind blowing through
Willow branches
mostly leaves.
Shadows fall into trees.

Darkness surrounds,
then I see thee.
Where have you been,
my lovely one?

Day is ending,
with the setting Sun.
It's then I awake,
there is no one.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 66 lies a mere 35 million light-years away. The gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way. This Hubble Space Telescope close-up view spans a region about 30,000 light-years wide around the galactic core. It shows the galaxy's disk dramatically inclined to our line-of-sight. Surrounding its bright core, the likely home of a supermassive black hole, obscuring dust lanes and young, blue star clusters sweep along spiral arms dotted with the tell-tale glow of pinkish star forming regions. Messier 66, also known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the three galaxies in the gravitationally interacting Leo Triplet.

Riding a dappled pone,
we called "Old Paint".
A gentle animal,
naw, I'd say she ain't.

Wide across,
to spread your legs,
she would do what she wanted,
on those, bony, spindly legs

I search for a word,
but it has been taken.
Why do I look
when my hearts broken?

Alas, he sits,
with a chagrined grin,
"What's going on,
with my thoughts, thin?

Is this a piece of
the grieving process?
If it's not,
then, I am a mess.

I don't want to be,
with anyone now,
as memories are raw,
or I just don't know how.

Old memories
of days gone by.
We don't recall,
or know why.

The recovery of abandoned
animals has been a huge
part of my friend, Jan's life.
This is for her.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It was the first time ever. At least, the first time this photographer had ever seen aurora from his home mountains. And what a spectacular aurora it was. The Karkonosze Mountains in Poland are usually too far south to see any auroras. But on the amazing night of May 10 - 11, purple and green colors lit up much of the night sky, a surprising spectacle that also appeared over many mid-latitude locations around the Earth. The featured image is a composite of six vertical exposures taken during the auroral peak. The futuristic buildings on the right are part of a meteorological observatory located on the highest peak of the Karkonosze Mountains. The purple color is primarily due to Sun-triggered, high-energy electrons impacting nitrogen molecules in Earth's atmosphere. Our Sun is reaching its maximum surface activity over the next two years, and although many more auroras are predicted, most will occur over regions closer to the Earth's poles.

Photo by Daniel Koszela