...by the dawn's early light

Last month, Tommy and I traveled to Washington DC and visited the newly reopened National Museum of American History. The star attraction is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to pen our national anthem almost 200 years ago. It was moving to see.

Sunday morning, I left Houston on a 6:30 a.m. flight and happened to get a window seat. As we climbed, I glanced out the window to the east. What a gorgeous sunrise! The horizon was a deep red which faded to orange to a pale yellow. There were dark clouds outlined in stark contrast to the gradually increasing light. My meager description doesn't do it justice.

All I could think of was, if the dawn Mr. Key witnessed so many years ago was anything like the one I was looking at, then no wonder he was so moved.