Guest Opinion by Don Bendell
Today, I was listening to a beautiful rendition of “ America the Beautiful,” performed by the late-Elvis Presley, who shares a birthday with me. I really focused on the words, “For purple mountains majesty above the fruited-plains. America , America , God shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”
It suddenly hit me. I’m a real American cowboy with a real horse, and frequently ride on those “purple mountains majesty,” usually on 13,000 and 14,000-foot peaks in the majestic Sangre de Cristo range in southern Colorado . Meaning, the “Blood of Christ” the Sangre de Cristos are so named for the red hue on the snow-capped peaks at sunset and sunrise. I have been so richly-blessed, I thought, to live my dream borne of my childhood imagination in Akron , Ohio while watching Roy Rogers, the Range Rider, and John Wayne.
