Celebration, gratitude, and planting seeds

Sharing wisdom from the Larry Land postcards

Today is July 4, 2025. Next year, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th year.

I thought today I’d do something a little different and share with you some images and captions from my Larry Land postcard series.

During the course of the summer, I have some special events happening to promote Bookworm’s Magical Journey and, my second children’s book which I have illustrated myself, Frog and Crow’s Conversation.

• THIS WEEK, on July 9, 6 p.m., at the Whitehall (Pa.) Library, I will present a family story time.

• At 11 a.m. on July 16, I will visit the Cops N Kids Reading Room on the southside of Bethlehem, Pa. For more information on Cops N Kids Lehigh Valley, click here.

• Barnes and Noble in the Southmont Shopping Center in Bethlehem Township, Pa., will host a benefit for the children’s hospital on August 16. I will present a children’s story time. Details to come. See Larry’s books here.

  

4th of July

Flags wave… The sun is shining. Bands are marching. Patriotic music is playing. Picnics and fireworks are soon to come.

I must remember to take time for silence and contemplate the things for which I am grateful. It is a day of gratitude.

We do need to take time to be grateful. We live in a better-than-most lifestyle. If you are reading this post, that tells me you have a computer. (And yes, smartphones are more computer than phone, so that counts as a computer.) Most people in the world today do not have computers. Many people cannot celebrate the independence of their country freely.

We sometimes think our butt is unique. In the end, we are just another jackass.

Some politicians think they are extremely unique, powerful, and morally correct. They think they wave the stars and stripes in honor of the nation. They are flag-waving not to serve the country, they are serving themselves.

We are all the same. Those who are uniquely self-centered are the true jackasses.

Lighthouses flash their light to warn us where danger lies. Our inner light shows us our true journey.

“Which is the right way to go?”

When I ask myself this question, it may take thought and some searching of my conscience to find an answer. My inner light shines toward the way to go. My conscience makes me conscious.

Seeds can float across the atmosphere and grow into a bouquet of beauty, fruits of nourishment, or forms of shelter.

As storytellers (and humans), we plant seeds of hope, gifts of laughter, and provide questions to think upon.

All the photographs taken by Larry Sceurman. Part of the postcard series of Larry Land cards. For more information, reply to this newsletter or comment below.

Have fun—

Larry

If you enjoy Larry’s Stories, don’t forget to click the heart or leave a comment. This is a place where you can share in the storytelling!

To read more from Larry…

Coffee in the Morning presents a collection of nostalgic short stories celebrating 20th century Americana, capturing the hopes, dreams and fears of multiple generations and different life circumstances. Similar to his first book, The Death of Big Butch, this carefully curated collection blends his experiences as observer first and storyteller second.

These sixteen stories weave from the backyard into diners and into forests, capture the other-worldliness of fairytales and the grittiness of misfortune. So visit the general store to discover the hero, explore perspective from the pawnbroker shop, pay your parking tickets, sleep beside the Jersey Devil, and never underestimate the power of a good Pennsylvania Dutch pie.

The book is available for sale via Larry or Parisian Phoenix, at Easton’s Book & Puppet Company downtown, or at the Made in the Neighborhood Store at the Palmer Park Mall.

(And, of course, all your favorite online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org, etc.)