The other night I was sitting at the glass door which was slightly ajar enjoying my smoke. I was sitting there instead of on the porch because it was cooling down quite quickly and expected to get downright cold over night and it was warmer sitting just inside the house than outside. I often like to watch the road out front or examine the porch I am working on. On one of the posts leading to the roof of the porch, my American Flag was waving a little too profusely in the cooling wind. I put my cigarette down and went outside and took my flag down and rolled it up on it's staff then put it inside. I imagine this doesn't seem too unusual, but there was a reason why I stowed the Flag. The area I fly it in is well lit, and it is an all weather flag so it was correctly flown but it was getting cold outside. I didn't want my flag to get cold. Sounds crazy, but I was thinking of our nations flag in the terms of something that was living and breathing. Something that might suffer in bad weather. When I realized what and why I had stowed my flag I thought about it for a moment or two and asked myself whether other folks thought about the flags they flew as living or just an object of appreciation. I am not sure what other people think but I do know this....I taught myself accidently what my heart thinks.
Doesn't sound crazy to me (says the gal who doesn't want her ceramic guardian angel that's sitting on the shed and looking over the house and occupants therein to get too cold or blown over by the wind, etc.!) Flag... well, I don't think of our flag as something living, but it flies high and it flies proudly. Because it's flown year-round, I've had a few of them shredded by extreme weather and that's always sad to see. (And yes, I know the protocol for respectful disposal.) Story... the flag on its tall pole near the carport. December two years ago... horrible storm blew in (you couldn't even guess where this is going!) with blizzard winds. I'm staring at the ceiling wide awake like I'm usually doing at 3:30 a.m. and suddenly my only thought was "Oh NOOOOO! That couldn't have *possibly* been what it sounded like!" But it was. Flag pole through the windshield and it shattered into two bajillion and eleventy shards of glass. If there's any good in this story, it's that Old Glory wasn't destroyed, or even torn... "she" just laid there waiting to be hoisted again on a new pole.
Have you ever checked out the stats for the American Flag that flew over Ft. McHenry in 1812? Wow!! A 30'x42' banner of nothing but Total Inspiration. Now, what I wonder is right down your alley.....What size pole would they have had to mount the wonderful thing on? I am sure that even a center mast ( I don't know anything naval except, it has something to do with water and boats float on it) of a clipper ship would not be tall enough. Can you imagine, giving life to our flag again, the canons firing and soldiers fighting and our flag in the thick of it? Too neat. A sad thought though. In the civil war, 2 flags flew over the same country fighting each other.
