Flag Day, 2019...Flying It A New Way

On June 6th, I put out the flag like I've done for years. 

Then, the wind hit.

Needless to say, we no longer have a pole on which to fly our American flag. I folded up the flag and put it in the basement. Until this morning. I had to fly the flag on Flag Day, or at least, I should. 

My mind went to work figuring out a way to fly it.

I knew I had a couple of cup hook screws so I thought I could maybe hang the flag without the pole. Years ago, when my son was serving a LDS mission in California, we hung a California state flag on our porch while he was away for two years. I rigged a system to hang the flag and it worked well enough. Our American Flag is heavier so I needed something better.

We have some timbers framing the front of our home. I thought maybe I could find a way to hang the flag and give it the proper respect it deserves. I considered hanging it horizontally, but the only grommets on the flag are down the side, not on top, so I could hang the flag horizontally, but I'd have to punch a hole in the top corner and I didn't want to do that.

Looking at the front of the house, there were two places, to the left and right of the front door, that would work. I chose the left side (looking at the house...) so the house number wouldn't be covered up. And, if I hung it incorrectly (stars to the left--again, looking at the house...), I apologize. Please let me know and I'll fix it next time.

Tonight, we had a beautiful sunset. Once again, the pictures I took don't do it justice. I'd like to shine a light on our little flag so I can hang it at night and I won't have to bring it in each time the sun sets. I'm glad I was able to re-hang our flag today. After all, today was its day.

I Flew The Flag Today...

We've had so much rain lately, it was like living in Europe again, so I wasn't sure when I unrolled our American flag this morning and hung it outside if it would get soaked. It's not necessarily an all-weather flag so I keep it indoors during inclement weather.

But today, it felt like a flag-flying day.

I try to remember to fly the flag on holidays. We're coming upon a holiday-heavy time of the year so it's likely you'll see the stars and stripes in front of our home either waving in wind or resting in a non-windy day.

It felt like a holiday, even though it wasn't. Because of events occurring a third the way around the world, it felt like a holiday. The official anniversary of the largest military operation ever executed in the history of the world is tomorrow. It felt right to begin honoring the day a little early.

When I was born, D-Day happened twenty-one plus years earlier. Most of the world (at that time...) remembered it happening. Most of the survivors from that invasion were still alive. I bring this up because our society can't even begin to comprehend what happened on those French beaches three score and fifteen years ago. I listened to a podcast from Ben Shapiro this week. He interviewed D-Day survivors and the stories they told...just unbelievable. And to ask eighteen to twenty-two year olds to do that same thing for their country now, they'd think you were out of your mind.

I'd like to think we've evolved as a species in the past seventy-five years, but since there seems to be enough hate in the world to start several wars, unfortunately, we never learn. And because we stopped listening to and forgot about the people who actually lived through the experience, we're destined to repeat our mistakes. 

Tomorrow I'll put the flag out again. I know it's not a lot, but it's a way to honor those that lived by a different creed, one more unselfish, one better. Thanks to everyone who served. I can never adequately repay you. What a great day to fly the flag.