Figuring that I still had two days till the 4th of July and plenty of time to do more
flag things, I asked Ken and our worker, Aiden, to get out the big flag to hang on the
horse barn.
By the time I got outside with my camera, I saw that the big flag that they had out was the
not the big flag that I meant, but, instead, The Really Big Flag which I knew would be way
too long for the barn. Or anywhere else around our property.
We tried the barns and the house. In the end, Ken and Aiden, sports that they are, folded
the flag to go back inside with the others in my huge collection of stars and stripes.
Meanwhile, I came in to look around at some of my other flag stuff, like the light box (below).
My parents were people from what is now known, rightfully, as the Great Generation. They
were patriotic Americans and, in spite of my hippie years, I have reverted to character
and am as patriotic as they come. Family daguerreotypes rest on the flag presented
to one of our fallen heroes (below).
A bunch of vintage parade flags and a trio of Terry John Wood’s handmade santas.
A 50s license plate attachment (below) let the residents of Wooster know exactly where
the driver’s loyalty lay.
Framed flags.
And, this one (above, right), a reminder of some of the crazy coincidences in gift giving
that occurred regularly between my father and me. Both of us pored over the pages of
Country Living magazine back in the 80s. One year, we each saw a handmade wooden
flag with lattice stripes and painted stars. I made one for my father for Christmas with
hand-dyed wood and stars. My father made the one in the photo for me using stain for
the wood and stars. What a happy surprise on Christmas morning when we each opened
the same gift ! There were other twin gifts made and exchanged over the years and it’s fun
to remember those days.
A banner (above, left) that I purchased for Ken ’cause he loves Buddy Holly. And,
Blow Oskar, a painted tin man, the only piece I saved for myself from a collection I
purchased from a folk artist in rural Georgia. He told me that his neighbor, Oskar,
passed his house every day and blew his car horn. This inspired the little 3′ portrait
of Oskar and the command to Blow! We made many trips through the back roads
of the south in the 80s and 90s, looking for face jugs and folk art and interesting
folks, as well.
This painting (above), from South Carolina, is another treasured reminder of our
southern exposure. The banner above it says it all for a patriot like me : AMERICA
FOREVER. And, the flag? Long may she wave.