My expert blog 4813

Flying My Flag With Respect: Honoring Veterans, Ancestors, and Free Expression

I keep a small basket by the back door with gloves, zip ties, a soft cloth, and a pocket notebook. The gloves are for cold mornings on the ladder, the ties for securing halyard ends, the cloth for wiping grit off grommets. The notebook holds dates and short notes, because part of how I show respect is to remember. Memorial Day at sunrise, Flag Day every June, the day my neighbor’s son shipped out, the afternoon we retired a torn banner behind the VFW. The ritual keeps me ho

Oct 4, 2026

When Did Being Neutral Mean Removing Tradition? Reflections on the U.S. Flag

One autumn morning I walked into a school office to drop off a donated box of tiny stick flags. The secretary smiled, then hesitated. The principal, she explained, had asked staff to keep personal symbols to a minimum so the foyer would feel “neutral.” She thanked me, took the box, and said she would check with the district. Weeks later I saw no flags, not even by the front desk. A local resident had complained after a spirited veterans assembly, the note said, and now they

Oct 4, 2026

The First Amendment vs. Flag Bans: Who Decides What Expression Is Acceptable?

One warm evening last summer, a neighbor swapped her porch flag from the Stars and Stripes to a Pride flag for a week. Someone left a note by morning. It was not threatening, just clipped and scolding: Please keep politics off our street. A few houses down, another neighbor had flown his POW-MIA flag for years without a whisper. On the school drop-off line a few weeks later, a teen’s backpack carried a small Gadsden patch. A staff member told him to remove it. The family pu

Oct 4, 2026

Some Fly for History: Remembering the Past Through Our Flags

I keep a small cedar box in the mudroom with a folded 3x5 nylon flag, a set of brass grommets, spare snap hooks, and a length of halyard rope. It is my go bag for ceremonies of the season. Memorial Day before breakfast, Independence Day at first light, Veterans Day if the wind is kind. My neighbor across the street raises his at dawn, tugging twice to snug the cleat, then steps back with the same satisfied nod year after year. The routine feels simple, but it carries more t

Oct 4, 2026