(Remembering the 4th)
Good Friends in Lakewood Land:
As household accessories go, I’m afraid I’m not very big. I only do one job too, and people only think of me a couple of times a year, but at least I’m reliable to a fault.
I’m a flagpole bracket. I was put on Gary’s front porch column way back when our home was new. In Gary’s case, his home was built in 1909, so that was a long time ago. I forget how many coats of paint are on me now, but there were enough that Gary had to scratch some of it off, so that he could get the flagpole in and out.
I’m out here in all kinds of weather, day and night. Gary drives by me up and down the driveway all the time without a second thought; at least until Memorial Day. At that point, our flag came out in the morning, and Gary took it in at night. The same ritual usually happens today, on the 4th of July, and again on Veterans Day, and on other days as appropriate. In between, I just perch there, attached to the old porch column as a silent sentinel.
When I started out on that old porch post, it was President Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday celebration, although Honest Abe did not live to see it. The rare 1909 VDB Lincoln penny came along that year however, so at least he was remembered. Mr. Shackleton made an adventure voyage to the South Pole that same year, while Robert Byrd searched for the North Pole, and the NAACP was founded. Teddy Roosevelt was President when I was first installed. The U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased the first American military aeroplane flying machine too, a Wright Flyer. Famous Americans Gene Krupa and Cozy Cole, (both jazz drummers) Barry Goldwater, (politician) Burl Ives, (folksinger) and Mother Maybelle Carter, (Country Music star) were all born that year, along with the great guitar inventor, Leo Fender.
From that time until now, I’ve been here for our country’s flag. Over the years, some of the people around us have used our neighboring flag brackets to support game day football flags, flower flags, and flags for many different universities and political causes, but at Gary’s house, I’ve pretty much stuck to my job supporting the American flag alone. I was kept pretty busy by the home’s former owners during WWI, WWII, and the Korean Wars. During Vietnam, I probably should have been even more busy, but times were changing then. Fact is, there was a period of time when I wasn’t used a great deal. People got old, sick, and just got out of the habit of putting out the flag. But one day, someone noticed me, and I was back in business again!
I’ve seen all kinds of transportation go up and down our driveway. The old garage in the back was supposedly a chicken coop at one time, so horse drawn egg and milk wagons have passed me by, along with Mr. Ford’s Model T. The coal wagon often came by to dump coal into the bin, at least until the new furnace was installed. Many cool cars came into that driveway too, including Gary’s first car, his granddad’s 1962 Plymouth Valiant, as well as his used 1973 red and white Cadillac Eldorado from the Rock days that barely fit! Two motorcycles were there too, a Harley and a Kawasaki, along with a plethora of racing bikes and mopeds. These days, the driveway is shared by Gary’s minivan, and his dear late mom’s PT Cruiser.
The flag’s been updated a few times over the years too. When I was first put up, we had the relatively rare 46 star flag. That came along with the addition of the state of Oklahoma, which had mainly been Native American territory up to that point. In two years, the flag would add two more stars when Arizona and New Mexico became states. That 48 star flag would take us through WWI, WWII, and Korea, and would not change to the present-day 50 star flag until Alaska and Hawaii were added in 1959. There was even a rare 49 star flag earlier that same year, when Alaska was the first of those two new states added.
So here I am, ready for the next holiday. Do you have a flag bracket like me at your home? When’s the last time it actually held a flag? As I look around during the holidays, it seems that so few of the brackets are being used these days, or if they are, they hold everything from flower pots to pretty little flubby dubs. Nothing is as pretty, at least to me, as our nation’s flag. It’s almost becoming an endangered species these days, what with all of that back and forth political mudslinging going on nowadays.
You may not think of me often, but like that flag, my other flag bracket friends and me will always be here for you, when you need us.
Our flag is so much more than anything we might imagine it to be. With all of the usual summertime fun ahead, please remember our flag, and all that it represents.
I’m Gary’s bracket, but it’s OUR flag. I digress here...
Thank You Veterans.
Sincerely,
Gary’s flag pole bracket