Category: These United States

May 27 – One Flag

one flag, one nation
indivisible liberty
and justice for all

Flag Day, Fifth Avenue, July 4th 1916 by Frederick Childe Hassam (October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) The most distinctive and famous works of Hassam’s later life comprise the set of some thirty paintings known as the “Flag series”. He began these in 1916 when he was inspired by a “Preparedness Parade” (for the US involvement in World War I), which was held on Fifth Avenue in New York (renamed the “Avenue of the Allies” during the Liberty Loan Drives of 1918). Thousands participated in these parades, which often lasted for over twelve hours.

1892
(first version)
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1892 to 1923
(early revision by Bellamy)
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1923 to 1924
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1924 to 1954
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1954
(current version, per 4 U.S.C. §4)
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

May 7 – Hum of the Highway

Hum of the Highway
Sound of America singing
Not Walt Whitman’s song

All day long, like white noise (by itself a terrible nuance of this age) or the low drone of of a far off bagpipe, I hear the hum of thousand’s of engines. The low whoosh of cars and trucks forcing their way through air.

It’s background music for this techno era of auto tuned electronics.

Not the same music Walt Whitman wrote about.

I Hear America Singing

BY WALT WHITMAN

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

May 4 – book lovers welcome

book lovers welcome
as all great literature
haunted by the ghosts

Adapted from the notice posted at the entrance to the bookshop, Parnassus at Home, located in, according to the book, The Haunted Bookshop, by Christopher Morley, Brooklyn, NY.

from a framed placard at the entrance to the bookstore

There was a time in my life when almost everyone in the circles that I inhabited, owned a copy of this book.

One person whose name I can’t recall, felt it was her prize possession, especially after she had it signed by Garrision Keillor.

If you haven’t read it, it is a pleasant couple of hours and available online for free here.

As an aside, the first time I was given a copy by my sister Janet’s mother-in-law, Betty Benish. I still have it.

April 19 – embattled farmers

by the rude bridge stood
embattled farmers, fired
shot heard round the world

As Mr . Lincoln said at Gettysburg, ” our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

This country, when you get right down to it, is still an experiment and we continue to work our way through rough patches.

Sometimes, this is more evident than others.

Sometimes, we deal with problems that are thrown at us.

Sometimes we make our own problems.

Regardless, it all started at Lexington and Concord on April 19th.

Concord Hymn

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.