Universal signs...

I'm a dreamer. Sometimes this is a major inconvenience, because the world likes to exist within the realm of logic and reason. Often it allows even a mundane task to end in an anecdote or a parable, which makes life beautiful and interesting for me every day.

For example:

I was driving on the I-17, heading north into Phoenix/Glendale today when I heard a strange noise outside my window. I looked to see a motorcycle in the lane to my left, gaining speed to pass me in the HOV lane. The noise that sounded out-of-place was the U.S. flag attached to the back of his bike.

It was flapping and snapping on a 5-foot dowel secured to the 'bitch bar' and the flag itself measured approximately 2ft by 4ft (maybe a bit larger). Its size and the height at which it waved, made the rider look like he was more suited for a slow-moving parade than a busy rush-hour freeway. It dwarfed the bike that he was riding; not a tricked out hog, but a small Honda somethingorother.

Just as I was wondering if it was legal, I heard a snap and caught a glimpse of the airborne flag just before it disappeared back to the concrete and under the wheels of a semi-truck.

Having had 'flag duty' in Elementary school, I knew it was exceedingly important that the American flag never touch the ground. I was a particularly clumsy and flighty kid (not much has changed) and I used to silently repeat the mantra, "Every time a flag hits the ground, a Veteran dies" in the hopes that I would treat the situation with more focus and gravity than I was typically wont to. It worked. The flag never hit the ground when I was on 'flag duty'.

So I felt my own 'pang' when the flag hit the ground and I imagined the silent screams of those in the vehicles around me that may have seen the unfortunate incident.

And then I thought, "Well, it was a pretty ridiculous flag. He didn't have to have such a ginormous one and it didn't have to be waving 5-feet in the air on a dowel with no more than a 1-inch diameter. That's a pretty easy physics hypothesis... even for me."


His overt expression of pride led to the desecration of the very thing he sought to represent.

His overt expression of pride led to the desecration of the very thing he sought to represent.


To some, it would be no more than a curious incident. Perhaps even something soon forgotten and unremarkable. To me, however, it was just one of those reminders from God/my greater conscience. Random musings of a dreamer.

Thanks for the lesson, universe. :)