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Happy Flag Day from Glen Ellen

 

Since this is Flag Day I thought I might share a few musings about our own flag. Of course I love old glory with her red, white and blue flash. Who could help but love and honor our flag evoking, as it does, childhood memories of peace and freedom? From time to time I hoist her up the pole and watch her wave, with a slightly wistful wish that things were still as simple as I once believed.

However, given the complexities of flag etiquette and the hazards of old folks (like my sweetie) running up and down extension ladders, we've chosen to fly another flag this past year; one that doesn't need nightly retrieval. Alas it is time that even that be replaced.

Our four-colored flag of Oz has weathered a year of storms and is looking much the worse for wear. It's a representational map of the land of Oz, but few folks know that. I've endured shouts and slurs from passersby, but it only makes me chuckle, relying on the wisdom of Glinda who believes in the power of positive thinking.

By the Fourth of July I hope to have glory waving from my window.

Close to home this week, great news comes from Kymm Falls, who has every reason to be glowingly proud of two former star students of Dunbar School. That would be Isabel Falls and Elizabeth Eagles who were honored for maintaining 4.0 GPAs all of their years at Altimira Middle School. Elizabeth also received the award for outstanding student.

Last Thursday evening while the two girls were accepting their honors at the Altimira promotion ceremony, some of their fellow dancers from Sonoma Ballet Conservatory were thrilled to welcome Thomas Lund, a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, to their ballet school. The girls did attend his performance at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley on Saturday, still basking in the glow of their academic achievements. Congrats to these former Dunbar students.

Kymm has arranged to display the work of local artists at the Ballet School. This month she choose one of the girls' favorite Dunbar teachers. Sandy Lane's figurative paintings grace the walls of the ballet school reminding the girls of their excellent education at Dunbar School.

I must have been channeling the Talking Heads last week. At least that's the excuse I used with the three folks who called me claiming that the last paragraph my column didn't make sense. Well no wonder; I left out a bit too much.

To begin with, in my apology I mentioned the redolent flavors of a bubbling Indian curry that distracted me from reporting JJ Hernandez's disaster drill. Two of my callers asked "what's this have to do with curry?" That's easy: those yummy flavors were to highlight my book club's discussion of Rohinton Mistry's intriguing tome of friendship, "A Fine Balance," last year.

This year, no bubbling curries interfered because Victoria Graves hosted our meeting and recommended Sarah Dunant's Sacred Hearts transporting us into the cloistered life of 16-century Italian nuns. Does that apaology and explanation work for you? I feared not. That's why I encourage you to check the end of my column, where I keep my contact information. I look forward to hearing from you, befuddled or intrigued.

Tomorrow afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. the Bouverie Preserve will be holding an introductory session for folks interested in becoming volunteer nature educators. Please call Nancy Trbovich at 938-4554 to sign up.

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Share your good news with friends and neighbors in Glen Ellen. Call or write me at the numbers up there by my smile. Or email me at creekbottom@earthlink.net.