Flash

Old Glory

The Sicilian Storyteller

The gracious Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers
is challenging us to write something creative
in 100 words or less to go with this photo.
This is my response to that challenge.

Photo Prompt © Rowena Curtin

I’ve been married so long, Betsy Ross was my maid of honor!

Our first house was an impressive five-bedroom Colonial with loads of property. Fifty-two years ago it cost $68,000; today that money can buy a car.

The house was white with navy blue trim and a red door. As an excited new homeowner and proud American, I planted red and white impatiens and coral red begonias in all the window boxes.

There was no white picket fence but we did have a proper flagpole and hoisted Old Glory every morning …. much to the chagrin of my communist next-door neighbor.

NAR©2024
100 Words

8 March 2024

This is “Our House” by Crosby, Stills & Nash

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

44 thoughts on “Old Glory”

  1. I remember my grandparents talking about buying their first houses in San Francisco for $5,000. My house now, in much less expensive Reno, is almost 100 times that.

    My mom loves “Our House.” I have a recording of my dad covering that he intended to give to my mom for her birthday. He didn’t make it that long. I finally cleaned up the audio and gave it to her along with other songs he recorded for Christmas last year.

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      1. No, he was a professional gardener who loved playing his guitar and idolized Bob Dylan. If you’re interested, I used him in the background of this story, https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/26/friday-fictioneers-ghosts-of-his-guitar/ It actually reminded me of the recordings I had and got me started on the project. I think my mom was eventually thrilled, but she couldn’t listen to it right away. It started her on a mission to find tapes he may have had.

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          1. Thank you. He recorded it on somebody’s hand-me-down computer. I set him up but didn’t teach him how to record. He was either too far away from the mic, didn’t do anything to deaden the sound, recorded way too quietly, or a combination. Unfortunately, I only have one good quality recording of him that I recorded for a project for me.

            And a story for every song.

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  4. The house reflected who you were, and that’s a good thing. If our homes can show a little of our individuality, then we’ll have interesting neighbourhoods – better than the streets and streets of cloned houses that seem to pop up in new housing developments. Nicely told.

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    1. Thank you, Margaret. We like to call them Stepford Homes. My sister lives in a lovely community where every town house is exactly the same and there are specific rules to follow when personalizing the outside. I get lost every time I visit just trying to find her house! It’s like being in a Twilight Zone episode.

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  5. This was a nice nostalgic look back. Life always seemed to innocent ‘back then’. I had to smile because the issue of displaying a flag was an issue of contention in an HOA I used to be a part of.

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  10. Cute story, Nancy. Back in the day, nobody considered that one day home prices would make ownership unattainable. It’s one of the most broken things (after no universal health care) in the U.S. Food, clothing, and shelter are a right of every American citizen. Two out of 3 isn’t bad, but we can do better.

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