Tioga, Pennsylvania, USA

In the years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, everything (including cement mixer trucks) became an American flag. We projected flags on buildings. We added them to our front yards. We incorporated them into public art. We designed clothing using them. We laid them on our mail boxes. And, we combined them with iconic maps. [2007]

Gibbstown, New Jersey, USA

The Nothnagle single-pen log cabin may be the oldest surviving log structure in the United States. (Attached house built much later.) Date: ca. 1640. Size: Larger than most. Builder: An immigrant from Sweden (though probably a Finn). The Swedish Empire (see the flag?) attempted to colonize the lower Delaware River, calling it New Sweden. [2016]

Liberty Hill, Texas, USA

Unexpectedly Funny! President Reagan would love being honored with a street named after him. Here's what he would not love: seeing the drive-by public being told to turn Left! As for "America's Builder," don't you wonder how many immigrant laborers he used to build those homes? [2015]

Ronceverte, West Virginia, USA

Beautiful begonia! But, what's overhead? A former bridge that has had its pavement removed. That's good for the begonia, which now gets more light and does a better job of inspiring pride in the community (along with the flag, of course). [2021]

Bastrop, Texas, USA

A phenomenon of the 21st century is the tiny house movement. As if tiny houses were anything new! Tiny houses have always been with us. In some parts of the world, they took the form of tiny apartments. Are you enough of a minimalist to enjoy living in a house this size? [2015]

Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

What is art? Anything that is part of the designed world, and that includes just about everything. Signs, flags, windows, and fonts are all designed and often redesigned. The anonymous designers of these cultural curiosities are all human, but nature can be a champion designer as well, so attune yourself to the full panoply of landscape aesthetics. [2022]

Oak Hall, Virginia, USA

Don't you love these roadside sermons? This one is well-suited for the times: mid-July to early August in Tidewater, Virginia. If heat records are going to be set, they will be set now. But, if "you think it's hot here . . ." [2022]

Austin, Texas, USA

"love Yourself love the World": Make the world part and parcel of your very essence. It's your home. Just as you know every nook and cranny of the house you live in, you should know something about the nooks and crannies of the planet you live on. It may take a life time, but that's what you have: decades of learning and loving. Happy Birthday! [2009] 

West York, Pennsylvania, USA

Make art a part of the world you live in. If you are successful, it might even entice your neighbor into a roadside competition for attention (or to see who is the better patriot). Happy Fourth of July! [2006]

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Here is an example of acculturation without assimilation. The Amish came to America in the early 1700s. Three centuries later, they are still visually identifiable as "plain people." Yet, they have borrowed from "English" culture. See the cell phones? What unites them with the muscular dude on the end? The American flag overhead. [2021]

Washington, D.C., USA

Anchor Cities of Megalopolis: Washington. Jean Gottmann is the geographer who put Megalopolis on the map. He described it as "the urbanized northeastern seaboard of the United States." Washington and its suburbs were the southern terminus, but most people would now extend it to Richmond, and maybe Virginia Beach. [2021]

Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

"Stand With Ukraine": Those words, along with blue and gold ribbons, quickly became part of the American landscape when a re-assembly of the Soviet Union began, thanks to "mother Russia." The people of Ukraine don't deserve this, and the people of Russia don't deserve to be led by a President who has turned back the clock an entire century. [2022]

Moorefield, West Virginia, USA

 

"Supporting every thin line": It started with the "thin blue line" to honor the police. It then morphed into other thin lines: The thin red line honors firefighters; the thin silver line honors corrections officers; the thin yellow line honors emergency dispatchers; and the thin green line honors the military and conservation officials. Neat! [2021]

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

In 1830, 40 million bison lived under the stars of freedom, just like the country's human co-occupants. But, Americans couldn't leave their hands (or guns!) off them. They declined to 325 by 1885. Bison numbers have since increased to 500,000 but virtually all live in the prisons we call "reserves," so maybe prison-stripes on the rump are appropriate. [2007]

Jamestown, North Dakota, USA

In the United States we do anything we want with our flag. That's because the flag belongs to us: We, the People. Do you know that in many other countries the flag belongs to the government and its use is restricted to officially sanctioned places and events. But wait! Isn't there a U.S. Flag Code? [2021]

Warwick, Rhode Island, USA

Even a tawdry sheet-metal plant can look sharp if it has Old Glory on top. And, that smiling tin man standing sentry seems as proud as can be of his flag and his country. O Are you flying your favorite flag on this Independence Day? [2013]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Question 1: On this date, five years ago, the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in American history took place in what city? Orlando (Pulse nightclub). Question 2: What three flags (one is a twofer) are visible in front of this Philadelphia row house? US, Rainbow, and Transgender. Question 3: What is special about June? It's LGBTQ Pride Month. [2021]

Marion, Virginia, USA

Hundreds of white crosses topped by American flags create a forest of honor on the Smyth County court house lawn. It's an annual Memorial Day tradition that helps the community remember veterans who lost their lives defending our country. The tradition persisted during 2020 and continues this year. [2019]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

Only a few blocks away from the Westboro Baptist "Church" is the University United Methodist Church, with the rainbow colors of the LGBTQ community flaming away out front and seeming to complement the flame that engulfs the stained-glass window. Would you expect anything less from a church next to a college campus? [2021]

Topeka, Kansas, USA

Right across the street from the hate group Westboro Baptist "Church" stands the Equality House, proudly painted in the colors of the LGBTQ flag (see it flying?) and now proudly donning a Black Lives Matter placard. The other flag is the blue-pink-white transgender standard. [2021]