Flag Day

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The significant event of the day was going to church. It wasn’t normal, but it was certainly better than we’ve had for months since the virus lock down. The choir sang at the 10 am service outside. I took a photo of the fellows setting up. Not being able to see the screen, I cut John off on the right side. There were wires galore connecting the piano, loud speakers, and microphones. I was amazed they pulled it all together, but maybe they are used to it.

Choir director on his knees. David in the middle. John’s blue coffee mug shows he is within reach.

We had rain at home before we drove the 30 miles to church. We were concerned about the weather, but it was wind that played havoc with the choir music. I caught one page from the choir director’s stand, and others ran after the rest. The pages were copies of hymns, not expensive sheet music. I wasn’t the only one who saw dark clouds approaching toward the end of the service. Pastor had his eye on them and shortened the last hymn to two verses. Everyone pitched in to carry chairs inside after the electronics were wheeled away.

After church, a special cake was served in the entrance so that no one had to go inside. We were celebrating the birthday of a church member who will be 100 years old in three days. Bill attends church every Sunday, and there are always people hugging him or shaking his hand as they pass by his pew. He is amazing!

This was also our wedding anniversary. We decided to try a Caribbean restaurant to have something different, but we couldn’t tell if they were still doing take-out only. David got out to read the signs on the door. Just then a worker came out and told him no one was allowed inside. We went straight to our second choice of the day, Chrimson Crustacean, otherwise known as Red Lobster. I asked David to do the selfie on site, because I thought the men might take off their ties after dinner. The sparkly flag on my top didn’t show at all. Oh, well, I tried.

On the way home, John bought us a tiny chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. The one we bought for David’s birthday was labeled chocolate, but the cake inside was yellow. This time the label was correct, and we all enjoyed our chocolate fix with a minor amount of guilt.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

27 thoughts on “Flag Day”

  5. How nice you are “back in business” at church again. Amazing what they did to string everything together and happily it did not rain, just threatened. What was the Plan “B” if it rained? I know you said the cars in the parking lot were not a workable option and the electronics would have gotten wet. Well, you’ll worry about that next Sunday if bad weather is predicted. Everyone looks happy and festive (we saw your earrings). David does a good selfie and I like your name for Red Lobster. 🙂

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      1. Well you all lucked out – is it an outside service going forward then until things calm down with COVID-19? (If that happens. We are going to Phase 5 soon, one more Phase and we’re fully back. They just extended the Canadian/American border until 07/21, as ordered by Prime Minister Trudeau. If you visit someone, family for example, you must be quarantined there for 14 days.)

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        1. I think our church people are making decisions about services one week at a time. Tonight John is one of those taping a service for this coming Sunday. We’ll be having services at church, but I don’t know if they will change the schedule again.

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          1. That makes sense – taping it today as it is for Father’s Day. Maybe people will be spending the day with fathers – they can do that now here, but could not for Mother’s Day. We’ve come a long way – at Easter, we could not visit a relative or cross the street to visit a neighbor.

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              1. You are lucky Anne .. well the Governor was on the radio live this afternoon and she was going to allow us to go to Phase 5 (of six phases) in the next few days but since Michigan and New York are the only states showing improvement, where many others are spiking, she will wait til right before the July 4th holiday to go to the next phase. It does affect me, just the allergist’s office and hopefully no more shutting down of the Park.

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  6. Just came from a Zoom vespers service and got to read about your in person worship. What a treat. I am glad someone besides me remembered it as Flag Day!

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  8. No chocolate on the teeth, yet? Happy belated Anniversary. Many years ago we had a neighbor with an African Grey Parrott. Quite the talker was that Bird. He would call his caretaker quite frequently, “Bonnie, I want out.” We kinda feel that way up here, who do I yell to, I ask. Be safe my friend!

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  11. I love your portrait Anne…beautiful. Our church will open this week. We’ve opted to continue watching from home. We are only allowed 50 inside for each service and you must sign up beforehand. I hope this is not the new normal in our area. Happy Anniversary to you and John also. God bless you!

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    1. We had to sign up for a church service, too. There were four to choose from, one more than usual. There was no danger of overcrowding! We could also have watched a taped version at home. I may choose to watch at home next time. We were told the bathrooms were closed. I made it fine last Sunday, because we went to a restaurant to eat. This Sunday a son and grandson are going to cook for Father’s Day, so we won’t be eating out. We have a 30-mile drive to church, same length coming home, and I take a medication with a diuretic.

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  12. Happy anniversary! It looks like you and John had a fine day. Too bad you had to go with your second choice for the restaurant. You had your cake before lunch!

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