Unusual Holiday Gift

On last night's flight home from Florida, I read the in-flight sales magazine. Among the items was an item called "Dog-Off Deluxe". The item apparently emits a sound that freaks dogs out. In the words of the sales brochure, it's "the perfect gift for joggers, walkers, postal workers, and delivery personnel."

If you're interested, it's available on SkyMall.com, and in time for the holidays.

The photo shows a British postal worker and a dog, in presumably happier days.

Memorial Day/Decoration Day

I grew up in a household that displayed the American flag on summer national holidays. This gesture was my parents' simple statement of their firmly held beliefs about the United States, rather than any calculated political posturing. My mother and father, who came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War, were always proud of their nation. Many events challenged the strength of their national pride, none more so than the revelations of events at Abu Ghraib, a shameful episode that brought my mother to angry tears.

Decoration Day, as my parents called today's national holiday, continues to touch most Americans. A few years ago, my wife Amy took a photograph of an older man displaying American flags on a particularly hot holiday. The man's humble act characterized how many people express their sincere attachment to an America that's out there, somewhere.

The trick is to find it.