I begin this WQ post about flags with this quote because I like it.

That’s how I see life sometimes, especially when I’m called stubborn, simply because I love a challenge, a stickler for rule, and know there’s a chance I’ll fail as I’ve already failed quite a few times in the last few weeks..

My garden’s under attack, you see, by caterpillars, earwigs, and possibly grasshoppers. Nasty little bugs, earwigs. They have these pincers, that if you get close, it’ll pinch you.

These things have been leaving tons of holes in my vegetables and eating my newly germinated cucumber seedlings. It’s crazy that I sowed 8 seeds and all I’m left as of this writing with is one lone survivor, hopefully.

I thought the earwig invasion was bad last year but it looks like this year is even worse. I will keep sowing though as I remember from last year that eventually, the pests disappeared. That’s just gardening, anything can happen and I must embrace the challenge because by overcoming the challenge, I get to see a bigger picture and will do better next year.

On the 4th of July, I went to see the city parade for the 3rd year in the row. I love this parade, having been both an active participant and a spectator. There’s always something different to see. The unfortunate part about this year’s parade was that one of the floats stalled and mom got impatient waiting so we had to go despite my objection to stay. “It’s the same every year,” she whined. The parade didn’t resume until we were driving out of the parking lot.

Thankfully, I steered away from her during the parade and found my own spot on the sidelines where I got to take as many photos as I wanted without having to listen to criticism and complaints. Before I left the group that contained her brother and sister-in-law, I heard mom said, “It’s the only country in the world where no one cares if you wore a bikinis with the U.S flag printed on.”

Hmm… that certainly was an intriguing thought. The only country?

“You’d never see anyone in China doing that with the Chinese flag.” Mom laughed. Then she began explaining the meaning of the colors on the US flag to her sister-in-law – red for bravery, blue for justice, and white for purity.

Immediately, her sister-in-law said, “How do I remember that?”

“Recite it daily,” mom replied, “you have to know it for your citizenship test.”

“Who can find the time to remember this stuff?” Sister-in-law replied, “I’m going to wait until I retired to take the test.” I rolled my eyes. Time to walk away before anyone asks me anything.