tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3110873829655511995.post8030627084535640333..comments2023-06-10T00:01:59.851+02:00Comments on Thoughts from a Mountain: Flags and WordsHe Who Talks Bollockshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279294907163329157noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3110873829655511995.post-10708470923782484112013-05-17T08:58:08.304+02:002013-05-17T08:58:08.304+02:00I had a similar moment of enlightenment years ago ...I had a similar moment of enlightenment years ago when I saw a pigeon land among the crowds at Liverpool Street Station. The station was being virtually rebuilt at the time, despite being kept in use, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fine dust. As the pigeon landed, dust arose all around him for several feet and I realized, as in a flash of understanding, how the pigeon, and all birds, flew by being supported on a wave of air. We see the pigeon but do not usually see the wave of air that accompanies him. The dust had for once made it visible.<br /><br />In the same way, I would say that what the flag's movements make visible is not just the wind but the interaction between the wind and the flag. The flag is moved by the wind but the course of the current of air at that point is modified by the presence of the flag. It is a dance in which one partner is invisible to us except for the effects on the other.<br /><br />I agree that a monument in which the fallen on all sides of the conflict are remembered equally is indeed a generous and humane gesture. It is such rare gestures that give me flashes of hope for the future of mankind among the general gloom and depression that I feel most of the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com