There’s an old saying that goes-
“You learn something new everyday.”
This is heard a lot amongst the men in prison where there are new discoveries everyday (maybe new policies or the latest prison gossip). I can bear witness to the numerous of things one discovers- from the radio, tv or books. And while I’m not surprised at the new things I find out, I often end up in awe about them.
I have one such discovery to share, and as a well-read 35 year-old it’s almost embarrassing, but hey- “You learn something everyday.”
Up until about a couple of years ago I didn’t know what an Almanac was! Yes, indeed. I’ve had dictionaries, thesauruses, even a seven-language dictionary, but I had never owned, nor seen, an Almanac. Maybe I had heard the name and I thought it was a book of maps or something (like an atlas). But, little did I know what I was missing.
Around 2 years ago someone was cleaning house and was trying to get rid of their Almanac. Being forever vigilant about good books I asked for the Almanac, because I had never had one. And wow- I had no idea of the vast information it had. Next to the dictionary, this may be the most important book ever. It has EVERYTHING in it. I had no idea one book had compiled so many things.
The edition I got was 2005, nevertheless I relished it like a child opening gifts on Christmas day.
While I could cite an abundance of things in the Almanac that informed me and enlightened me, I’d like to share just one that stood out to me the most. I don’t quite know why this did. Perhaps because I never knew the depth of it (something that’s in our face daily), and that it came off almost occult like. And that is:
Code of Etiquette for Display and Use of the U.S flag
When to display it, flying at Half-staff, how to fly the flag, church use, how to dispose of worn flags, when to salute the flag, prohibited uses of the flag are some of the topics.
I’ll let you research all of that for yourself, but it sure was a fascinating discovery about what this government expects for its flag.
Now that I’ve gone through the Almanac front to back, it’s time for me to pass it along to. I have to give away good material such as this, but I must always keep in mind that so much more is ahead. We could live 100 life times and never learn everything about life, the world or the universe. So, as long as I’m living I truly look forward to “learning something new everyday.”