Visible House Numbers
For better or worse, we are the offspring of our parents.
My father had a thing about House Numbers. He hated trying to find a house, and having to hunt for house numbers, both on the house he was seeking and on the ones around it trying to figure out where he was. House numbers painted on curbs were better than nothing, but cars parked or trash cans put out could hide them, and putting numbers where they were likely to be scuffed off by people parking seemed foolish to him.
Our house growing up in Bethesda, Maryland had house numbers that were literally one foot high, painted bright red, next to the front door. Granted, the front door was probably 80 feet back from the street, but you could definitely find 4323 Rosedale Avenue.
I got a routine “this is on special” email from Home Depot, and it included a solar-powered Flag Light. This light is designed to either mount on the flag-pole itself, or on a wall near a flag-pole, and illuminate the U.S. flag at night, per the Flag Code.
For those who don’t know, there are strict regulations about displaying flags. While I was in High School, I was responsible for displaying the United States flag and the Maryland State flag on the twin poles in front of the school. Of course, most people know the U.S. flag is not allowed to touch or drag on the ground. Ideally, it should not be displayed in the rain. If it is displayed at night, there is supposed to be a light illuminating it. And the only proper way to dispose of an unserviceable U.S. flag is to burn it, respectfully. In high school I paid attention to the weather report, and would not deploy the flags if rain was forecast, and if it came unexpectedly I’d dash to the front of the school and pull them down.
I don’t actually have a U.S. flag to display on the front of my house. Somewhere I have a Rainbow flag, which I’d be happy to display during Gay Pride week, but (I need to double-check) I think our HOA regulations prohibit anything except the U.S. flag. (I don’t agree with that…if I want to fly Norway’s flag to reflect my Norwegian heritage, why not? And if Mexican-heritage residents want to fly their flag on Cinco de Mayo, why not? Likewise Chinese New Year, etc. Our diversity is our strength.)
For under $10, I couldn’t resist getting the flag light, and installing it to illuminate my house numbers. And it is next to the mount for my flagpole, so if I got one, I could just turn it to illuminate the flag.
Front during the day
As I am my father’s son, there can be no doubt where 2415 Madden Avenue is located, even at night.
Front at night