deliriouslove1970. The life & times of Gary and Denise Flanders. (Free and worth every penny. If you would like to compliment the editor, send to garytheflan@deliriouslove1970.com. If you would like to complain, call your mother.)

If you were to drive by the Flanders Retirement Bungalow and continual soirée in Big Bear City California, you would see I am flying what is commonly called the Irish Tri-color Flag: The Flag of Ireland.

It is a simple distinct symbol laden representation of this fascinating country. The green represents the people of Roman Catholic heritage. The orange is for the Protestant heritage. They are separated by the white vertical stripe that symbolizes peace between the two groups of people.

Ireland is certainly a nation that needs peace between it’s demographics. The tensions between groups and famously between Ireland and England boils over regularly. It can be a sad situation.

Flag wise it is a fine and beautiful symbol of a country. I fly it because Denise is Irish. She will tell you “I am Black Irish”. That is an interesting term that is not used in Ireland. It came to be used to describe Irish who had dark features, dark hair, dark colors of eyes, as opposed to more fair skinned Irish.

Ireland was a land where many others came and attempted to conquer that beautiful island. So, like many coastal nations there were a multitude of influences on the physical attributes of the people.

I met that beautiful, beguiling Irish girl when she moved in next door. The Flanders name is from the European country that is now called Luxembourg. At one time it was called Flanders then Flanders-Wallonia. My own heritage is more heavily English.

So there you have it. England and Ireland living together in delirious love since 1970.