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.)

The most populous and third largest by land area state: California. If it was a separate nation, it would have the fifth richest economy in the world. It is a place of unsurpassed natural beauty.

California is situated on an amazing plot of land with a unique geographic feature and climate that produces a huge percentage of the food for not only the rest of the United States but the world.

It has a history that demonstrated the best and worst of our nation. People came to seek a better life and riches – and it was the home of the most deplorable acts of genocide against Host Nation People in all of the sad history of the US.

The flag is the well known ‘Bear Flag’. The current flag was officially adopted in 1911 with an ‘artistic redesign’ completed in 1953. The Bear on the 1911 version was said to be modeled after a real California Grizzly that was in captivity.

The original Bear flag was designed by Peter Storm and hung over a settlement in Sonoma in 1846. It was meant to be a protest and was the ‘battle flag’ for a group known as ‘The Bear Flaggers’.

California joins our collection of flags from places we have lived. We miss our family back in Big Bear so our hearts turn toward the west often. It was a fantastic place to be A Certified Naturalist and I do miss the San Bernardino National Forest.