This gray, cloudy Sunday morning the birds are acting like starvation is taking them over. I think possibly they haven’t been coming to the feeders for about a week. A hawk flew in one day last week and just missed grabbing a chickadee. The birds have been watchful and scarce ever since. The goldfinches are almost wearing all their winter feathers – only a few still show much yellow.

When Wendy and I went to Vermont two weeks ago, we were amazed at the expressions of patriotism we found displayed in all the areas we visited. Wendy took several pictures of the most unusual ones and I kept a list. New Englanders are not at all hesitant to express their declarations of freedom.

Several sighs in all areas repeated the phrase made by President George Bush – “Wanted, dead or alive, Osama bin Laden.” An impressive large sign was mounted high on newly rolled bales of hay saying, “We stand strong in America.” Neat red, white, and blue bunting was draped across the hay bales.

In Bennington was another cluster of hay bales with mounted signs that said “America Is The Way” and “God Bless America.”

The high school in Stockbridge, Mass., is on a gentle hill. Imprinted on the grass on the hillside is a colorful American flag that is at least 50 by 20 feet high. Monument Mountain High School students must have worked hard to design their tribute.

Also in Massachusetts is a large frame, which surrounds a good-sized US flag. The frame has large Christmas bulbs placed all around the flag – illuminated night and day.

We had admired the large flag in Woodbury, Conn., mounted on an arm from a truck at the side of the road. Not to be overlooked a bit farther north, in a rather sparsely occupied area, is a sort of round outcropping of land. I couldn’t count them as we passed, but a couple dozen medium-sized flags were “planted” on the mound. It was simple and impressive.

A barn in southern Vermont has a gigantic flag displayed that rests on the roof and continues halfway down the barn. Twin American flags were carefully painted on the doors of a sedate country home facing Route 7.

I chatted with a woman at the big new post office in Manchester, Vt. She wore a large cluster of red, white, and blue ribbons on her lapel. I noted how nice they looked and she said she made a larger cluster for her front door because she couldn’t buy a new flag. Several neighbors were doing the same, she said.

The day Laurie took us on a long ride in the area of Randolph, we passed a beautifully kept cemetery. Children – I think a class of school children – were placing new small flags on graves where faded ones were displayed.

In Chester, Vt., we stopped at the bank where daughter-in-law Joy is the manager. A car went through the drive-in that had a nicely drawn and colored US flag in the rear side windows. I was reminded of the woman in Newtown who couldn’t buy one so she made one of quilted cloth – very nice.

Without exaggeration, the number of cars, homes, business, and other outdoor structures where patriotic symbols, mostly flags, are displayed, is quite overwhelming. Trees, alongside mailboxes, fences and gates and on lofty flagpoles, our country has proclaimed its freedom. We are proud.

The words ending last week’s column are of course, those spoken by Patrick Henry in a speech in 1775.

Who said “True patriotism doesn’t exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others?”