On Feb. 11 when we arrived home in Richmond Hill from a vacation, the first thing I did was turn on the water.
There was no water pressure. I went to the back of the house to check the main water valve – it was in the on-position. I called the city water department and they told me the main water line had been shut off due to a leak.
By coincidence, just a block up the street, workmen were down in a hole working on the main water line to close the leak. As part of my character, I like to watch workmen do their job on public projects, and I like to serve as sort of a Sidewalk Superintendent. I submitted my advice and guidance, but of course, they smiled, ignored my presence and continued working to fix the leak.
During the course of digging the hole to find the water leak, they cut a cable. It was thought to be just an abandoned cable of some sort. It was not known at that time that the cable was the main TV transmission line to many houses.
I returned home, relaxed and turned on the TV. There was no signal on any channel. I realized then that the severed cable was actually the TV transmission line to my house. I called Comcast to report the matter. The Comcast crew was on the scene the next morning. The cable was mended, and I was happy again.
Above and beyond all the problems I was having, no water pressure and no TV signal, the most prominent moment of this event was when I was leading the two crewmen to the severed TV cable.
One of the crewmen said, “I noticed that when we arrived this morning, you were putting out the colors.”
“Yes, I do that every morning at six o’clock and I take in the colors every evening at six,” I replied.
“I want to thank you for that,” he said.
“Are you a veteran?” I asked.
“No ... I’m in the National Guard,” he replied.
“I’m a veteran,” I said. We shook hands and parted.
I’m still asking myself, “Why did that gentleman of the Comcast crew thank me for putting out the colors?” I have to conclude that it’s a soothing feeling that everywhere we look among us, there are patriots.

Bond lives in Richmond Hill. He can be reached at fsb007@aol.com.