Mary Meier's flag is perched among the clutter on her front porch, under a stuffed-animal owl designed to scare away birds that like to nest there.
"I put the flag out for the people," said Meier, 54.
She flies the flag on major holidays, when she remembers.
Meier picked up her flag at the Chicken Soup Brigade thrift store. Like most others, she's been glued to her television since Tuesday.
"On TV, they were trying to (compare) it to an earthquake," Meier said. "An earthquake's a natural thing. You just can't ... there's no comparison."
