Deb Pacini: Views from the Street

Seasonal attire: Our own appearances change month by month as we shift between wearing heavy winter boots and dark puffy coats to colorful and lightweight summer outfits.  Similarly, the saints' appearances are transformed by the changing hues and textures of the seasons.

Celebrating the holidays.  Homeowners who enjoy decorating their yards can be especially attentive to seasonal holidays, both secular and sacred. Symbols of a holiday co-exist peacefully, albeit sometimes improbably, alongside Catholic virgins and saints.  Halloween, whose origins are in pagan rituals, produces the most interesting contrasts.

Sometimes immigrants’ layered identities can be read from paired flags, the American adjacent to their homeland’s flag.

For God and country.  Patriotism is not just for the 4th of July and Memorial Day: front yard Virgins and saints are often paired with flags and other symbols of national pride.