Tuesday May 31

Today at the courthouse, we joined the "I Am Bradley Manning" campaign. See iam.bradleymanning.org .

Monday May 30

Four at the beginning of the vigil; eight at the end. We were visited by a motorcycling couple from Seattle; they told us that Seattle has a vigil from 11:00AM to 1:00 each Thursday, in front of the city's Federal Building.

Sunday May 29

A crowded evening at the vigil, with 15 people at the end of the hour. There has been some sickness and even death in the Corvallis peace neighborhood recently, and we spent some time talking about that and wishing us all well.

Saturday May 28

Three to start the vigil; eight at the end. Again the rain held off until the last ten minutes. The gardeners had a discussion: if you have a dog and a flock of chickens, and the dog kills chickens, which do you get rid of?

Friday May 27

Three people at the start; six at the end. We were lucky that the rain held off until just after 6:00PM.

Wednesday May 26

Four people at 5:00PM, nine at 6:00. Rain during the vigil, but at least it was not snow. A couple of dogs looked bedraggled.

Wednesday May 25

Four people to begin the hour, ten at the end. One man who attends "once in a blue moon" comes because he has not seen a video of an airplane crashing into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Indeed, videos posted on youtube show only a ball of fire erupting from the Pentagon.

Tuesday May 24

About eight people for much of the hour. We had a new sign, "Honor the dead, heal the wounded, end the war".

Monday May 23

Three people to start the hour, seven of us at the end.

Sunday May 22

About a dozen people at the vigil. There was an almost-rowdy birthday party with homemade juice and healthy Rice Krispie treats.

Friday May 20

Eight people in front of the courthouse for much of the hour.

Thursday, 19 May

Sunny & warm - two of our six took to the shade, the rest savored this first of the season warm hour on the sidewalk.  Midway in the vigil a young friend, the exchange student from Chile, stopped to say hello.  He was with a young woman and both were pleased to pass a few minutes coaxing friendly waves from passersby.

Wednesday May 18

Four at 5:00PM, eight at 6:00. A quiet day at the vigil, thinking about the results of Tuesday's elections.

Tuesday May 17 -- pups for peace

Two dogs and four humans to start the vigil, four dogs and twelve humans at 6:00PM. More than one passerby stopped to visit the dogs. Some vocal opposition and many supportive peace signs.

Monday May 16

Five people at 5:00PM, ten at the end of the hour. Cookies were brought and shared. A little before six o'clock we were visited by a bird who left a calling card -- one of the perils of a street vigil. :)

Sunday May 15

Seven people to begin the vigil, eleven at the end. Without our trademark VW van, we were short on signs, long on people, and long on interesting conversations.

Saturday May 14

Five to start the hour, eight at the end. One bicycling friend lengthened his trip to include a SHORT visit -- "Hello, now I'm leaving." And a local organizer stopped by to announce tomorrow's history lesson, about the Movement for a New Society -- Sunday May 15, 3:00PM to 5:00, MU109A. For background, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_a_New_Society .

Friday, 13 May

Quiet start, just 2 for much of the first 1/2 hour.  Then our eldest friend of peace came round the corner; her first visit of the season.  We were delighted to see her; but concerned because the van which has a folding chair was not there.  Luckily there's a bench at the edge of the sidewalk and she sat there, holding a sign.  We moved ourselves and signs to stand beside her and hear the news of her life - 91 years, this summer I believe.  About 5:30 a friend from the Eastern Oregon came from the North end of the block and soon one more, stopping on his way home from work.  With the later addition of 2 we finished the hour with six.

Wednesday May 11 and Thursday May 12

Wednesday, a chilly wet day. Chocolate chip cookies to carry us through. About eight people for much of the hour.
Thursday, cool and sunny. Several vigil regulars were away, in Texas, Colorado, Portland, and even Corvallis. Two people to start the hour, eight at the end. Three big trucks showed their appreciation -- even one truck is a special day.

Tuesday May 10

On a sunny afternoon in Corvallis, twelve people for much of the hour. A young man and a young woman joined us for the first half hour. Unfortunately we did not find out their thoughts, but we were grateful for their company.

Monday May 9

Seven people at the beginning of the hour, fourteen at the end. Corvallis has an Amnesty International writing group, and today the group brought colorful posters and letters of petition asking for the release of Iranian political prisoner Majid Tavakkoli. Thanks.

Friday, 6 May

Burr!  A bundled up group gathered in a steady rain - four to start, three for the duration joined early on by four more - 1 a newcomer with strong opinions. And, two that split the last 30 minutes between them.  Six o'clock found 8 still at the curb.  A curious mindset causes people in passing cars to shout out things like "Obama is a war president." What were those two men in that black truck telling us?  Is it a challenge to why we are there or is it strictly a comment on the current administration?  But, the tone was accusatory as if we had not noticed that the addiction to violence crossed Party lines.

Thursday, 5 May

Three at the opening bells; 11 to finish the hour.  Politics circled the conversation.  Responses to Francis Moore Lappe's  talk of the night before bounced between us.  A report on a recent excursion through Zion National Park and to Escalante shifted the focus to distant beauty and the wonder of wild places, preserved.  What could we preserve if we did not invest our wealth in destruction?

Wednesday May 4

Five people to start the vigil, eight at 6:00PM. In the evening some of us attended the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling lecture, delivered by Frances Moore Lappe. She argued that, to create a better world, we should work on changing the way we look at the world, from seeing scarcity to seeing sufficiency. What do you think? Does the vigil fit into that? and if so, how?

Tuesday May 3

A mild and sunny day at the vigil. Five people at the start, eight at the end. A passerby observed,"Saddam's dead" -- which is true but old news. Maybe I heard wrong.

Monday May 2

Four people to start the hour, nine at the end.
Yesterday US soldiers assassinated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and today a Gazette-Times reporter stopped by to ask the reaction of vigil folks. Some of us think that his killing is irrelevant to the vigil, because the War on Terror will continue. Time will tell.
A young man came with a sign "WHAT NOW?" The "A" was an anarchist logo, and the "O" was a peace sign. His view is that anarchism and peace activism are opposites. We had an interesting conversation. Thanks for coming!

Sunday May 1

A lovely spring evening at the vigil. Half of us were without socks. Five people to start the hour, eleven at the end.
You may remember that students from a peace studies course at Western Oregon University are visiting the vigil each Sunday; this evening they brought a copy of their text, Approaches to Peace, edited by David Barash. The study questions at the end of each section were provocative.