Thursday September 29

Four or five at the beginning, increasing steadily throughout the hour until there were fourteen at 6:00PM. Someone told me about In Depth, a three-hour C-SPAN program which airs in Oregon on Sunday mornings. This Sunday, October 2, the guest will be Michael Moore, the film director who has recently written a memoir Here Comes Trouble. You could find out more at the website booktv.org .

Wednesday September 28

Four folks at the beginning, eight or nine at the end. Someone stopped by to tell us that Senator John McCain wanted to cut defense spending by cutting veterans' benefits. I think that he meant an obscure-to-me 2008 argument about the best way to structure college tuition benefits for veterans. Our visitor's proposed solution is to encourage Howard Dean, one-time government of Vermont, to break off from the Democrats to form a new political party, maybe called the Pragmacrats, emphasizing campaign finance reform. It would take a lot of work to make that real -- maybe even more than the hour a day which the vigil asks.

Tuesday September 27

Four at 5:00PM, half a dozen at the end. Just at the end of the hour a young man in  a truck shook his head violently. There were many gestures of support, but I remember the disagreement more.

Monday September 26

Half a dozen people at the beginning, thirteen at the end. A friend who left Corvallis three years ago has returned and is again joining us.

Sunday September 25

Around a dozen people today. As is usual for Sunday, traffic was light on Fourth Street.

Saturday, September 24

Brightly colored Pinwheels for Peace lined the edge of the courthouse lawn today.  Their spinning beauty inspired families with young children to stop and look closely at the designs drawn on them.  One dad was eager to figure out how to make one with his small daughter (who was enjoying an ice cream cone).

8 'curb people' standing vigil this day.  The town was bustling what with Fall Festival & an OSU football game.  Most of the parking was occupied.  This necessitated us standing in a different portion of the block. I noticed this gave me a different view of the passing traffic. I wondered if people who see us frequently saw us in a different way as well.

Autumnal Equinox, Friday, September 23

Eleven for this late September heat wave.  Cardboard squares arrive in a cardboard box: we could make new signs (for fair weather).  We could make "burma shave style signs"  to share our points of view in a different graphic way.  Some of us note the rising number of positive responses to our presence.  A convertible with  two children in the back seat passed us, all four occupants waving enthusiastically.  Judging by their appearances the vigil has been happening nearly the entire life of those children.  And, no end in sight.

Thursday September 22

Four people at the beginning, nine at the end of the vigil. Two vigilers wore International Car-free Day T-shirts. For the day, an electric cart replaced the vigil's trademark van.

Wednesday September 21

From half a dozen at the beginning to thirteen at the end, including participants from Albany and from Independence.

Monday September 19

Four or five at 5:00PM, ten at the end of the vigil. A theme was "Waiting For Charlie". Many a Monday Charlie brings cookies to the vigil, and today some of us were looking forward to treats even more than usual. :) Thanks, Charlie.

Sunday September 18

Four at the beginning of the hour, nine or ten at the end. It was a pleasant late summer afternoon. Conversations turned to gardening, particularly winter gardening.

Friday September 16

Half a dozen to nine people throughout the hour. There was a "companion vigil", organized by the Corvallis Amnesty International letter-writing group, about the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia next week. Seems like it is very possible that Troy Davis is innocent, so that the other vigil was to urge the state of Georgia not to carry out the execution. The Corvallis giant peace dove made an appearance.

Saturday, 17 September

Quiet day - friendly folks from Beaverton stopped to say hello.  They've heard of us daily vigil folks.  They participate in a weekly vigil, Wednesday nights in Beaverton - usually about 20 people!  They chatted for a awhile & continued on their way.
Seven for us this day with one Peaceable Dog.

Thursday September 15

Half a dozen at the beginning, increasing for most of the hour until there were about a dozen at 6:00PM. Among other topics, conversations about the development of human language, about friends who have moved from Corvallis, about the local pedicabs.

Tuesday September 13

Four at the beginning of the hour, maybe ten people and two dogs at the end. A long-time friend, now living in Salem, came to visit.

There will be a potluck supper for the Corvallis peace community, on Sunday September 18 at 6:30PM, at the meeting room at First Alternative south store (the meeting room is just behind the little espresso cafe northeast of the store). We would be happy to see you there.

Monday September 12

About ten of us throughout the hour. It has cooled down since last week, which is welcome for many. We are beginning to make plans for October 6, the tenth anniversary of the US attack on Afghanistan (and the tenth anniversary of the vigil -- thanks to all who have taken part). What can we do to include more people, particularly "the other side"?

Sunday, September 11

West winds set the flags snapping - 2 Peace flags & our well used Earth flag as well as the peace themed prayer flags that stretch across the sidewalk.   Twelve for a while & for the majority of the hour, ten  - a goodly number for a usually quiet Sunday.  Some commentary on the commentary in the news regarding 9/11/01 and the catastrophic aftermath (my word choice - but most agree that the events of that day were swiftly turned to justify long simmering political agendas for war/occupation.  & today the media mostly followed the standard plot lines).  Some speculation - who can actually get us out of the moral morass of these wars....

Saturday, 10 September

Four in the shade.  Socialism & contemporary Cuba - an upcoming talk on that topic is discussed as a friend stops briefly.  A man approaches and stands a few feet behind us.  "I don't understand why you don't support Ron Paul!  He's the only one who will end the wars."  This man has been here before  full of the Libertarian reading of history.  He tries again.  Funny how one can always find a crooked path to defame what is feared and support what you hold dear. "Just read history," says he.  Degrees in history say two of us.
Second Saturday Benefit Concert follows vigil; raising money for the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition.

Friday, 9 September

Seven for much of the hour; with eight for awhile and two beloved latecomers shortly before the bells.
A treat arrived - fresh garden cucumber in crisply chilled slices.  The bounty of summer - maybe one of the wages of peace - the privilege of a home garden, good soil, none of the lingering detritus of years of military "action"  to imperil the innocent wielder of spade & hoe.  How would it be to have cluster bombs and depleted uranium dust to complicate the pleasure of sowing seeds to feed family & friends?

Wednesday, 7 September

Phew,  the heat from the pavement was unmitigated by even a wisp of breeze.  I found myself thinking of shortened tempers under the weight of combat gear in the Iraqi summer.  Degrees of suffering; to what point and with what consequence?
It is suggested that people are beginning to see these wars from different perspectives.  How hard is it to change your mind about something so visceral as believing in the "rightness" of your nation's wars?  What if someone you love is/was in the military?
Five early on in the hour, then four, back to five and down again to four with two, no three, more to round out the hour.

Tuesday, September 6

A wedding party bustles about on the courthouse steps; photos are taken.  Laughter and the bubbling voices of happy people float toward us.  Three waiting for the signs to arrive.  We each hold the two finger V in lieu of printed statements.  I am ambivalent about this "peace sign"; elders tell me they view it as militant - Victory, is how they remember it from WWII.  Yet, it seems the common currency of contemporary Americans to indicate Peace.  
The van arrives bearing signs & flags.  We are soon 5 and then we are 8.  Three of our cadre celebrate this date as their birthday; one is here this day as are cookies in honor of the occasion.  Conversation rises and falls.   We notice at the half hour that the planetary angle has shifted sufficiently to cast a long shadow over the whole area where we stand.  We've been clustering in the shade of the cherry trees to avoid the late summer heat.
A few loud but garbled shouts of hostility from people in passing cars are balanced by the abundant numbers of enthusiastic carloads of young men.  Has the 10 year duration of slaughter, maiming and anguish finally tipped the broader opinion of what we once would have called the "draft age" population toward non-violence as a national policy?

Monday September 5

Three or four folks at 5:00PM, about ten at the end. Some of us talked about how to respond to passersby who disagree with the vigil, for example the two men who argued on Sunday that we should give war a chance. We came up no clear answer; perhaps it will be an ongoing discussion.

Sunday September 4

Three people to start the hour, half a dozen at the end. One vigil-er brought two Peanuts comic strips, featuring Charles-Schulz-birds "demonstrating" by carrying signs with punctuation marks. In one strip the question-mark birds got into a scrap with the exclamation-mark birds. :)
At the very end of the vigil a couple of men stopped by, proposing that war actually benefits some groups, as for example the Kurdish people in Iraq. We did not make time to sort out the question.

Saturday September 3

Eight or nine people through the hour.

Thursday, September 1

1 to start, then the van & signs arrived and in a few minutes a third person arrived. Slim numbers for the hour - 6.  A question asked: "Are there plans to mark October 7th?"  10 years of war - I want to call it state sponsored terrorism.  10 years of the daily 5pm to 6pm presence at the Benton County Courthouse.  It seems we might consider how to (dare I say it?) capitalize on this upcoming occasion to draw attention to our position(s) regarding peace & war.

Wednesday August 31

I arrived late, about a dozen people were in front of the courthouse.

Tuesday August 30

Three of us at the beginning, ten-ish throughout the hour. Some discussion of the proposed student housing development at Witham Oaks.