Sunday, 29 July

What will we do in 2014 when allegedly we end our war on/in Afghanistan?  Will we be able to call an end to this daily Vigil for Peace?  One says; "we'll be in Iran by then.''  "Syria!." said another.  Someone else says we'll be somewhere in Asia - somewhere we think we can win a war.   Has the US won a war - whatever that means, since World War II?
Quiet Sunday, 3 women, 3 men & a dog.  Gardens and health and the dog's history (unknown as he is adopted).  Exercise came into the chat - would not give up the vigil to go to a gym for an hour.  I suggest a stationary bike at the vigil.  Which led to: how about several and we could hook them up to the grid and add power to the city's electricity during the vigil.   "Peace is Powerful."

Saturday July 28

Four or five at the beginning, maybe nine at the end. Some of us talked, first about families spread out across the United States and then about individual commitments to nonviolence. In between we talked about the length of our haircuts. :)

Thursday July 26

Four or five to start the hour, nine of us at the end. Twice during the hour people yelled from passing cars "Boo!", something we do not remember hearing before. Perhaps ghosts were in Corvallis? :)

Tuesday July 24

Three to start the hour, seven at the end. We remembered the eight-minute short film Balance, filmed in 1989 [http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2007/12/02/balance/]. If you have not watched it, enjoy.

Monday July 23

Four people early in the hour grew to seven or eight at the end. We had three visitors: a supportive passerby, a supportive "biker-by", and an independent who told us (my paraphrase) that, in support of individual freedom, the US military was about to arrest "the government".

Sunday July 22

Four of us when I arrived at 5:30, eight at the end of the hour. We wondered how the people who lived long ago on Pacific islands learned to make their way over vast stretches of water.

Saturday July 21

Three at the beginning of the hour, seven or eight at the end. We talk about the movies we remember, many Westerns and also 2001 [a Western in space? :)]. For a couple of us, The Oxbow Incident, a non-Western Western, comes easily to our mind.

Friday, 20 July

Five in the beginning, peace banners blowing over the sidewalk in the breeze.  Family news shared.  Four more arrived - 3 special friends from Portland - daughter and two grandchildren of long time vigil folks.  The three year old adds sparkle and gusto to the group.  Suddenly the sun vanquished the clouds and two of us take to the shade. Two more come to stand. Conversation stays light.  The hour passes.

Thursday, July 19

Back into the shade today. 7 and one of our Peace Dogs.  Acupuncture is proving successful for the joint problems our dog friend suffers; she was a more lively presence.  A passing woman paused for dog petting and commented that she's missed seeing her when she walks by.  Quiet day after yesterday's various encounters. A young boy vigorously waved at us.  A car loaded with young women    cheered; another set deliberately looked away.  A man lowered his window to shout "hippies."  A motorcyclist passed and sounded the horn - which was a mellow tone like a car from the 40's.
All this while in distant communities not so different from us war destroys the commonplace moments of life.  I feel my privileges keenly.

Wednesday, July 18

Cloudy Wednesday.  Two of us to start, with no signs, we stand, our hands upraised with the two finger "peace sign".  A gratifying number of passers by reply with their own V or friendly waves.  Soon we were 4 and by the later half we were 9.  One of the group was holding an American flag hung upside down on the pole - an always controversial statement.  Today a local taxi driver who has often waved in support of our intention drove up in a roar of threatening haste, slamming to a stop by the flag holder and shouted angry words demanding that she restore it to the upright position. He drove off in a fury.  I am conflicted.  I understand the message of distress signaled by the inverted flag; for surely our militarism imperils our country.  Yet, we are rarely able to appropriately respond to the pained anger this provokes.    Near the end of the hour an man across the street stepped out into the street to shout somewhat incoherent imprecations at us or maybe they were intended as exhortations to greater action.  WalMart  was clearly heard and something about 90 million and war is only ended (something about wealth)by taking to the streets and storming the Bastille.  We ended the hour discussing our confusion over his message.

Tuesday July 17

Seven-ish of us through the hour. We talked about looking for jobs and about the art exhibit about images of plankton, to be opened Thursday for DaVinci Days.

Monday July 16

Three to start the hour, six at the end. A Corvallis man, born in Iran, joined us. He thinks the government of Iran very oppressive, but, though he strongly disapproves of Iran's government, he also opposes a war on Iran. It's good to get a perspective from a different worldview.

Sunday July 15

Three to start the hour, seven at the end. The current New Yorker has an article about the Afghanistan war with a summation: "the United States is leaving, mission not accomplished." It provided the basis for considerable discussion.

Saturday July 14

Five or so at the start of the hour, nine at the end. July 14 is Bastille Day, so we talked a bit about journeys in France.

Friday July 13

A ceremonial vigil joined the daily vigil, to observe recently reaching 2,000 US soldiers dead in the war on Afghanistan (CNN) and more than 16,000 civilian deaths (Wikipedia), likely many many more.  There were about 15 participants, including some from Veterans For Peace and two from Albany. The intent of the ceremonial vigil was to acknowledge our sorrow and our hope for peace in Afghanistan.

Wednesday July 11

Six, seven, eight of us during the hour. We shared some raspberries and recipes for using summer fruits.

Tuesday July 10

Two people at the beginning, nine at the end. We had a welcome visitor from Florida, a man who used to come to the vigil when he lived in Corvallis.

Monday July 9

Six of us at the beginning, people coming and going, eight at the end. The vigil's signature van had not come on Sunday, and we were glad to have it back today.

Sunday July 8

Six at the beginning of the hour, ten at the end. One person brought a seed pod from a potato plant, something none of us had seen before.

Saturday July 7

Seven or eight of us through the hour. A man who years ago came often and who nowadays comes only occasionally was at the corner, with his own sign "PLAY NICE" and blowing bubbles -- summer-y sentiments. :)

Friday July 6

Another hot day with most of us in the shade. The vigil increased by spurts throughout the hour, to finish with nine. I stayed in the sun, where we wondered about the explanation of Thomas Jefferson's distrust of power in the book Drift by Rachel Maddow.

Thursday July 5

Four at 5:00PM, thirteen at the end. A hot-tish day, so that most of us stayed in the shade, but a couple of people braved the sun. We talked about Saturday's "buy local first" brunch, computer problems, and the coming production of Pirates of the Chemotherapy at Albany Civic Theater.

Wednesday July 4

Independence Day at the courthouse. Four people to start the hour, maybe eight or nine at the end. The 2012 Pastors for Peace caravan to Cuba is passing through Corvallis. One person was painting the sides of the bus in the middle of the block, and two caravan-istas joined the vigil and talked about their trip, a month long from Vancouver Canada to Cuba.

Tuesday July 3

A four-person day at the courthouse vigil, with one or two people coming and going. A mechanical harvester which took up two lanes of traffic stopped at a traffic light two blocks away; as it passed, the driver gave us a big smile and a thumbs-up. We feel like we have wide support. :)

Monday July 2

Four people to start, perhaps nine at the end. The hour had some socializing, with conversations about health and our weekend visitor, and some organizing, for the community parade on Wednesday.

Sunday July 1

The first day of July. Three people to start the hour, maybe eight at the end. The woman stranded in Corvallis yesterday came by the vigil again. Again we kept her company most of the hour, and again the hour ended with no resolution of her situation. Helping individuals is not what the vigil is about, but still I am frustrated.

Saturday June 30

The last day of June. Four at the beginning, seven or eight at the end of the hour. We spent most of the hour talking to a woman on her way from Portland to California, temporarily stranded in Corvallis and waiting for an early-morning bus, confused about what to do and where to wait safely. We gave her some company and some suggestions, but we did not find a way to offer concrete help. Maybe there was nothing to be done.