Sunday December 30

Four at the beginning of the vigil, eight at the end. Very cold, but no rain. Early on two cars voiced passionate disagreement, later many honks of support.

Saturday Dec 29

Three of us to start the hour, seven at the end. A passerby gave us two books by Greg Palast, and a young man stopped to talk about conscientious objection and his plans for college.

Friday December 28

Six or seven throughout the hour. We talked about holiday model train shows, particularly the last days of the local display at Citizens Bank, and about the city of Portland's plan to move the Sellwood Bridge (!) 60 feet downriver on Jan 19.

Thursday December 27

From half a dozen at the start to a dozen at the end, it was a lively hour. A little bit of rain at the beginning, but we felt lucky that it was mostly dry.

Wednesday December 26

Six to eight of us for the hour. We celebrated the second of the twelve days of Christmas with trifle puddings from one of the vigil-ers.

Tuesday December 25

Merry Christmas! Five of us for most of the hour, and luckily almost no rain. Visitors for the holidays are making arrangements to leave for home soon.

Monday December 24

Four or five at the start of the vigil, about a dozen at the end. One driver complained that our presence ruined the view of the courthouse. We wish her and you a good Christmas.

Sunday December 23

Four to six people at today's vigil. A driver stopped to ask how often we were there [he was a little surprised when I said every day] and how many people were there [four to six is normal, twenty on exceptional days, not so many on Christmas Day :)]. We wished each other a Merry Christmas.

Tuesday December 18

Three or four at 5:00PM, people coming and going throughout the hour, six at 6:00. Steady snow fell through the courthouse spotlights for the first half hour. :) A young man passed by and remarked, "I like war." :(

Monday December 17

Four to start the hour, seven when the clock struck six. Cold but no rain or snow. We wondered why it is so often difficult to talk about politics and religion. A recent book, The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, tries to answer that question.

Sunday December 16

Six of us for most of the hour. And four umbrellas -- we had heavy rain and wind. We reminisced about the heat of August afternoons. :)

Saturday December 15

Two people to begin the hour, five of us at the end. Steady but fortunately not heavy rain -- we used only one umbrella. :) We chatted about uncommon words which we learned recently or which we have missed using, like folderol, kerfuffle, siping.

Friday December 14

Five people early in the hour, seven of us when six o'clock came. Lynette, a peace worker and journalist from Montana, stopped to ask us, is the vigil a response to the shooting in Connecticut? and to take some pictures.

Thursday December 13

Two people when the clock struck 5:00, five or six at 6:00PM. We signed a greeting card to Bradley Manning, whose birthday is Monday Dec 17.

Wednesday December 12

Four people at the start of the hour, eight at the end. We talked about our plans for the solstice [Hanukkah and Christmas :)] holidays.

Thursday December 6

Four people at the start, six toward the end. At one point, in a car stopped for the red light at the corner, the driver leaned toward us and read the signs carefully, then flashed an enthusiastic peace sign. Thanks!

Wednesday December 5

Four at the beginning of the hour, ten when the clock struck six. We talked about a book The Power of Half and about Windows and Mirrors, an exhibit of paintings about what the Afghanistan war does to civilians, now being shown in the Memorial Union Concourse Gallery at Oregon State University.

Tuesday Dec 4

Four early in the hour, six at the end. Johnny, a young man arrived in Corvallis only on Monday, stopped to talk. He said several times that he didn't know much but he sympathized with the general goals of the vigil. He particularly wanted to know more about what the QUESTION AUTHORITY sign was about. Well, we do not trust the United States government. We had a wide-ranging conversation for the last half-hour.

Monday December 3

Half a dozen of us during the hour. This Monday's treat was brownies. :)

Sunday December 2

Five in the first part of the hour, then seven toward the end. Today's weather was the reverse of yesterday's, with a dry-ish beginning giving way to steady rain at the end.

Saturday December 1

A rainy half-hour at the start, then a little drier toward the end. Our numbers varied from four to seven. A friend of the vigil brought some peanut brittle. This has become a seasonal tradition; as one person pointed out, it is too bad that an anti-war vigil continues long enough to establish traditions.