Sunday February 17

Four or five to start the hour, nine of us at the end. We talked about health, particularly high cholesterol and statin drugs and arthritis. Our topics reflect our age? Three dogs visited us, though only two were there simultaneously.

Saturday February 16

Four, five, six of us through the vigil. The hour was quiet and uneventful.

Friday February 15

Three at 5:00PM, eight at the end of the hour. We talked about riding a bicycle safely in Corvallis.

Thursday February 14

Valentine's Day. One person at the start of the hour; two or three arrived later, with three of us at 6:00PM. We wondered, is red licorice really licorice? or is all licorice black?

Wednesday February 13

Four or five of us throughout the hour. We talked about rights of way and what to do when your neighbor builds a fence on your lot. :)

Tuesday February 12

Mardi Gras Tuesday. Only one person remembered to come in costume. :) Four of us at 5:00PM, eight at the end of the hour. We talked about our health and our gardens.

Monday February 11

The vigil's trademark van did not make it. Still, four or five held signs at the start of the hour, nine when the clock chimed six. The hour ended with a light rain, enough for some of us to unfurl an umbrella.

Sunday February 10

Four or five to start the hour, six at the end. We discussed one point from an article about vaccination from a recent Harper's Magazine: an unvaccinated person in a generally vaccinated population is less likely to fall ill than a vaccinated person in a generally unvaccinated population. Some of us said that makes sense, others were less sure.

Saturday February 9

After a small turnout of three people on Friday, this evening there were three or four at 5:00PM and nine at 6:00 (plus one dog!). We talked about how to attract birds to our gardens.

Thursday February 7

Two at the first of the hour, six when the clock struck six. We talked about single-payer health care and problems with our jobs. The recent assassination of a Tunisian secularist politician did not get discussed.

Wednesday February 6

Two people at 5:00PM, three when the end of the vigil came. We were joined by an OSU student, as an assignment for a sociology class on social movements. We had not thought of the vigil as a social movement. We chatted until the rains came ten minutes before the end.

Tuesday February 5

Two or three at the beginning of our time, seven when the clock marked the hour. On a cold and showery Corvallis afternoon, we felt lucky to not have any rain. :) Conversations were about jobs and books.

Monday February 4

Two at the beginning of the hour, six or seven at the end. We talked about how to not watch the Super Bowl [other than attending the vigil :)].

Sunday February 3

Three to begin the vigil, seven or eight at the end. Along with Thanksgiving and Christmas, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the quietest evenings of the year at the vigil. A pleasant surprise: a passerby stopped to make a contribution, for coffee or for gasoline for the vigil van. We appreciate the support. :)

Saturday February 2

Three or four to begin the hour, six of us at the end. We talked about chess in the schools, including the recent film Brooklyn Castle, and about the recent controversy at Oregon State University concerning the art exhibit Windows and Mirrors in memory of the civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan.

Monday January 28

Two people at 5:00PM, then six of us when six o'clock came. Chilly and light rain. We continued an ongoing winter conversation about colds and flu, and we discussed "shared space", a traffic management scheme based on removing all traffic signals and signs.

Sunday January 27

Three people to start the hour. Cold and rainy. We had a visitor, but the same three were there at 6:00PM.

Wednesday January 23 through Saturday January 26

Four cold and sometimes rainy hours. Each day there were two people to begin the vigil, and four or five at the end. We had some interesting discussions, about an article from Harper's magazine discussing the Israeli elections and particularly the strongly pro-settlement party HaBayit HaYehudi and about local reactions to the Windows and Mirrors art exhibit in the Concourse Gallery of the Memorial Union. On Saturday a young man from Oman stopped to have his picture taken with a peace sign in Arabic.

Tuesday January 22

A couple of people at 5:00PM, six or so at the end of the hour. Maybe a little less cold than the last few days. We had one conversation about a recent Harper's Magazine article telling the story of city laws, in Fremont Nebraska, intended to enforce federal regulations about undocumented immigrants; and more generally we wondered about the pros and cons of decentralization.

Monday January 21

The US holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr was an everyday vigil: three or four of us at the beginning of the time, six or seven at the end. A cold hour, we talked about food and warmth.

Sunday January 20

Two people at the beginning of the hour, three when the vigil ended. Or maybe three and four, instead of two and three, if we count the dog. We talked some about dog shows and dog training. I wonder if, when dogs get together, they talk about training their persons.

Saturday January 19

Half a dozen people for much of the hour. Two people stopped by, one to announce a reading at the Book Bin ("There is a Place in the Throat that has No Voice") and another to say that Corvallis now has a group 350Corvallis.org affiliated to 350.org. As usual, much happening here.

Friday January 18

Two at 5:00PM, then four before long, and five people when six o'clock came. It was not as cold as the day before; we stood the hour through without stealing glances at the courthouse clock. :)

Thursday January 17

One person at 5:00PM, seven when six o'clock came. Another cold afternoon, but dry, and most of us were dressed warmly. We talked a little about favorite foods, like sweet potato tater tots. :)

Wednesday January 16

Two of us as the hour started, three when it ended.

Tuesday Jan 15

Three people at 5:00PM, maybe nine at the end of the vigil. This afternoon we were accompanied by a pray-in for the climate, on the side lawn of the courthouse. Because of traffic noise we could not hear much of what went on.

Monday January 14

Two people to start, then four early in the hour, then seven when the clock reached six o'clock. The evening was perceptibly warmer than the day before. In the south a pretty sunset sky featured the new moon.

Sunday January 13

Three people at 5:00PM, seven at the end of the hour. Very very cold for Corvallis, and we were glad when the clock struck six.

Saturday January 12

Seven or eight of us throughout the hour. A regular participant came near the end of the hour; he recounted that he had just visited the Windows and Mirrors exhibit in the Memorial Union Concourse Gallery and found the lights turned out in the display cases. (Windows and Mirrors is a collection of 25 paintings, a memorial to civilian casualties of the US war in Afghanistan.) When he asked why, a MU worker told him that the lights had been turned out as a protest, because a few people at the university had found some of the images offensive.

Friday January 11

Two at 5:00PM, three of us at 6:00. Further up the block along Fourth Street, there was another vigil, asking for an end to human trafficking.

Thursday January 10

Three people to start the hour, ten of us at 6:00PM. We had a visitor from Houston and two young boys, the youngest people to attend the vigil so far this year.

Wednesday January 9

Two people on the sidewalk at 5:00PM. Three or four others stopped in during the hour, but at 6:00 we were only three. We talked for a while about the visitor yesterday who felt like the protest was dishonoring the memory of the soldiers who have died in the United States' wars.

Tuesday January 8

Four at 5:00PM, then eight at the end of the hour. About 5:30 a young man hurried across Fourth Street to ask us what we were about. "We are opposing the War on Terror." "Then aren't you dishonoring the soldiers who fought and died for your freedom?" The dialogue continued for ten minutes or so, and ended unresolved but amicably. I am sorry that we never asked our visitor about the reasons and the experiences behind his concerns. :(

Monday January 7

Four or five people to start the hour, then about six at the end. A quiet and uneventful hour, made more pleasant by Monday cookies. :)

Sunday January 6

Four people to start the hour, eight when the clock struck 6:00. We talked about books: books about Abraham Lincoln and books by Marx; and we wondered what Lincoln thought about Marx's writings. Did you read a particularly good book in 2012?

Saturday January 5

Four people at the beginning of the hour, five at the end. Cold but dry. We shared a postcard from our friend and occasional visitor from Tucson. Greetings from afar are a happy start to the new year.

Wednesday January 1

The first day of 2013 saw a medium-size group at the vigil, maybe ten people. Can we end war this year? :)

Monday December 31

The last day of 2012. Our "war without borders" continues. Three of us to start the hour, with some cold rain. The rain stopped after 15 or 20 minutes, and there were five of us when the clock struck six for the last day of this year.