EYES WIDE OPEN

I posted this in The Blue Voice several days ago, but I really want people in the area to be aware of it, so I'm posting it here too.  I know there are windmills readers who live close enough to Philadelphia to trek in and see this exhibit next weekend.  I'll be there volunteering on Sunday, so come see me too!

Eyes Wide Open

Here's an announcement for anyone living within a reasonable drive of Philadelphia. Of course, this is being held on the July 4th weekend, so no drive anywhere in the whole country will be reasonable. Anyway, on this weekend, from the first of July through the fourth, the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit will be back in Philly. It was there last July 4th also.

This exhibit is a project of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization committed to social justice and human service. I will be going, with two friends, to volunteer to help the organizers with the exhibit on Sunday, July 3rd. Please visit the site, there is much information there. The exhibit has been traveling since January 2004, at which time there were 504 pairs of boots. I can't imagine how the necessary number of empty boots will fit on the Mall two weeks from now. Information on future travel for the exhibit is on the site. You can see photos from previous places it's been, as well as read notes and comments in the journal.

This is the exhibit information:

About Eyes Wide Open
Eyes Wide Open, the American Friends Service Committee's widely acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq war, commemorates all the lives lost.

The exhibit includes a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty; a field of shoes and a wall of remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict; and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war.

Exhibit Location:
Independence Mall and Visitor Center
Market Street between 5th & 6th Sts.

THE SPIRAL DANCE

It is the Summer Solstice.  The longest day of the year, the shortest night.  I have never entered into the spirit of festivity surrounding this seasonal celebration in the way I have the Winter Solstice.  Summer is always so full and busy, bursting with life and activity, visits from family, work in the garden - yet this day is the high point.  From here on, the light diminishes, the darkness gains on us, imperceptibly at first, until it culminates in the shortest day, longest night, in December.  It's a lovely rhythm, really, the turning of a wheel, over and over again. 

Sometimes I think one reason we have let the earth get into such a mess is that as industrial society took hold, we moved further and further from contact with Nature and her rhythms and revolutions.  How many of us keep track of the phases of the moon, the constellations visible in different seasons, the timing of the tides, the amount of rainfall in a given time?  Perhaps farmers and fisherpeople still keep in touch with these cycles.  The rest of us are just trying to rush from urban setting to urban setting, in the confines of our cars.  Using my bike as transportation is helping me get out of this to some degree, gardening is also a way of moving closer to natural cycles of growth and ripening.

Once upon a time this was a day of great festivity, it's the fabled "midsummer" of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Magical things can happen!  It was celebrated with bonfires, dancing, feasting.  It is a time for marriages and pledging of troths - this full moon is called the "honey moon," and from this comes the post-wedding tradition called by the same name.  With the advent of Christianity this day became the feast of St. John the Baptist, and the bonfires were incorporated.

I think we have lost a lot in losing touch with these ancient days that brought together so many elements, celebrating the fact that our lives, too, are part of Nature and her cycles.  To learn more lovely lore about Midsummer's Day, the Summer Solstice, go to The School of the Seasons.  This BBC site also has loads of interesting information.  Sadly, on this the longest day, I am so tired I'm thinking of going to bed soon after I eat dinner.  But perhaps next year I'll get into the spirit of things, harken back to my Celtic roots, and arrange a bonfire on the beach, add my energy to the sun's energy, and hope we can return to a life in synch with Nature.

CALLING HOME

Poor windmills journal, you must feel so left-out and abandoned.  This week of beginning The Blue Voice has been so hectic - adding the beginning of summer school and a flying trip to Washington has only made it crazier.  I have neglected everything else in my life while we've been getting TBV up and flying:  the garden, the animals, reading anything but political stuff.  This really can't continue.  The deal was, there are eight of us on this group blog, so we could each post one day a week.  At a minimum.  Well, I have posted nine entries so far this week, and everyone else has done at least that many, I think.  If not more. 

I'm going to refer you to my post on TBV for my impressions from the Conyers hearing and rally.  There are actually two posts, the second is about the letter Conyers wrote to the editor of the Washington Post yesterday.  The coverage was abysmal, at least in the major papers. 

We made it through the ten days or so of heat wave without putting on the AC at all, and I feel very proud of us for this accomplishment.  The weather broke sometime on Thursday, and is now as pleasant as one could wish.  My lettuce is starting to  bolt; we can't eat it as fast as it is ready.  The tomato and cucumber plants have blossoms, the peppers are trailing behind. 

I have done several articles on TBV about global warming, and will be doing more soon.  It is wonderful to see comments from AOL journal friends over there, but I am missing reading and writing here.  Shall I put links here to my articles on that blog?  Those looking for environmental postings might want them, I don't know.

RALLY ROUND THE RESOLUTION

June 15 - This is actually a P.S. to the post that follows.  There are changes in time and location for the D.C. hearing tomorrow.  As follows:

On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.The hearings had been planned for the Democratic National Committee offices because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee had refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a large room on the Hill.  However, the Democrats did have access to a small room in the Capitol, and Congressman Conyers has decided to move the hearings there.  This does not indicate any change in position from the Republicans.

 

Members of the media will be welcome, but citizens in town for the 5 p.m. rally at the White House will have difficulty getting into the 2:30 hearings.  The DNC will serve as an overflow room, so people can still go there: theWasserman Room at 430 S. Capitol St. SE.

 

AfterDowningStreet.org encourages people, instead, to spend the afternoon lobbying their Congress Member and two Senators, and paying special visits to the offices of Congressmen John Conyers and Maurice Hinchey, Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, and Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy to thank them for their leadership.  Recommended talking points can be found in a one-page document at the top of After Downing Street.org.

 

Original Post from yesterday:

From After Downing Street, a very current Need to Know site, please note this announcement:

"On Thursday June 16, 2005, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C., Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.

Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes. On May 1, 2005 a Sunday London Times article disclosed the details of a classified memo, also known as the Downing Street Minutes, recounting the minutes of a July 2002 meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair that describes an American President already committed to going to war in the summer of 2002, despite contrary assertions to the public and the Congress. The minutes also describe apparent efforts by the Administration to manipulate intelligence data to justify the war. The June 16th hearing will attempt to answer the serious constitutional questions raised by these revelations and will further investigate the Administration's actions in the lead up to war with new documents that further corroborate the Downing Street memo."

I really will be there, going to drive in to D.C. after teaching my first summer school class on Thursday. I can hope for this to be an historic occasion, and furthermore, an old friend from university days will be one of the speakers.

If you live anywhere within driving distance of D.C., please come support Rep. Conyers and his efforts.  If you live elsewhere in the country, check on the After Downing Street site for rallies to be held in other cities to back up this one in the Capital.

WELCOME, OUR DOOR IS OPEN!

It's Monday morning, June 13th, and the gang of eight is thrilled to announce the opening of our group blog:  The Blue Voice.  Please come visit - today and often.  We have many friends in J-land whom we hope will remain friends on blogspot, commenting on our entries and participating in lively political discussion. The blog looks gorgeous, thanks to the efforts of Mara and Marcia Ellen, and I think people will be entering first posts throughout the day.

COMMENTS UPON COMMENTS

The comments in the past two entries are becoming more interesting than the entries.  And the dialogue between Lisa's journal entry, A Parable, and my entries is also pretty interesting.  So, what I'm going to do right now is post an email I received from Lisa - commenting on my comment to A Parable. 

         "The Man is not Saddam...the bad heart is Sadaam. The Man is Iraq. The Warrior (the US) has cut out and thrown away the old heart (Saddam) and tried to put a new one in its place, one that is not big enough to do the job. AND the Warrior completely discounted the ants (all the disparate splinter groups that make up the region) when he decided he was the one to do the job on the Man. (BTW, the People From the Faraway Land, though perhaps acquainted with the "bad heart," did NOT know the Man--the actual nation, history, and people of Iraq.)

My point is not so much the intricate details of the relationship between the bad heart and the Warrior, but that the Warrior undertook a task of his own free will, without investing the proper forethought or research. Now he is in the fix he is in, and he has a choice to make. What should the Warrior do?"

Thank you, Lisa.  And now I'm going to post here my comment on her journal, which never got posted there because it was too long for the character limits.

         "yes, Lisa - I had meditated more on the story, after reading it a couple of times, and did realize that The Man was the country of Iraq - you may agree, or not, that there is some confusion in the second paragraph. it was not the country of Iraq that began to act strangely and aggressively, it was The Leader, that is to say - in your version, the heart of The Man.

well, anyway - leaving the parable aside, and speaking in real terms about this situation: i, no more than anyone else, have no idea what "we," which is to say, the government of this country, should do now. That is the real horror of this situation. This war was started with no idea of what it would turn into - although whynot? plenty of people prophesied that just exactly what has happened would happen. they were not listened to. This war is only part, although a huge part, of the years of lies, deceptions, wrong-headed policies of an administration guided by neo-conservative wonks, the oil industry, and religious maniacs.

the countries of the middle-east are so complicated, their thinking so different from ours, that to hurl billions of dollars and the lives and futures of thousands of american troops into this war because the Project for a New American Century thinks the only way of the future is for the USA to be in total control and domination of the entire area - is in and of itself grounds, and then some, for impeachment of this president, vice president, and most of congress.

i feel so impotent, so full of rage, so full of pity and horror for what we have done to the country that was the Cradle of Civilization. I have no idea what The Warrior should do now. Stop viewing himself as a Warrior, for perhaps a beginning. View himself as merely another citizen of this vast and complicated world. Stop pouring the billions and billions of dollars into war and the machinery of war, and start trying to understand the rest of the world, not dominate it, help the millions of people who languish in poverty and wretchedness into some semblance of a decent life. Bring the troops home, put in a peace-keeping force, with members from other countries, send in the NGO's (not Halliburton) to help rebuild the society that has been so devastated."

And I wonder, what do others have to say in answer to Lisa's anguished question:  "What should the Warrior do?"  We already know what Mark (from his ferocious comment on one of the two previous posts) thinks.  So, that's okay Mark, you don't need to weigh in again.

PUTTING HUMPTY DUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN

Re my two previous entries, and some comments in the last one, I'd like to refer you to a couple of other AOL writers.  One is in the form of a parable, in fact - that's what it's called:  A Parable.  Lisa agonizes in this little story over what she wrote about in her comment to my entry - fixing what we done badly broke. The other is from one of J-land's best progressive writers, and is called: Iraq:  It's Not as Though They Weren't Warned, and it's full of things to ponder.

I'm a little too busy enjoying my weekend and getting ready for The Blue Voice  (Coming Monday!  Which begins right after midnight Sunday!)  to have much else to say here.  Except, please, begging now, pretty please, pleeeeze - click on the link for StopGlobalWarming in my sidebar and sign this national petition. Those of you who as yet have not.  And so many thank you's to those who have. 

PITT ON DOWNING STREET

As an addendum to my previous post, The Smoking Gun, I give you this, just received from Truthout.org, by William Rivers Pitt.  Truthout is one of my almost-daily must-reads, and this essay is a definite must-read for all of us. Link is at the end of the post.

From the end of the essay:
"This moment is described as the tipping point. Large majorities of Americans, in every poll, believe the Iraq invasion was unnecessary and the casualties thus far inflicted to be unacceptable. For the first time, the poll numbers show that a clear majority of the American people no longer believe that George W. Bush is keeping them safe. Bi-partisan coalitions are forming in Congress to demand that the US withdraw from Iraq and give that nation back to the people who live there, and those coalitions are edging towards majority-sized numbers. Legislation has been presented demanding withdrawal, and more is in the offing.

    And now, the Minutes. Tomorrow, the Minutes. Every day, the Minutes, until there is a reckoning."

Please go to the preceding entry and sign the Conyers letter to the President.  Let's move towards a reckoning together.

  After Downing Street

SMOKING GUN

This is the text of a request from MoveOn.org, requesting signatures for John Conyers petition asking that Bush give us some answers on this "smoking gun," the Downing St. memo.  Bill Clinton was impeached for deceit far less nationally and internationally far-reaching than this.  This story actually broke almost a month ago. It's time some serious attention was paid.  There was a, sort of, article in the NYT yesterday touching on this issue, but little attention has been paid to it in the mainstream press. Please click the link to sign, and pass this on to your internet friends.  As always, thanks a million.  For more, go to this site created specifically to get some action on this situation:  AfterDowningStreet.

From MoveOn:  Subject: 500,000 signatures needed today to expose Iraq lies

Hello,

I'm writing to ask you to join me in signing a MoveOn PAC petition demanding real answers from President Bush regarding the "smoking gun" Downing Street Memo.

To help get the truth about why we invaded Iraq, please sign this letter today.

http://www.moveonpac.org/tellthetruth/

The Downing Street memo is called a "smoking gun" because it contains the minutes from a British cabinet meeting in July of 2002, 6 months before the war began. During that meeting high ranking British officials reported that the Bush administration admitted it was already determined to invade Iraq, and was "fixing" intelligence about WMD's to justify the war.

This, of course, contradicts everything President Bush has told us about how he chose war as a last resort, and made that decision because he thought he had solid intelligence about the Iraqi WMD threat.

Bush has refused to even respond to the memo, but after Tony Blair's visit this week the pressure is really building. Representative John Conyers of Michigan is gathering 500,000 signatures and comments from American voters to take directly to President Bush at the White House gates and demand real answers. Please sign today and help get out the truth.

http://www.moveonpac.org/tellthetruth/

Thanks!

YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL OUT OF TEXAS....

This sudden onslaught of summer weather brings out the downhome Texas roots in the girl - drinking iced tea (with mint from the garden) out of a big ol' Mason jar, saying "tar" instead of tire, "farstone" instead of Firestone (I use these words in particular because of a spectacular tar, I mean, tire, blowout in the pickup yesterday), closing up the blinds and shades to keep the dadblasted sun out of the house in the middle of the day.

We kept our oil bill down this past winter, even though it was a colder winter and the price of oil was higher, by dint of keeping the thermostat on "freezing" most of the time. We wore lots of layers, used quilts to wrap up while reading or watching TV, and tried to keep moving as much as possible. It's much more difficult for me to be hot than to be cold, so I don't know how long we can keep our summer climate-control resolutions. Namely, to use the AC as little as possible. Right now it's in the mid-nineties, and with the heat index factored in feels like the high nineties. So, Mason jars of ice tea and lots of fans happening here. Could I do this if I were really still in Texas?  Hmmm, don't know - it would take extreme devotion to principles and immediate access to a swimming pool.  Is a swimming pool environmentally damaging? 

We're doing this not just to keep utility bills at a sub-astronomical level, but to try to do our infinitesimal, antlike bit to slow the planetary climate disruption, also known as global warming.  While I was researching some stuff, I came across this article in The Green Guide, The Cutting Edge of Cool.  It gives lots of information on AC systems and options, incliding this, the one we are going for:

"According to Energy Star, cooling accounts for nearly half the energy used by the average home during the summer.

 Ozone Depletion
Conventional refrigerants are carbofluorocarbons (CFCs) that deplete the ozone layer. Today there are a number of less-harmful-CFC and non-carbofluorocarbon refrigerants.

Cooling Options
The most efficient and environmentally friendly option is to not use AC. There are a number of low impact strategies for keeping your house cool. Since the discomfort of a hot day is often the result of the house absorbing heat, keep the heat out and keep the house ventilated.

No AC
• Fans use 90% less electricity than AC.

• Shades help keep heat out of the house: keep them closed during the day and open at night.

• A ventilated attic lowers the temperature in the house.

• Open windows allow for cross ventilation.

• Trees on the west side of the house can provide shade, cooling the structure."

So, any of y'all who haven't yet done this, please click on the StopGlobalWarming link in the sidebar and sign on to the Virtual March on Washington.  It's amazingly fast and easy, and maybe in the end it will do some good.

THE BLUE VOICE, UNMASKED

 COMING SOONER!

So, okay, what is this Blue Voice business anyway?  I hope you're asking yourselves that question.  You are, aren't you?  Because if so, you will be happy to know that I'm about to give you the answer!  The Blue Voice is a new blogging project outside of AOL.  It's a group project of some of J-Land's best progressive political writers who have joined forces.  There are eight of us involved in this:  Old Hickory, SottoVoce, TankGurl, Neil's Journal, Life as it Ought to Be (Marcia Ellen), De Profundis, Random Thoughts, and me, the windmills. 

Some of these folks are saying goodbye to the AOL journals linked above, but will be writing with the same humor, honesty and intelligence at the new group blog.  Most of us will be keeping our AOL journals, and will be getting less sleep as a result. 

The Blue Voice will debut next Monday, June 13, and you'll find the link to it in all of our journals.  Please come visit, please leave comments, please engage in this dialogue with us.

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

 COMING SOON!

World Environment Day, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program, has been held every year since, I think, 1972, in many different countries all over the world.  This is the first time it has been hosted in the USA, and it was San Francisco that hosted a plethora of events surrounding the one day.  The events were from June 1 through June 5, and included the Green Cities Expo.  Mayors from cities around the world came to discuss what can be done to make our cities greener and more liveable.  Check out the whole thing here.  This is the Green Cities Expo link.   

Was the president of the USA at this amazing event?  Did he care to show how important the environment is to him and his administration?  (He SAID it is important to him, I KNOW he did, in some campaign speech, didn't he?  He couldn't have been lying, could he?)  The first time this event has been held in the United States seems worth officially marking to me. Ummmm, no I don't think GWB was there.  Al Gore was there, however, and gave a kickass speech which lasted an hour.  Among other things he said this: 

"We are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth, a transformation of the relationship between our species and the planet," Gore warned. "Is it only terrorists that we're worried about? Is that the only threat to the future that is worth organizing to respond to?"

Oh Al, if only you had campaigned with such passion. 

Come on, folks - click on the sidebar link for StopGlobalWarming and sign the petition.  Let's see what Journal-land can do to pump up the numbers.

SAVING PUBLIC BROADCASTING

   COMING SOON

Some good info for those concerned about the future of Public Broadcasting, as you will know from a previous post that I currently am.  Here is a link to an essay excerpted from a speech Bill Moyers gave at the National Conference on Media Reform last month.  Here's the full text of the speech (including remarks on how Nixon tried to do away with CPB) if you want to read it all.

If you are aware of all this, don't have time for the reading, and just want to vent your spleen by taking action, here's a link to a petition calling for Kenneth Tomlinson's resignation.  Let's let Washington know how The Public actually feels about this.  As Bill Moyers says:

"I was naïve, I guess. I simply never imagined that any CPB chairman, Democrat or Republican, would cross the line from resisting White House pressure to carrying it out for the White House. But that’s what Kenneth Tomlinson has done."

 

MEMORIAL DAY VIGIL REDUX

For those of you who read my Memorial Day Vigil story, especially those who were kind enough to leave comments about the story in the local paper - I want to let you know that the paper published all the letters that people from our group wrote to them.  There were no letters from the other group, evidently.  They also published this

"The Cape Gazette apologies for a photo caption in the May 31edition concerning the silent vigil held in Lewes, May 29, to honor those who have died thus far in the war in Iraq.  The caption stated 'Lines weren't drawn in the sand, but Savannah Road separated the silent vigil from the supporters of the troops.'  We did not mean to imply that those participating in the vigil are unsupportive of the troops."

under the "Corrections" section on the second page of the paper. as well as a column about a guy who had driven down from Dover to see the vigil.  This guy was a vet, and had hated the VN protesters, but now believes the protests shortened the war and seems to feel that what the silent vigils are doing is a good thing, bringing awareness of the cost of war into the public eye. 

Before I leave this subject, I'd like to show you the last comment to that post about the Memorial Day Vigil.  It's from my sister, who was visiting with her family, all of whom attended the vigil with us.  You will see that we really are related. Connected not just genetically, but in philosophy and thought.  It's so nice to be able to have this connection in a family.

Where oh where to begin.  

I am the "sister", Rosie, at the vigil, that earnest, few moments we spent remembering the dead and wounded from all wars and in particular this recent war, ongoing, in Iraq.  

We are entitled to remember our American brothers and sisters who have served in the military in our peaceful manner.  Those people across the street are entitled to their opinions and to voicing their opinions, but they are not entitled to attack us for our views either verbally or any other way.

I agree with the entry which said we who advocate peace should carry American flags.  I couln't agree more.  I said so last Sunday whilst we stood with our prayer flags.  We need to assert our Americaness in a way that everyone understands.  

The American troops in Irag are the relatives of pacifists as well as hawks. Surely, no one in their right mind could imagine that only the hawks are "supporting" them in love, prayer, and yeah, even tax dollars.  Putting a ribbon shaped sticker on your car that says "We support our troops" might  presuppose that we do not all support our troops.  Such a supposition is profoundly incorrect.  The women and men in Irag are supported by all of us:  we fear for them, we pray for them, we want them to come home safely.  

It may be the case that few in the current administration can put a real face to any of the troops and do not support them with love or prayer, because most of those in Irag are from working class families whose parents are not in the halls of Congress or in the Oval Office.  The decision to send innocent men and woman to kill and die in Irag came from a ruling elite interested in power in North Africa and West Asia not from mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers grieving for their family members.

ONE PLANET, ONE PEOPLE

Well, my my - global warming is making the welcome screen at AOL!  Looks like the most important issue of the day has finally moved from eco-geekdom to the mass market. The article is reporting on a new atlas from the U.N. on the occasion of  World Environment Day, hosted for the first time in the USA, in San Francisco.

Changing Planet Revealed in Atlas

The devastating impact of mankind on the planet is dramatically illustrated in pictures published Saturday showing explosive urban sprawl, major deforestation and the sucking dry of inland seas over less than three decades.

The atlas is composed of satellite photos of the planet, taken over the past three decades.  It's graphic evidence of the changes we have wrought, most of which amount to devastation. 

"If there is one message from this atlas, it is that we are all part of this. We can all make a difference," U.N. expert Kaveh Zahedi told reporters at the launch of the "One Planet Many People" atlas on the eve of World Environment Day. 

This title may be too one-worldish for many in today's political atmosphere, but it is the only true message.  This is something everyone now breathing needs to heed and start taking action.  Here is one action that may or may not call some national attention to the issue of global warming.  It is a virtual march on Washington, and you can check it out here.  If you decide to sign up for the march, please do me a favor and do so via this link, which is my personal page.  This will credit me with having spread the word about this action.  I'd like to at least catch upwith Leonardo DiCaprio in number of "friends" signed on.

TOO MUCH FUN WAS HAD BY ALL

Sorry not to have gotten back to the rest of my weekend story sooner.  This is the Family Fun portion of the event!  My sister and family just live in D.C., so we try to get together as often as possible.  G and I had a birding trip at Prime Hook on Saturday morning, with a naturalist from Cape Henlopen St. Park.  We mostly listened to warblers and other songbirds in a forested part of the park, as the canopy was too high and thick for much sighting, but after that G and I went north up the Delaware Bay to look for shorebirds.  Of which there were many many, feasting on horseshoe crab eggs.  The D.C. guests arrived late that afternoon, in time to play with the dog in the yard, sit and read, have a big healthy salad for supper. 

On Sunday morning we went in to the beach for an activity we'd registered for at Cape Henlopen - seining in the Bay, with a junior naturalist.  This was an activity for children, but I have to say all the adults got just as excited about it.  They  took turns dragging a couple of big nets through the shallow water, or used handheld nets to scoop up water and stuff.  Then they examined what they'd scooped in the nets, put what was interesting into a wading pool filled with sea water.  At the end of the scooping and saving, the naturalist had everyone gather around the pool while she talked and explained about what they'd found.  You could tell the little naturalists from the rest of the kids - some of them were so interested and so full of questions and ideas.  Everyone had a fabulous time, including yours truly.  I'd never seen a pipe fish before, a relative of the seahorse, and they caught two tiny ones.

After a yummy lunch in Lewes, we walked over to the Vigil, about which I've written extensively in the previous entry.  With pictures.  There was an archeological exhibit, early DE history, being held behind the museum, so after the vigil had ended we segued over there and spent some time while M played colonial children's games with other kids.  Because our lunch had been so healthy, we felt it necessary to go back to the bakery and have cappucino and pastry - it was, after all, a holiday!

On Monday, after a Mexican lunch here in Georgetown, we went back to Lewes and the fishing docks - where we boarded the Adventure II and set out for a Dolphin Watch ride.  After we got down the canal and out past the harbor walls, we were in the midst of a herd of dolphin - they were everywhere, all around the boat, out around us in every direction.  They swam to us, under us, around us;   they leaped in the air, they swam on their backs - we even heard some of their singing.  My sister put a lifejacket on M as soon as we got out past the harbor - and rightly so, because she could easily have jumped right over the rail in her excitement and enthusiasm at the sight of all those creatures.( I may have pictures from this soon.  Oh for a digital camera.  We use an old Minolta, get them developed and put on a disc.  It takes entirely too long in this era of instant gratification. )

It was the best dolphin watch I've ever been on, and it's something I love to do.  Both sons are coming with the grandchildren this summer - we may see more dolphins yet!  I like to do it on my birthday too, it seems a wonderful way to celebrate being alive.

We took a beach walk after the boat ride, and came home to grill ribs and eat another fantastic supper.  The family left after lunch on Tuesday, and we all consider it a weekend to remember.  We memorialized those who have died, and celebrated life in many ways.  It's alllll good, baby.

MEMORIAL DAY MEMORIAL

Soon after the war in Iraq began, one lone woman started standing on a street corner in front of the museum in Lewes, DE on Sunday afternoons, holding signs protesting the war, praying for peace.  In the years (years!) since that beginning, this silent vigil has grown to be a weekly event, bringing usually a small but devoted number of people.  Eventually, the silent peace vigil attracted a counter-group on the opposite side of the street - a group wearing VFW caps, waving huge American flags, sporting large bellies and loud voices.  Their counterdemonstration is anything but silent - they play loud music, shout obscenities, hold crude and ugly hand-lettered signs.  On the most recent anniversary of this war, when I attended the vigil, the numbers on opposing sides of the street were just about equal, twenty or so.

For the Memorial Day weekend Sunday vigil, a much larger event was planned:  participants spent many days lettering prayer flags with the individual names of the 1600-plus American military personnel killed in this war, then attaching them to cords that stretched between bamboo poles.  On Sunday they worried that they wouldn't have enough participants to hold the poles with the names.  Eighty people showed up.  Including our little contingent of five:  myself and G, my sister, her husband, their 7 yr old daughter. (Bear in mind that this was the middle of the day, Sunday of the opening holiday of the season, with perfect beach weather.)

 

The line of people stretched way past those holding the names.  There were also beautifully done black and white handheld signs with merely the numbers:  numbers of Americans killed, numbers wounded, numbers of Iraqis killed and wounded. 

It was a group encompassing all ages, races, lifestyles, religions, levels of education, it included pacifists and military veterans (not always mutually exclusive);  it was a silent group gathered to pray in whatever format, for those who have died, been injured in body, mind and spirit, for their families who grieve for them, and for those still engaged in this most foolish of wars. 

The group across the street looked like this:

and sounded even worse - you can almost see the sign in the upper righthand corner, it says "Honk for Democracy."  So, their homeys passing by in pickups, SUVs or really really big/loud motorcycles honked.  And honked and honked.  For democracy?   Well, I suppose so.  It is, after all, democracy that lets us stand on opposite sides of the street, giving vent to our radically different views of things.

The local paper had a group of photos, and reported Sunday's event thus:

"Each Sunday a silent vigil is held in downtown Lewes to honor those who have died in the war in Iraq. For Memorial Day, 1,600 flags were flown in honor of the war dead. This vigil is countered with a rally across the street each week. Clockwise from above right, disabled Vietnam veteran Art Wheatcraft and Kathy McCusker show support for the troops. Eleven-year-old Andrew Fagg show  support for the troops along with Michael Stein and James Fagg. Vietnam veteran Peter Schultz takes part in the silent vigil to honor those who have sacrificed in Iraq. Lines weren't drawn in the sand, but Savannah Road separated the silent vigil from the supporters of the troops May 29."

The emphasis is mine, showing how, in the mind of the Cape Gazette reporter, crude signs, yelling and waving flags shows "support for the troops," whereas silently and respectfully honoring those who have died or been injured is.......what?  Well, we don't know, do we?  

 

We brought home the flags that my niece and I were holding at the end of the vigil, and they are now fluttering in the breeze by the front garden.  Until the names fade and the strips of cloth turn to shreds, the wind - the breath of nature - will carry many silent prayers and blessings on its wings:  the hope of peaceful rest for the dead, peace and enlightenment for us, for the world.

That's G in the tied-dye shirt on the left, M (niece) in front of her mother, who is obscured by flags, and her daddy in the blue t-shirt behind her as well.