Saturday June 2

Four people at the beginning, seven at the end. It seemed like we had several visitors. A young man on a bicycle stopped to say, thanks for your work, and would you like to trade for the VW van? A serious offer? Perhaps as serious as it could be when you know that the answer will be NO. And late in the hour a woman who occasionally delivers treats to the vigil stopped to give us a tasty quick bread.

Friday June 1

A new month, our wars continue. Two people to start the hour, half a dozen at the end. We got a report from someone who had participated in an Occupy Corvallis protest earlier in the day at a Corvallis branch of Chase bank. Some of us did not know about the protest, some had forgotten. :(

Wednesday May 30

Four or five at the beginning of the hour, a dozen at the end. Some of us talked about the effectiveness (or not) of lobbying the US government in political campaigns. That may be an ongoing discussion.

Tuesday May 29

About eight of us today. A young man stopped to ask whether any women were interested in running for the Corvallis City Council. We thought of only one possible candidate. And a young woman came by to interview a couple of us for a project in a sociology course. Seems like the vigil serves functions which I had not realized.

Monday May 28

Memorial Day, a quiet traffic day. About eight of us and chocolate chip cookies. We talked about how our gardens are growing.

Sunday May 27

Half a dozen of us. We talked about Tim O'Brien's stories from the Vietnam War, The Things They Carried and Going After Cacciato. The stories blend O'Brien's experiences and a fantasy of war. For me they are sometimes hard to comprehend, but perhaps the blend and the difficulty are a metaphor for war?

Saturday May 26

Nine, ten, eleven of us at one time or another. Some discussion of things to do in Oregon, such as hiking at Opal Creek and the Oregon Garden. One person had just visited an exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, Three Fragments of a Lost Tale, about an film being created by the sculptor John Frame. For her, the exhibition's figures drew out an uncommon sympathy for humanity.
http://johnframesculpture.com/portland