Vigils in May 2022

[Brian]

Road traffic was light during this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  There were times I looked in all four directions and saw few -- or no -- vehicles traveling on Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue, even when traffic is usually the heaviest in the first half hour after 5:30.  However, the streets weren't as empty as the worst weeks of the pandemic or some holiday weekends.  And we still got lots of honks and waves per capita.

Apr 29, 2022 23:00:20 GMT -8 Brian said:

On a warm evening with plenty of pedestrians, Anni and I enjoyably spent the first half hour of this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil before the other regulars showed up talking with Dennis, an 82 year old Montrose resident who looks 62 and has seen us there for years.  Our concerns were many -- among them climate change, the war in Ukraine, threats to American democracy and Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex when we all were very young -- and as we talked we realized how so many problems were intertwined.  But we weren't giving up on making change.  Hopefully, Dennis will stop by again!

He did!  Anni and I had another wonderful wide ranging discussion with Dennis on a different set of topics, starting with the leak from the Supreme Court on Monday.  Dennis stayed nearly an hour, met other vigil regulars and held a sign briefly before he left, so he counts among the eight participants, which was our average attendance in April.  In order of appearance:  Anni, me, Dennis, Russell, Bruce, Nancy, Jim and Mary.

Since October 2011, we have printed and displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, Marines, sailors and Airmen in our many ongoing military operations around the world.  The Pentagon reported no uniformed U.S. casualties in the previous seven days.

[anni]

For this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, Jim brought little flyers to pass out on behalf of Glendale City Council candidate Isabel Valencia-Tevanyan, who Jim knows as a fellow activist in the long campaign for rent control and renters' rights in the city. For the Glendale voters who couldn't make it to the corner, here's the link to Isabel's official Facebook:

www.facebook.com/CountonIsabel2022

[Brian]

We were surrounded by warm, beautiful people throughout this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  Besides the many kind folks who stopped to inquire about our purpose and express support, six spontaneous demonstrators joined vigil regulars.  As soon as Anni and I got to the corner, we were approached by a young boy, his slightly older sister and their mom.  The boy, who looked about 5 years old, wanted to know what the peace symbol on my sign meant.  I told him that somebody designed that symbol when I was around his age and we've been using it ever since to ask for peace.  Then he and his sister asked to hold signs.  Later, two older sisters chose their messages from our sign bag and stood with us while their parents flashed peace signs at the passing, honking vehicles.

With 15 total participants, we had our best attendance since last October 22.  In order of appearance:  Anni, me, the two young kids, Frannie, Terry, John the Realtor, Jeanne, Bruce, Dennis, the family of four and Jim.

In the previous seven days, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria or in any of the other named U.S. operations underway around the world.

[Roberta]

Did I miss a memo re tonight or all you all sitting in CB&TF enjoying me standing here after missing so many weeks?

[Brian]

Yes, Anni and I were ten minutes late to this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil. We were glad to see Roberta already on the corner, back from her vacation, holding two signs and an umbrella. (It took me a minute to realize that her mention of "CB&TF" above referred to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf across the street.)

The constant light drizzle throughout the foothills in the late afternoon and evening cleared most of the usual traffic from the sidewalks and roads, and only seven regulars came -- Roberta, Anni, me, Dennis, Frannie, Jeanne and Bruce, in order of appearance.

The Department of Defense reported no uniformed casualties in the previous seven days.

[Brian]

Lots of people, especially kids, were strolling by and hanging out on the corner throughout this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil at the start of the Memorial Day weekend.

Almost as many peaceniks participated as two weeks ago, but this time all of the faces were familiar. In order of appearance: Anni, me, Roberta, Mike of La Canada, Russell, Jeanne, Bruce, Dennis, John B., Marty (Justeen's sister -- her first vigil!), Frannie, Jim, Nancy and Mary. Here are my weekly attendance tallies:

• May 6 - 8
• May 13 - 15
• May 20 - 7
• May 27 - 14

This month's weekly average was exactly 11 participants, after averaging 8 in April, 10 in March, 9 in February, 10 in January, 9 in December, 10 in November, 12 in October, 22 in September and 30 in August (when we were joined by anti-recall demonstrators), 11 in July, 17 in June and 11 in May 2021. Twelve peaceniks was our average attendance for many years before the pandemic.

For the 13th week in a row, the Pentagon reported no U.S. casualties.

Every year, the local chamber of commerce and the shopping park association have hosted a Memorial Day ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial on the corner.  Vigil stalwart Bruce has attended every one since he moved here in 1991, and other regulars have participated since Montrose Peace Vigil started there in 2006.  Bruce is a professional horticulturist -- he's bringing another basket of living flowers inside a pot of earth to place in tribute to the men who died in Vietnam along with a card designed by Jeanne on behalf of Montrose Peace Vigil.  The observance starts at 7:30 a.m. next Monday, May 30.  Bruce will plant the flowers at the memorial site the next day, as he always does.

[Brian]

With so many peaceniks participating in last Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, we covered the parkway on Ocean View next to the frozen yogurt store along with our usual patch of dirt and grass centered on the wide corner.  During a lull in road traffic around 6:45, I stepped off the curb and kept moving south until I photographed everyone in sight at the time: