Vigils in November 2020

[Brian]

It was too windy to bring the candles to this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil -- the first after the end of Daylight Saving Time -- and it was chilly too.  Compared to the past few weeks, foot and wheel traffic was light at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue between 5:30 and 7 p.m.  If it wasn't the weather, perhaps people were at home waiting for somebody to call Pennsylvania.  I have no doubt that we will mark the vigil's 15th anniversary next January while demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by our fourth U.S. president in a row.

Just as I was leaving, a man who introduced himself as Joker stopped to ask me about the vigil.  He said that he's the godson of the legendary Wavy Gravy, who Joker said is still doing well. To remind himself to stop by again, he took a photo of our big stand up Montrose Peace Vigil sign with the vigil's hours.

Eleven regulars came to the corner this week.

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

[Brian]

It's hard to gauge the mood of our neighbors while standing on a corner holding a sign, and even harder because the traffic seemed lighter than last week -- and last month and last year, especially.  I think that we got more honks and waves last Friday, the night before the presidential election was called.  Since then, that euphoria has passed and Covid is passing among us at greater and greater rates.  Will the streets empty again like they did during the spikes last July and April?

Nine regulars participated in this week's Montrose Peace Vigil.  In order of appearance:  Jim, Roberta and John, Anni and me, Jeanne, Marshall, Justeen and Frannie.  The first three peaceniks got to the corner around 5 p.m., so we had a two hour vigil.

For the eighth week in a row, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan, Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria or in any of the many other operations underway around the world. However, five U.S. service members who were part of a UN peacekeeping force died in a helicopter crash in the Sinai Peninsula on Thursday.

[Brian]

During this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, I walked across the intersection and down the south side of Honolulu Avenue to get a closer look at the outdoor dining area in the former parking spaces, which had been full of diners for months.  The new pandemic restrictions just started so half of the tables bore signs saying that seating there was not allowed.  Despite the unseasonably warm temperature at vigil time -- 70 degrees -- few people were eating at the remaining tables.

We saw the same things with the first two spikes of Covid infections:  the supermarket shelves of toilet paper are emptying, as are Montrose's streets and sidewalks.  Only six vigil regulars came to the corner this week, and we were grateful for the few honks from vehicles we got and the thanks from some of the pedestrians for being there.

No U.S. military deaths were reported in the previous seven days.

[Brian]

I expected the streets and sidewalks to be relatively empty for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, and I was prescient. It's a holiday weekend.  The annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony that draws hundreds of people every Friday evening after Thanksgiving was canceled, of course.  And new pandemic restrictions halted outdoor dining in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, so all of the tables across the intersection are gone.  Then the county announced that starting Monday all gatherings of people from different households will be prohibited, indoors and outdoors, privately and publicly.  But political protests are exempted.

Vigil attendance is also down because of the pandemic, with six of our greatest stalwarts staying safer at home since March. Here's my count of each week's participants:

• Nov. 6 - 11
• Nov. 13 - 9
• Nov. 20 - 6
• Nov. 27 - 7

This month's weekly average rounds down to 8 participants after averaging 10 in October, 9 in September, 11 in August, 10 in July, 14 in June, 10 in May and April, 12 in March, February and January, 13 in December and 12 in November 2019.

Again, no military deaths were reported in the past seven days.

During the vigil, a teenager approached me about my "War Is Over If You Want It" sign, wondering what war.  He was born after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and maybe after the Iraq invasion in 2003 as well.  I also mentioned Syria, Somalia and central Africa, where our troops were killed in combat just this year.  He had thought that all U.S. troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq long ago.  I'm so glad I went to the corner this week.

[Sharon W]

Thank you so much for representing truth and sanity while so many others are out demonstrating their delusions and demanding their rights to infect everyone else. Although our Black Lives Matter sign has faded we still put the Fire Drill Friday sign next to it in the street facing window every week. Since it's dark at vigil time thesedas we turn on the lava lamps so the signs can be seen. Our spirits are with you! And I've ordered a BLM yard sign for the new year.