Vigils in March 2022

[Brian]

I personally loathe Daylight Saving Time, yet I look forward to it every March for one reason. After four months of demonstrating in the dark, we will soon be seen in daylight for the entire vigil at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, CA 91020, where we have advertised for peace and justice every week from 5:30 to 7 p.m. since January 2006. Half of this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil was conducted in daylight.  In two weeks, our signs will be fully visible throughout the vigil.  And Anni will put her bag of electronic candles back into storage.

The weather was cold again and the traffic followed the usual pattern -- lots of people on the sidewalks and a long back up of vehicles eastbound on Honolulu waiting for the stoplight until it got dark, then few passersby until we left at 7:15, staying late to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nine peaceniks came to the corner, the same number as February's average weekly attendance.  In order of appearance:  Anni, me, Roberta, Barb, Bruce, Jeanne, Justeen, Russell and Nancy.

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.

[Brian]

This Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil marked the third week since Russia invaded Ukraine, since demonstrating for peace suddenly became more popular and less partisan on the corner.  I haven't seen a solitary middle finger or heard "Let's go, Brandon" from a passing vehicle lately.  We've enjoyed universal goodwill instead -- honks, waves, peace signs, thumbs up and smiles. Of course, it helps when almost everybody feels that a war is wrong.  These days I've been wondering if anti-war activists would have gained more traction if we had today's social media when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, if the individual stories of people facing an invading military force had reached our eyeballs and our hearts as they do every hour from Ukraine now.

Nine regulars participated this week:  Roberta, Russell, Bruce, Jeanne, John B., Nancy, Jim, Anni and me.

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.

[Brian]

Daylight Saving Time is back and so was the spring weather at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, two days before the vernal equinox.  The temperature was in the mid 70's.  The sidewalks were lively but vehicle traffic was down from the past two weeks, yet we got more honks and positive hand gestures per capita.  Instead of his usual American flag, Jim brought a big Ukrainian flag, which his son ordered when Putin invaded and they just received.  Similarly, the oil paint on Anni's new sign that took ten days to dry made its debut -- it's a peace symbol in yellow with a blue background.

For the third week in a row, nine stalwarts demonstrated.  The cast of characters remained much the same.  In order of appearance:  me, Roberta, Anni, Rosalind (returning to the corner for the first time since the start of the Omicron wave), Russell, Jim, Jeanne, Nancy and Bruce.  Notably, the regulars who are still working were the last to arrive.

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

[Brian]

Realizing that I hadn't taken a group photo for three months, I brought a camera to last Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil and depicted all nine participants if you count your photographer.

[Brian]

Going by all of the expressions of goodwill, peace was popular during this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  The warm weather might have been a factor -- a lot of car windows were rolled down.  And our turnout was so good throughout the hour and a half that we covered the northwest corner on two patches of grass and dirt.

A dozen peaceniks boosted our average attendance for the month:  Roberta, Bruce, Jeanne, Nancy, Frannie, Russell, Anni and me along with Sharon and Bill and their friends Judy and Jeff, who not only came to the corner for the first time, they were there from beginning to end.

• Mar. 4 - 9
• Mar. 11 - 9
• Mar. 18 - 9
• Mar. 25 - 12

This month's weekly average rounds up to 10 participants, after averaging 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, 11 in May, 10 in April and 9 in March 2021. Twelve peaceniks was our average attendance for many years before the pandemic.

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