Candles on a Cold Night

I joined my first peace rally tonight, with M and the boys. I'd say about 250 or 300 people showed up, held candles, sang songs. We walked among the crosses on the hill and talked about what the memorial was about, what it meant that Americans were dying in Iraq, and what some of the signs and slogans meant. We listened to a woman talk lovingly about a young man whose photo was pasted to a cross. We marveled at the number of crosses (1,300) and then marveled that the actual body count is well north of twice that. We wondered what a large drawing of an eagle's head meant pasted on one of the crosses.

I am happy to say that although I suspect the politics of the crowd leaned somewhat anti-Bush, this was a peace rally, not an anti-Bush rally or even an anti-war rally. The talk and songs were about peace. When a driver passing by yelled "F**k Bush," the response was tepid. I think the mood was definitely pro-peace without a lot of politics rolled in.

Here are the pics: