Pinking out the Pink House
Julia and I work all afternoon hauling the wet things out of the CodePINK truck and sorting out all the stuff that folks just threw on the truck when the downpour started yesterday.
We began spreading out the soaked banners over the front lawn & fence, sorting posters into save & beyond saving piles, wiping down tarps & umbrellas. As we run out of room to spread things out, I glanced up and saw at least 50' of flat, brick-faced wall with uniform windows spaced along 3 floors. Perfect! I get Julia to help & we figure out how to hang the banners from the windows - allowing them to dry and announcing the the neighborhood and the world that CodePINK:Women say ENOUGH! BASTA! have arrived!
We hang the 30 foot "Troops home now" banner from the 3rd floor window! It looks AWESOME! We hang the rest of the banners from each set of windows on every floor and across the front of the house. Our message is out and we are at home!
Several women come by & ask us what we are doing. Suddenly we are no longer in a brick house across from shops, construction, and a busy intersection. We are part of a neighborhood & our neighbors are greeting us, welcoming us into the neighborhood. It is incredible to realize this is just like home - people who care live here. People approach us with such gratitude and relief, it feels like the damn has broken!
The most incredible interaction we had was a woman who came over saying she had seen the banners from the busy road & drove around the block several times until she could find a place to park. She was almost 50 and had been in the service almost 28 years. She said she retired last year after a tour in Iraq. Her energy that first had seemed incredibly calm now seemed flooded with grief - and determination. She said the army tried everything to get her to re-up, to postpone her retirement, including large cash incentives. She said "n e v e r a g a i n" to them.
Tony had not heard of Iraq Veterans against the War, nor had she heard of CodePINK. We invite her, beg her even, to join us tomorrow morning - or any morning. We tell her about sweeping congress & the Mother's Day MONTH proclamation; about the things CodePINK is planning on doing this month. We hope she will participate. Before we parted, she gave us each a big hug and thanked us again for being here.
When everyone returns from wherever they've been, we all have to pose outside in front of the pink house and take a zillion pictures! We are late starting the meeting but everyone is happy & energized! peace, sam
We began spreading out the soaked banners over the front lawn & fence, sorting posters into save & beyond saving piles, wiping down tarps & umbrellas. As we run out of room to spread things out, I glanced up and saw at least 50' of flat, brick-faced wall with uniform windows spaced along 3 floors. Perfect! I get Julia to help & we figure out how to hang the banners from the windows - allowing them to dry and announcing the the neighborhood and the world that CodePINK:Women say ENOUGH! BASTA! have arrived!
We hang the 30 foot "Troops home now" banner from the 3rd floor window! It looks AWESOME! We hang the rest of the banners from each set of windows on every floor and across the front of the house. Our message is out and we are at home!
Several women come by & ask us what we are doing. Suddenly we are no longer in a brick house across from shops, construction, and a busy intersection. We are part of a neighborhood & our neighbors are greeting us, welcoming us into the neighborhood. It is incredible to realize this is just like home - people who care live here. People approach us with such gratitude and relief, it feels like the damn has broken!
The most incredible interaction we had was a woman who came over saying she had seen the banners from the busy road & drove around the block several times until she could find a place to park. She was almost 50 and had been in the service almost 28 years. She said she retired last year after a tour in Iraq. Her energy that first had seemed incredibly calm now seemed flooded with grief - and determination. She said the army tried everything to get her to re-up, to postpone her retirement, including large cash incentives. She said "n e v e r a g a i n" to them.
Tony had not heard of Iraq Veterans against the War, nor had she heard of CodePINK. We invite her, beg her even, to join us tomorrow morning - or any morning. We tell her about sweeping congress & the Mother's Day MONTH proclamation; about the things CodePINK is planning on doing this month. We hope she will participate. Before we parted, she gave us each a big hug and thanked us again for being here.
When everyone returns from wherever they've been, we all have to pose outside in front of the pink house and take a zillion pictures! We are late starting the meeting but everyone is happy & energized! peace, sam
posted by Xan @ 6:40 PM
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