Final Thoughts

I've had a little time to reflect on the whole trip and while a lot of it seems a blur, there are so many specific, powerful, moments that made it the trip of a lifetime. Of course, very little went according to plan. I was thinking about all the things we planned to do before it began: I brought five books to read figuring I could always pick up some more along the way. Books read: 1/2. I was going to teach myself Filemaker Pro. Didn't happen. Darryl was going to download a pile of 'This American Life' episodes and listen to them. Didn't happen. Should have been plenty of time to brush up on my Spanish. Nada. I was going to be sure to set aside some time every day to write some postcards to friends and family. Number sent: 2. Oh, well.

A lot did get done, though. Mostly being a reminder to thousands of people about the ridiculousness of war in general and the illegal, immoral morass in Iraq in particular. Personal highlight: Darryl gave me one of the best presents I've ever received when he dedicated a song at the reunion - one that was stuck in my head all the way across the country. He wrote it to honor the peace march and it's called I Can Get There from Here. It came in particularly handy on the long days into the wind.

Elle (Best. Cook. Ever.) wrote her thoughts on the trip on her blog. She certainly says it better than I ever could. Many thanks to her and Louise for keeping us fed in style. Enormous and particular thanks to all the hosts along the way and all of the many, many people that helped in so many ways. I certainly have a renewed sense of optimism about the basic decency of people. Mostly thanks to Ellen for putting up with all of my nonsense!

DonCon, you're are MY acoustic hero....

Dan The Man - thanks for helping me survive the "Paris-Roubaix" of Pittsburgh in the pouring rain.

Peace out.

GPM Reunion

It was fantastic to have the chance to relax and decompress while spending time with some pretty amazing people. Unfortunately, torrential rains limited some of the activities, but it would take a lot more than that to dampen everyone's spirits. There's never enough time to catch up with all the people you would like to, that's for sure. There's no way to give enough thanks to BJ and Sonia and everyone else that helped pull it off. I can only imagine how much work it was. There are lots of pictures here and many comments at the GPM guest book. Probably the highlight of the weekend was the no-talent contests emceed by Naneki. She was great! It's remarkable how much talent there is around. Collective Vision was able to round out the evening playing well into the night on Saturday. Beautiful. I took great comfort in the next generation and how well they all seemed to get along. I also particularly enjoyed playing a little wiffle ball and watching Canyon McWilliams strike out his older brother Arden with his 'cross-eyed' pitch. In the end the real joy was re-connecting with so many people and making new connections.

Pittsburgh to Washington

Thanks to Dan The Man and others I learned of the rails-to-trails and a series of canal routes to get to the nation's capital. HIGHLY recommended for anyone traveling the same route. Several highlights: Sitting in the John Murtha bench at a railroad station, turtle hunting with some kids who were selling lemonade, flipping off the White House and getting some polite heat from the local constables and a wonderful reception at the GMP camp site. Just the best part of the trip.

A special side trip to the battle site at Antietum was particularly important. In all of our country I think there is no more fitting memorial to the general ridiculousness of war than this site. It was a bit disturbing that it (like Gettysburg and other similar sites) was more a monument to war without the requisite education about the futility. Even the movie in the visitor center kept going on about the bravery of the combatants and never mind the tactical errors and mistakes that are inherent in any war/battle that cost thousands of lives. There were over 23,000 people killed in ONE day at this site. The entire area was littered with bodies. This horrific day finally sent the message to the country that maybe this was not the way to resolve our differences.

While I was there I ran into a group of Young Marines. I didn't know there was such a group. Ages 8-17 and they are kind of like boy scouts except groomed for the Marines. Kind of disturbing, but I had a chance to speak with most of the chaperones (all Marines) and to a man and woman they were foursquare against the war. It was an odd mix of the "ohh-rah's" of the kids and the organizers talking peace.

KD Kidder was host to an event in the center of Leesburg, VA which was a nice chance to place an army guy at the foot of the confederate soldier statue in the center of town. She also arranged showers and accommodations and then on my way to the real Arlington (remembering that Arlington West was the starting point). Took a spill along the way, but managed to make it there fine (by way of the White House) and say a prayer for the names I had collected along the way.