Every September 11th since 2002, the organization Women in Black has sponsored a Peace Path in Baltimore that stretches along Charles Street, Charm City's own main drag. People interested in peace line the street, hold up signs, flash the peace fingers, and encourage drivers to honk like crazy peace idiots. Every year, I've stood with them, usually with a sign that says something like "Peace is Patriotic!" or a FCNL (Friends Committee on National Legislation) placard reading "End War". On weekdays when it occurs, it's a mad couple of hours (4-6 pm: rush hour) that is usually exhilarating, often rewarding, and only occasionally nasty such as when a meathead yahoo in a Hummer zooms by giving us the finger and calling us names that are a bit too blue for this blog.
Yesterday was a Saturday and thus quite a different vibe: not as many cars going by, fewer folks lining the Peace Path...I walked up to the Stony Run Meeting House where perhaps 15 people were doing their best to support the effort, including 4 wonderful puppets, the kind you see at anti-global street protests that are about 8 feet tall and strapped to volunteers by metal harnesses. I chatted with some of them and even my crusty old heart felt irrationally upbeat and cheery at the number of honking fools out there, waving peace signs at us: grannies who could barely peek above the steering wheel, college students, soccer moms in mini-vans, taxi drivers, bikers, joggers...I'm constantly amazed every year that the accident rate doesn't skyrocket on this day. Something to be said for a lot of people making what is essentially a symbolic gesture and doing it with great enthusiasm and cheer. It makes no sense, on one level- what is actually accomplished by the Peace Path?- yet on a whole other level, it's just about the most sensible thing to do.
For the record: pasta with a previously-untried bolognese sauce made with turkey. Surprisingly tasty, even the zucchini.
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