We began walking today through Olympia, Washington after spending last night in Tacoma at the Catholic Worker community led by the infamous Father Bix, the Jesuit priest who has been a mainstay of political organizing in this region for many years. (Father Bix is 86 years old and recently took a large group of local activists to Jeju Island, South Korea for a solidarity trip.)
When we walked into the Olympia downtown area around noon we took a break to see this magnificent mural created by the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Mural Project. They asked various local organizations to make a leaf that was then added to this brilliant public art piece. This photo does not do the whole thing justice but you get an idea anyway. (Click on the photo for a better view.)
We walked about 13 miles today and ended up at the home of a Vietnamese couple who hosted us for a traditional dinner and are offering their home to our group of 12 walkers. The husband walked all day with us and was once one of the Vietnamese boat people who fled his home country and was held in a refugee camps for several years before making his way to the US.
As is usual for me on peace walks I made a sign that says "Human Needs Not War$" which I will carry and keep turning facing the traffic so as many people driving by as possible can read it. Call it my spiritual practice on a peace walk.
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