Food is important on peace walks. We carry two coolers with us filled with cheese, hummus, carrots and other left overs from the excellent pot luck suppers that are organized on our behalf. We are still eating from the four large loaves of wonderful bread donated to us by a popular Maine baking company.
It's apple season in Maine so we have several bags of donated apples in the back of our van. During the suppers we've had apple cakes, applesauce, apple crisp and apple bars on the tables. And of course apple cider is available every night.
Tonight is our first night on the walk where we did not have a home stay provided for us. During my home stays we've had oatmeal, eggs, and blueberry pancakes for breakfast so far. This evening we are sleeping on the floor at the Midcoast Friends Meeting House (Quakers) in Damariscotta.
We walked 8 miles south from Rockland today to a farm house (built in 1850) owned by peace activist Steve Burke who provided us with a wonderful lunch mostly grown in his abundant garden. Steve also hosted our event last night in Rockland so he served his homemade veggie soup then and again today for lunch. The vegans in our group appreciated it.
Just south of Rockland we were joined for two miles by a couple visiting Maine on vacation from Montana. They are both members of Veterans for Peace - the woman, Diane Carlson-Evans, was a nurse in Vietnam and went on to be the driving force behind the Vietnam Women's War Memorial in Washington DC. They had seen a flyer about the walk inside a coffee shop in Rockland (probably the joint where we took refuge from the rain yesterday) and tracked us down. More magic on the peace walk.
The weather today was sunny (a bit too warm actually) but overall a lovely day for walking. It appears to be clouding up now with rain on the way but we are safe inside the Quaker Meeting House.
Tomorrow we head into Bath in time to vigil at Bath Iron Works during the 3:30 pm shift change. Friday we have a day off and then walk into Brunswick on Saturday. People keep coming and going but our solid core remains largely in tact - all tired but loving the sense of community and purpose that keeps us moving south.
Photos by Regis Tremblay
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