An excellent tree

Until I moved to Oregon, I had never seen a Madrone (or Madrona) Tree. Now I am entirely entranced by them. This one is in a beautiful old garden created by a Scotsman, Peter Kerr, on cliffs overlooking the Willamette River.

I keep thinking I'm about to stop dilly-dallying around and sit down and write, but the days are so spectacularly gorgeous, so sunny and breezy and utterly perfect, that I find myself drawn back into the lanes and gardens, and out into the sunshine, day after day. I lie about, gazing at the light shining through the leaves; I scramble up hills and gaze out over rivers; and then I am immobilized by the beauty around me. Amazed that I am here at all, I am simply grateful, one hour after another.

At least I made one clear choice today. I signed a pledge of nonviolence and committed myself to attend Stop the Machine! a political demonstration and encampment in Washington, D.C. this coming October. And I bought a plane ticket.

The pledge, created by the organizers of the event, reads as follows:
"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that criminal occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine to demand that our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning ."