Candle s & Lamps

Tonight I made sure to go downtown for the Occupy Philly vigil, which was convened because the city has been making noises about the encampment clearing out. What I found was a slightly larger police presence than last time I stopped by, and many more tents. News vehicles were parked in a line and the vigil grew, candle by candle, until it was the size you see --not so bad for a wet week night at 9pm. This was probably only the second or third time in my life that I held a candle at a vigil. I went home feeling that Occupy Philly is still alive and well. As I write, signals from the authorities are mixed and the encampment might stay where it is for as much as another month, when the first physical activities of a long-planned renovation of Dilworth Plaza are expected to get underway. The general tone of communications with City Hall has chilled sharply, however, and several Occupy camps have been raided within the past week across the United States.

It was also good to get out of my neighborhood and breathe some fresh air on a mild autumn night.