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Drive By Vigil

March 16, 2003

I drove to the corner of Ventura and Van Nuys Boulevards, for the candlelight peace vigil I read about on MoveOn.org, one of many held tonight at 7pm all across the country. I grabbed two tealights out of my bag of 100 IKEA candles and rushed out the door. I'd planned to ride my bike, but it was getting late, so I took my car to save time.

On all four corners of the intersection stood people holding candles, swaying, singing, talking and smiling, waving the peace sign at traffic, passing out flyers. Matches were lit one after another, to keep candles glowing against the calm valley breeze.

It's a busy intersection: we were continuously encouraged by the sound of honking horns. SUV after SUV drove by, beeping in support... teenagers and mothers in sportscars and Hummers passed, stopping for the red lights, waving and cheering in the spirit of peace. As a group of middle-aged women led us in "We Shall Overcome" and several off-tempo verses of "Imagine", I looked across the street towards the Chevron station, the pizza shop, the giant Anger Management billboard, the 76 station.

As the singing fizzled, I set my Dixie cup candle atop the Don't Walk sign, and strolled away from the scene. I pulled my gas-guzzler into a Shell station for a $10 quarter-tank of gas, and rolled home, peaceful.

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