THANKSGIVING, PANSIES, AND A FALLEN PRESIDENT

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE: As we count our blessings at Thanksgiving, let us all resolve to translate our gratitude into compassionate action in support of justice, kindness and positive transformation.

“Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner”: From Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 13, 1869. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

PANSIES AND HISTORY: Today, the day before Thanksgiving, three of us got the pansies into the medicine wheel this afternoon. The day was warm and bright, this doesn’t feel like November at all. And it is dry, though we hope for rain tonight. Word is that Raleigh only has 100 days worth of water in their reservoir, unless it begins raining soon. Now, we need the rain for those pansies, too.

They were a donation from Central Piedmont Community College, which has been very helpful this season, indeed (see the post about the luncheon).

Finally, the leaves are beginning to change color, and this year’s colors are very vivid. Here’s our red maple, before (us planting last February) and after (the colors now – look carefully, can you see one of Lite’s bikes on the fence above the garden?) Also, here’s a closeup of the nice color of Tiffblue blueberries in our patch beside the parking lot.

Today, Barbara asked me, out of the blue, “So, thinking about tomorrow, what were you doing when you heard?” She didn’t have to explain – I knew just what she meant. I was in band, rehearsing The Civil War Suite, when the news came crackling over the loudspeaker that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.

Our director said, “Well, let’s focus on the music, and take it from the top.” By the time we got to the last section, based on The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the final word came that he was dead. This time, our director told us to take the last section again, and play it like we meant it. We did – we were a good band anyway, and we played like our lives depended on every note. Some of us were sobbing, others stunned and speechless, but we kept playing, beautifully. I’ll never forget it. As a returned Peace Corps volunteer who began dreaming of serving when I was in high school, I’m a child of Kennedy, and proud of it. Yes, much of what we believed in was a myth, he was entirely human. Yet the enduring and optimistic light from his torch still goes marching on. Glory, hallelujah – and people know how to say that down here like they really mean it.

THE HOMELESS WALK: We also had a walk to support expanding homeless services this past weekend. My estimate is about 500-700 people, a respectable turnout. Saw some good old friends and their kids, Anganette Byrd from Soil and Water Conservation and Velma Thompson-Ross from Recycling. Who says we Green Folks don’t have any heart, and don’t care about social justice? Our world needs both environmental responsibility and justice shaped by compassion. Only odd note, we never were allowed to march through the uptown, past the banks. Something felt a bit coopted…Too bad uptown Charlotte didn’t get to see us, we were an inspiring and upbeat group, marching for a good cause. Hope some solid policy follows to help provide adequate shelter for all.

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“True Blessings” luncheon big success

A gathering of a very different type from the march happened earlier in the week on Wednesday at the Westin, a very fancy hotel. Friends of the Urban Ministry Center helped bring Denver Moore and Ron Hall, authors of the book The Same Kind of Different As Me, to be keynote speakers at a benefit luncheon for the Urban Ministry Center. As readers of this blog know, the garden program has been growing ‘edible’ baby salads for centerpieces, along with some violas. We got great help from Central Piedmont Community College. We had almost 1000 people! Denver got a standing ovation when he called for creation of emergency shelter on a vacant lot. It reminded me of that standing ovation Alice Waters got 3 weeks ago here, when she called for healthier school lunches serving local organic produce. I’m delighted to see my fellow Charlotteans stand up, but now will they do more than applaud? Will they roll up their sleeves and work to translate good ideas into changed realities for those among us with the greatest needs?

There were some unexpected and amusing episodes. At the ArtWorks table only Black folks were sitting, informally dressed artists with our program, in contrast to the largely white and affluent groups at surrounding tables . Under his breath, one of the artists was singing, to the tune of We Are The Champions, “We are, yes we are, yes we are the tokens…” In this case, appearances deceive, I believe – this was a bunch of good hearted people who want to help the homeless. But our artist has a point – wouldn’t it have been interesting, speaking hypothetically now, to have mixed people, perhaps had a homeless neighbor or two seated at every table.

We also found that Denver had had dinner only a couple of days earlier with former president George W. Bush and his wife Barbara. During the dinner, he stood up and walked off into the night, as he likes to do sometimes. For six hours people worried, then he reappeared.

After the event, all of the pansies and veggies ended up at the Center’s garden. We’re transplanting them this week and next (while praying for rain).

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