Another Morning Of Blue Skies And Sun (March For Our Lives, Dunkirk, NY)

Marching For Their Lives

7:18

7:22

7:58

It's 8:30 as I begin my blog, the living room filled with sunshine.  It's still chilly, 21º, despite the sun and I have been up since 7:15, drinking coffee and listening to C-Span and NPR discuss yesterday's March For Our Lives. 

For us, Saturday was not the usual although our morning was typical.  Once we got the trash together and I drove off to the Transfer Station, Evie got out two old placemats and starting making signs for our participation in a March For Our Lives in Dunkirk, New York, the nearest city where there was going to be a march. 

Diane And Jack

We drove to Jack and Diane's 60 acre property which includes a kitchen garden, 40 acres of forest and also an acre of hops in Amish Country, on the Chautauqua Ridge around 12:30 and they drove the backroads through snow-covered farmland to Dunkirk, about a half hour away.  We joined other marchers at the middle school parking lot, gathered there for a prayer and song We Will Over Come, then marched to Washington Park, about a half mile away. 

Marching to Washington Park

There were probably 300 of us, mostly adults I might add, and we listened to a couple of speakers, then about 20 students from all ages, who were encouraged to step up on the dais and speak their minds.  Some were quite articulate, others stumbled with their thoughts but it was great to see that all were greeted with applause and enthusiasm.  We ended the afternoon with a five-year-old Joey leading us in singing 'This Land Is Your Land.' 

Supporting Our Young

We were back in our car by 3:00, happy with our afternoon, the first march we have participated in since 1967 when we were part of some of the Vietnam protests in Hawaii.  Jack drove so we said our goodbyes at his house and drove home, stopping at Tops grocery to pick up a  few things for dinner. 

Amish Country

We both were tired from our afternoon activity, so we relaxed until around 6:00, when we decided to celebrate our participation in the March with a Manhattan and some good cheese, a wedge of Fromage D'Affinois.  Evie did not have to worry about dinner because we were having the leftover chicken and black bean enchiladas, which were warming up in the oven. 

7:45 PM

It was a beautiful evening to enjoy dusk, as the sky turned a bluish-grey before it got dark.  Dinner was just as good as the night before and we watched some basketball, some home improvement shows and Bill Maher's Real Time.

Not Quite Record Setting...Yet