Baltimore CivSol and On to Asheville

Whew! Big thanks to CivSol Baltimore. Those folks have really held it down for us. Mike, Anna, Sergio, Spencer; thank you! Red Emma's was a great turn out. We had several veterans come by and have a discussion and share their thoughts. Contacts were made, music shared, and a sing-a-long too.

The night before was our presentation at a local Mennonite church. We had an intimate setting, we prayed together, and we had our first bike donated by hand and some paniers as well. Needless to say, Baltimore has been a pleasure.

Yesterday we picked up Brock McIntosh from DC and blasted down the highway to Asheville, NC. We are being hosted by some great folks, Paul and Ymani, and have been looking on to the mountain view most of the morning and afternoon. We have a presentation tonight and you can learn about that here; www.civsol.org. Our friend Tom from Wilmington also posted a video of us singing songs here; www.youtube.com

We Share Our Message with Delaware Students

This is Lou. She is a 9th grader at the Wilmington Friends School in Delaware. After our presentation she came up to us and asked if we would take a picture of her with this sign she made and send it to the kids in Afghanistan (Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers). We were delighted to say yes, of course.

Yesterday we spent 6 school hours with the students at the Friends School. We spoke with 9th and 10th grade classes from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. Some 11th and 12th grade students joined us whenever they heard the music playing.

We were inspired when we heard more students like Lou get interested and share their feelings. We had a lot of that. Jacob told his story 6 times yesterday and, likewise, we played all of our hillybilly peace songs over and over. We talked about how the ride began and how Jacob's brother, Jordan, made the decision to resist the Afghan war after receiving his orders to deploy. We talked about how the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers are struggling to share their message of peace in a world so easily accepting of violence. Not to mention how easy it would be for those youngsters to pick up a random Kalashnikov and join the violent anti-occupation movement. Instead, though, they choose peace.

It was these discussions about the youth in Afghanistan, Jacob and Jordan's stories, and peace songs that inspired class after class of Delaware students to stand up and raise their wrists to show solidarity. Even further, many of the Afghan kids and the Delaware kids share the same age. Very powerful.

We Are Off to Wilmington, Delaware

We were greeted by the local peace community this morning in Wilmington. We shared in a vigil where we waved messages of peace and justice. Then they treated us to lunch where we all scribbled peace wisdom on the table for the bussers. We took off down the road shortly after. Delaware is a beautiful place to ride a bike. We crossed the Brandywine Canal and cruised down quarter mile-long hills till we landed at the church that is housing us.

Though the message on the sign in the picture below is slightly misleading, it should do. The church has been very welcoming and accommodating. Big thanks to Tim, Sally, Sarah, Wayne, Judy, June and friends!

Sally took us out to a local food coop for groceries and delivered an inkind donation. Rus and I study coffee for 20 minutes. How exciting. Our itinerary is set for the weekend and we will begin tomorrow morning with what is being described as an Adult-Education class.

We left Philly this morning with some good hugs. We also pulled off a Richter-Family interview and gained some more insight into the lives of our hosts. Thanks again to the Richters for all their hospitality.

A Lunch Date With ARTTE and Insight from Elaine

Soooo, the daughter of our hosts goes on dates and then blogs about it. So Rus playfully suggested we all go on a date together, and then we did yesterday. And it was lots of fun. And actually, Rus bailed so it was just me and Jacob. We were joined by an interesting Russian woman who invited us to view her home/art exhibit. We were happy about the invitation but didn't go. We did have some interesting conversations, of course. She gave us all marbles and blew bubbles while we ate, and we gave her a wristband. I wonder how much more interesting Kat's blog about our lunch will be?

You can read more about it on Kat's blog; katrichterwrites.wordpress.com

The night before that we finished editing a video to share the wisdom and insight of our friend, supporter, and former host in NYC, Elaine Brower. I have posted the video here for all to view and enjoy.

Philly is a Whirlwind and Another Vet Becomes Victim to Suicide

Philly has been a whirlwind of presentations and meeting up with folks. We have playing songs in churches, in bookstores, community spaces, etc, having great discussions, and raising bicycles! We met up with Emma who is the lead organizer for the Bradley Manning Solidarity Network and she came to speak at one of our presentations yesterday. Our event last night at Lava went well and was a lot of fun. In attendance were some Civsol and IVAW friends who came out to support our ride. Lots of love coming around from every place. Thanks to all who have had us; UFPJ, Jane Dugdale and friends, Brandywine, the town of Radnor, Lava, Quakers and friends!

Some disturbing news came today, however, that I can get out of my mind. I'd like to start by asking a question that very much needs an answer; how does one still rationalize the “war on terror” after all that we know about the wars in the Middle East? Of all that we know – how about the fact that there have been more military suicides in the past two years than military deaths in combat! And we lose yet another today!

I received an email this morning from a veteran who shared his thoughts and feelings about his friend and fellow veteran, Keenan Rinehart, who became a victim to suicide last night. As the email pointed out, Keenan was alone in a community of civilians who seemingly refused to recognize and understand his struggle with PTSD and would likely have sent him back to war before going themselves, all while claiming they “support the troops”.

We can't do everything and we all have a lot on our own plates, but if you have the time and the energy, there is a growing movement of service members working their asses off everyday to shed light on the fact that many veterans are struggling with treatable ailments and do not get medical attention, and many times are sent back into combat. They need support. If you are fed up with the wars but support the troops, please dig into the work. You can start with the links at the top of this page (Civsol, IVAW, ARTTE).

Onward to Philly!

I know now why people hate hipsters, though I'm still committed to calling them snarkies instead. I mean, we didn't meet them, they just scowled at us from the their post at Starbucks seemingly frowning because we were taking attention away from their new boots. Otherwise, the ride into Philly was smooth riding all the way; beautiful day, blue sky, wide shoulders.

There was an instance where Jacob attempted some off-roading. I tried to reason while Russ volunteered to take pictures. As you can see in the pictures, my reasoning was abandoned for a thrill ride.

Just before this we had a delicious lunch atop a mountain, where we hopped a slow-rolling train and had some rest. Russ was super excited and pulled a "Rocky Balboa".

Philadelphia, by the way, has stop lights at every block. It does get a little exhausting. But our hosts are fantastic. Steve has the highest Boat Captain's license one can have and he pilots container ships going in and out of port. Debbie is a Code Pink regional Coordinator who, two days after hurricane Katrina hit, was in the affected region asking people what they needed and going off to find a store to fill her car full of food and other necessities. Debbie is a true American heroine. We are glad to be here in Philly with some good peeps.

Peace Action Princeton and Food Is Medicine

Our time in Princeton is almost up. We leave to tomorrow for Philadelphia and will be there for a week, give or take. Our event last night was a great turnout.

There was a potluck dinner to start and we ended with some music for all to sing along. Mid-day in a park we met some Princeton Uni students who joined us at our event to play along as well. We met up with them later to join a weekly folk sing along with fifty people or so all singing, strumming banjos, mandos, fiddles, guitars, mouth harps and so on.

Big thanks to Bob Moore, Carol, Carter, Kate, Manisha, and all the other folks at Coalition for Peace Action (Princeton) who showed to give support, ask questions, and share the message of peace. And for all their organizing prowess.




Today we have spent most of our morning singing and gathering food for our ride tomorrow. It is a small 43 miles or so and you can track our progress at http://trackmytour.com/b4FB3#79788 .

Most important about life on a bike is staying healthy and eating food for medicine, lots of water, and fancy flower, herbal blends for teas. I am a tea newb, but Jacob and Rus are medicine men, no doubt. Also important that we take note of the change in season and prepare our bodies for that transition. Thanks to Hamsa and Moshe for that reminder! Tonight we'll cook down some nutritious greens and grains, eat them for dinner, toast with some dandelion tea, and pack the rest for our trip out of town.