hey y'all,

3647 days ago i wandered down the seawall at Alki Point in Seattle and during a moment of clarity and connection in the midst of confusion - i spoke Truth... 10 years past i look back and see we were hateful and scared and the consequences are all too obvious... blame and shame do not belong here, it is time to shed them and put on your walking shoes and move to the future...

i spoke the words. i have lived them. i will not take them back.

i pray this is the last 9/11 "celebration". for to celebrate it is to honor the perpetrators of the act and the knee jerk reactions that have crippled and divided the Nation i love. the Nation the two ol' friends who channeled a message to me loved even before it was born...

i humbly bid you all Godspeed, strength, Light and Love,

vid mars

L'il Lady Liberty” (September 13th, 2001)

I went for a walk at Alki tonight. People were holding a candlelight vigil at L'il Lady Liberty... Oh, she was a-glowin'! (Yes, Red, our dahlias are looking strong, right where we left them on Tuesday.)

I went to the Alki Market and got a "Yankee Blue" taper and lit it and fired up some of the candles that had gone out. Prayed and just fell into a trance of sorts as the taper dripped wax all over my fingers as I held it. I finally found a suitable spot to stick the candle and then stood staring at Lady Liberty and listening to conversations around me... A lot of fear. Some hatred. A lot of sorrow.

Someone behind me started to sing the Star Spangled Banner and the crowd all followed in... Beautiful… Then dead silence…

I shouted: "I have something to say!"

A man shouts: "Then say it!"

"My great, great, great, great grandfather was a friend of, fought next to, drank with, gave shelter to and was a pallbearer to George Washington. I think those two gentlemen have something to say to us: 'Don't be scared. Don't be hateful. Be GREAT! Be AMERICANS!' ... God Bless America!"

(Cheers and "God Bless America" all around)

I couldn't help it. It just slipped out...

As I started to leave a lady from New York City was crying on the shoulder of a friend and sobbing, "I can't go on." I rubbed her on the shoulder and said as I pointed to L'il Lady Liberty: "Yes, you can, because she needs you to!!!"

And I wandered off down the beach to let the waves sing to me…

peace,

vid mars

Peace... it's a groove!



                                               -30-