Nuclear Free Future Run - 2004
Ceremony
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PeaceHq |
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Nuclear Free Future Run - 2004
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This had to be one of the best starts to a run ever. After a delicious feast prepared by Che and her family and pleasent conversation into the evening, we got up early this morning, had some of Che's famous baked oatmeal, and headed to the Mound for morning circle.
You could feel the energy of the Mound as soon as you walked into the park. It's a beautiful setting: a small neighborhood park with a great wooded playground and an elementary school on one side. Modest homes surround the park. The Mound itself is horseshoe shaped with the open end facing the river. There are remanents of another mound that used to circle the whole area in the park also. Che explained the history of the area. The Shawnee had been the last caretakers of the Mound into the late 1800's. When they were forced to move they left pottery on the Mound to signify how sacred the spot was. The land got deeded to the city in the early 1900's and was turned into a park but no regard was given to it's significance so people walked on it and even drove cars on it. In the 1990's Che and others who wanted to preserve native heritage got the city to agree to allow the Loyal band of the Shawnee to have caretaker privileges for the next 200 years. People from all over came to help put it back to it's intended state. One of those people was Jim Addington, so that's how Jim and Che met (their paths crossed in the 60's, but that's another story). They were married on this spot. Che says the mound signifies female energy, that one for male energy was destroyed when they built the school. Women came from as far away as Washington DC each spring for a spring equinox ceremony. John welcomed everybody and gave his appreciation for everybody coming. He reminded us of everybody else around the world who are doing the same thing so our prayers and energy are shared, expanded, expounded, worldwide. Marcus and Atsuko in Japan, Virginia Moffatt, from England, who emailed us, Denise & Utsumi doing their annual pilgrimage from Atlanta to Y12. An anti-nuclear activist, Jeff McKenzie , in New York whose son has to return to Iraq. There are more John mentioned whose names I don't remember. Terry said his nephew just returned to Iraq also. Jim said he lets Che do all the talking, but the occasion moved him to have his say. He said "the presense of your tents on their lawn last night brought a calmness and quietness in the neighborhood that's pretty unusual". He talked about the Mound being the last line of defense against the nuclear facility that lies just to the north. Larry picked up on that theme with a vision of the space being a staging ground for growing numbers of people from all over coming here to stop the insanity of nuclear war. Imagine tents surrounding the mound. Mark said how great it was to be with so many fine people and back with the run again. 
Jim Toren asked if he would be willing to sing the song he'd written after last years run. Jim said he didn't want to put Mark on the spot but I don't think Mark heard him because he was already in the van fetching his guitar. We were all transfixed in the moment as Mark poured his heart out. The song starts out soft and melodic and builds to a raucous outburst of Mark's feelings. We were all so moved it was like we all wanted to get going so we could put the energy into our miles.
I was honered with getting to start first so I took off with Mark's song still reverberating through my bones and it carried me through my first five miles like a kid. The route Che & Jim worked out winds through diverse parts of Portsmouth:
neighborhoods, Shawnee State Community College, downtown, by a beautiful mural that depicts the stages of history of the area and the across the Scioto and Ohio rivers. My first five ended on the south side of the river.
Story By Jon "DeCafe" Blickenstaff |
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