11/15/08

Love makes a family

A high pressure dome off the coast of California is keeping us sunny and warm in San Francisco. It was raining slightly when I came here to get married two weeks ago.

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Today we came to protest 52% of California trying to take that away.

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Canis lupus familiaris 'Briard'

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The sound system was a little faint, but we liked what we heard. The speakers emphasized the need for more cooperation and outreach, to avoid blaming other people, and to stay focused and clear-eyed. The winning side's support has fallen several percentage points in the last 8 years. We can win this, and we will.

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As this is normally a garden blog, I am pleased to include a few pictures of the victory garden that was planted in the Civic Center last spring. Until today, I had not seen it. The garden was recently planted with winter crops like coles, greens, and peas, garlic and onions.

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It was nice to see people enjoying the garden,

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But a wood chip mulching is clearly in order.

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And why not chip the clippings from the sycamore trees that got pollarded this morning.

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We got there early, and the arborists were just finishing up. This picture was taken before the others. Fortunately, we found a spot under some trees that hadn't been pruned, so we had shade.

There were some good signs, most of them hand-made. We talked about making one, but unfortunately we didn't get around to it.

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(Okay, I didn't even notice that Churh is missing a c!)

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My favorite sign had a famous quote paraphrasing from Mohandas Ghandi, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." So it goes.

For me, this one sums it up best:

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14 comments:

Brent said...

Seems like it was a good day for a protest.

Is "churh" a reference that I'm not familiar with or a garden variety misspelling?

I actually Googled it but came up empty - the other sign in the same picture was a little punny, so I thought maybe the two signs were supposed to be punny together.

Christopher C. NC said...

Nice day for a protest in San Francisco. Good for you and Guy for going. If you haven't already, look at Andrew Sullivan's blog. It will make you happy.

Now for nit picking. Church has two C's. What is a Churh? I think I would be embarrassed to hold a misspelled sign.

chuck b. said...

Too funny...I didn't even notice. lol. It was a long day. It's only 9:20 p.m., but I'm going to bed.

Unknown said...

Lovely post... and while I would have admired the sign you liked, the "Only Sissies Fear Gay Marriage" sign made me laugh. I admit it.

By the way, rain on your wedding day is a sign of good luck. It may not seem like it right now, but I'm thinking that's a good omen. :)

Unknown said...

By the way, I have no idea how the rally in Cleveland went, with the weather we had, but I know that one was planned. I checked it out on the website you linked (thank you) but it was being held while I was at work this afternoon.

Bacchus said...

It was a gorgeous day and I'm glad you posted pics of the garden. I didn't make it that far since I, and about 50 other gay parents, rallied in the playground area.

I love the quote by Ghandi. We will win if not today, then tomorrow.

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I just don't get people who think gay marriage threatens the "institution of marriage." Like we're all going to divorce our spouses to marry somebody of the same gender. Or are they worried that gay people will stop marrying people of the opposite sex in an attempt to appear "normal"? (As if that happens anymore, and is even a good thing.) It's all about property rights and next of kin status, but because our country has problems from its Puritan heritage, the issue gets mucked up with so-called morality. I hope someday soon, such protests won't be necessary.

Wicked Gardener said...

Like I've posted before, I've never met a gay couple who threatened my marriage, but I have met a few that have inspired it. I love that thru all of this, you take time to post pics of the garden! My kind of gardener. Here's to the day when we can all sit back an just think about flowers.

Anonymous said...

Hi chuck, I liked the one that said str8 against h8. I am into numbers.
Frances

JvA said...

I'm sad to say that we were not among those who rallied in Seattle. (My childbirth class had had its reunion planned for that day for a long time.)

But I'm happy to say that thousands of others turned out:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/15/the_seattle_masses

My friend Katrina was featured on the local TV news here, yay! My friend Stephanie's partner spoke at the Tacoma rally, yay!

JvA said...

Somesigns from Seattle:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/15/seattle_in_signs

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your wedding. I say celebrate love in all its' many and wondrous ways!

Annie in Austin said...

Ditto on what MMD and Wicked Gardener said so well.

Chuck, you're probably not into British romantic comedies but I was happy to find Four Weddings and a Funeral on sale for $3, watching it while baking last week. It's been years since I saw that movie and I'd forgotten what the Hugh Grant character says about a gay couple in their group.
"Yes, it's odd, isn't it? All these years we've been single and proud of it and never noticed that two of us were, in effect, married all this time."
I liked that Ghandi quote, too.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Curmudgeon said...

Hi there. I found my way here thanks to Annie from The Transplantable Rose. I did a post about our march here in Seattle and Annie left me a link to your blog. Had to come check out your pics of the SF march. Great pics of the Victory Garden too.
--Curmudgeon