Changes Big & Small

Yesterday Corby and I drove out to Drake's Beach, so named because Sir Francis Drake is said to have landed there in the Golden Hind in 1579. Even thought it was on a holiday, I was a bit surprised to find it so populous. Not crowded. I don't think it's ever likely to be crowded. Usually we see maybe 20-50 people spread along a very, very long beach bordered by sandstone cliffs on one side and the glorious Pacific on the other.

I headed southeast towards the big outcropping beyond which we shot our Baring Witness peace photo. At that time, about two days before the New Year of 2003, we had to ford a stream and then climb over rocks to get to a pebbled beach where we arranged ourselves for the photo.

What I found there was a beach! Not the stream and the big cliff and the pebbles we posed on. A sandy beach! Filled with picnickers, sand castles, children running around, dogs, frisbees. In the intervening years, the entire cliff had crumbled into the sea, and where there were pebbles, as you can see in the photos, is now sand.

Later as we walked down the beach in the opposite direction, we heard and saw many pebbles and rocks falling from the cliffs in the strong wind. Erosion in action. Some cliffs had spills of rocks and pebbles at their bases, others just sand. I felt the need to keep my distance from the cliffs that were at that moment in the process of changing themselves. I enjoy walking at the very edge of the sea, sometimes in the water if a waves reaches farther ashore, even though the wind closer to the water is much fiercer than that in the minimal shelter of the crumbling sandstone cliffs.

The color photo of women spelling PEACE above by Sean Smuda. I am the last person in the upper arm of the second E -- and yes, it was cold. The water lapped at the edges of the letter, meaning on me.

The peace symbol of naked men, by Christopher Springmann, features Corby as the bottom man in the upright of the peace symbol.




VOTE was taken before the 2004 Presidential election by Eva Soltes. I am also in the upper arm of the E in that shot, and Prudence Priest and Victoria are in the V.

The 2004 election didn't have the results we'd wished for.

Efforts to secure world peace continue.

Ma shrugged and a sandstone cliff fell. She washed the pebbles in Her amniotic fluid and they became sand.

Send Elly Simmons to the White House

My friend, artist Elly Simmons, needs help to get to a reception at the White House on December 2, at the invitation of Laura Bush. The reason is that our Congresswoman, Lynn Woolsey, invited Elly to design an ornament for the Xmas tree in the Blue Room. Her design is one of those chosen. She says it's "full of appropriate symbolism!!"

For the past two years Elly has been traveling at her own expense to document Tents of Hope: A journey of compassion and peace with the refugees of Darfur, Sudan, for an art book she's doing for Pomegranate Artbooks. As a result, funds are depleted and she needs help in order to follow through on this fantastic opportunity. To that end, she seeks small donations towards plane tickets for herself and her daughter, Maralisa. If you can help, please send your check payable to Elly Simmons at P.O. Box 463, Lagunitas, CA 94938. E-mail her at info@ellysimmons.com to let her know so she can book her flight.

Elly describes the overriding image as being "that of a phoenix bird rising from the ashes, with a number of other symbols thrown in." I'm sure it's beautiful, as is all her art. I'm mailing a modest check tomorrow. Won't you join me?