Day
59 - Monday, April 10, 2006
Knoxville, Tennessee to Smoky Mountain Peace Pagoda,
Newport, Tennessee
Can
you imagine housing 35 runners and walkers
for two overnights at your house? Or calling
on all your friends to help you feed them for
two days? Not many of us would or could attempt
it, but that's what peace activists Ralph Hutchison
and Lissa McLeod did for Sacred Run these last
two days. Wow - thanks, friends! We enjoyed
our Knoxville stay in their huge rambling home,
complete with wonderful children (Emma and
Sarah Margaret), at least four very friendly
cats and an incredibly old dog.
Yesterday,
we took our time getting started. You might
say we even had a morning "off"!
Then in the afternoon, we walked and ran from
Knoxville to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and gathered
with local members of United
For Peace and Justice who have been witnessing
for peace for six years now, every Sunday evening.
We gathered just outside the gates to the Y-12
Nuclear Weapons Plant, the only remaining nuclear
weapons production and processing facility
remaining in the United States. With armed
police standing ready to resist our immense
power, we sang and prayed, listened to our
Elders, and finally, approached the barbed
wire barrier and sent more prayers and energies
in a silent witness.
We
enjoyed a picnic dinner at Bissell Park in
Oak Ridge, thanks to Food Not Bombs, followed
by speeches and lots of songs and dancing.
Back at Ralph and Lissa's, some stayed up late
that night, playing cards. This, along with
the time zone change from Central to Eastern
time, made it a little tough for us this morning,
but we persevered, woke up, drank our tea and
coffee and helped ourselves to another 
remarkable
breakfast at Lissa and Ralph's home -- and
then hit the road, Knoxville to Newport, Tennessee.
There, we will be offering our physical labor
to help with further construction on the Great
Smoky Mountain Peace Pagoda.
Only 12 days to go!
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Day
60 - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Smoky Mountain Peace Pagoda, Newport, Tennessee
Today's reflection
was written by Kid Valance, 4/17/06
At
our stay at the Smoky Mountains Peace Pagoda,
we had a day off from running and walking,
a "rest" day that turned into a rewarding "work" day.
We had the opportunity to help clear the trees
from the site of the future Pagoda, still a
few years off in construction. Under the direction
of Utsumi-shonin (a whirlwind of a worker himself,
impossible to keep up with), and a s
trawboss
named Dennis Banks, we set to clearing the
hillside. Joel and Billy waded into the tangle
of downed trees with chainsaws, cutting them
into manageable size. Sean, Jamie, Feather
and I pulled and tossed smaller limbs up to
Larry, Bob, Nathan and Eriko, while another
crew did the same beside us. With the brush
out of the way, we strung down the hill in
a long single line and passed and threw the
log sections uphill, like a bucket brigade.
We worked fast and hard like it was a competition,
and it was great fun for all of us. Later on,
Jamie said, "Everybody's energy combined
into one big adrenaline rush." And also,
we got to feel like we somehow had a small
stake in the place, being blessed by giving
something back. Great hospitality, a beautiful
setting, and the brush we cleared made for
a fantastic bonfire on the top of that hill,
and with people from the community, we drummed
and sang around it long into the starry night.
Peace Pagoda photos above are by Julie
and Charlie Hernandez. Check out
Julie's and Charlie's galleries (links below)
that more fully tell the story in color and
light....
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Day
61 - Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Smoky Mountain Peace Pagoda, Newport, Tennessee to
Asheville, North Carolina
Real-time
internet stories.... When I meet folks
on the road with Sacred Run, they are sometimes
amazed to see stories and pictures from yesterday,
or maybe even today. Sometimes, our hosts
have returned the favor. Tonight's accommodations
are at Blue
Ridge Motion Pictures in Asheville, North
Carolina. Blue Ridge's Izzy knows more about
what we're doing here than I do, and he already posted
it on the website! Dennis has lots of
old friends here from the shooting of Last
of the Mohicans. We will be tenting
out behind the picture studio tonight, but
right now I'm sitting in the executive Conference
Room, hooked into Blue Ridge's high speed
wireless. Wow!
This
will have to be short. There's a dinner being
prepared for us, and we will soon be served
in the cavernous film studio at the end of
this building.
I'm back - and here are two pics from inside
the studio - the dinner crowd, and Dennis Banks
blowing out his birthday candles. It was a
HUGE birthday cake, full of strawberries and
topped with massive amounts of whipped cream.
Happy 69th Birthday, Dennis (or 70th according
to some)! And yes, we sang the Happy Birthday
song - but there should have been drums!
Many many thanks to Anna Lara, who organized
everything and made some of the salads. For
arrangements and accommodations at Blue
Ridge Motion Pictures, thanks to Executive
Producer Merwin Gross and Head of Studio Leanne
Campbell. Thanks to Flip and Ann at Spirits
on the River, who provided buffalo
chili, fry bread and a black bean and corn
salad, and to Black
Mountain Bistro for the sandwiches
and fruit. And special honors go to Lee Nesbitt,
who made the incredible strawberry birthday
cake. Thanks, everyone!
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Day
63 - Friday, April 14, 2006
Charlotte, North Carolina to Maxton, North Carolina
Today
is the day of our BIG 24-hour Run!
Around 3pm today, six of our Sacred Runners
will leave from Charlotte and continue running
for as long as they can, through the night,
and finishing on Saturday afternoon. Not to
be completely outdone, three of our Sacred
Walkers will attempt a 12-hour Walk. No easy
thing, either of these treks! Both groups will
need support vehicles to watch carefully over
them as they grow weary and sore. 24-Hour Sacred
Runners include Marcus, K.A., Kid, Octavia
and Jerry. 12-Hour Sacred Walkers include Owns
the Sabre, Minoh and Stephanie.
Why do we do this? Why such an extreme effort?
As with every step on Sacred Run, our effort
is to show ultimate respect and concern for
our Mother Earth, for the air and the water
and the sacred places, and for all living things: All
Life is Sacred. Walkers and runners will
discover a deeper inner strength as the miles
go by, and in the extended rhythms of the day's
journey, they will offer powerful prayers for
peace and life. Our route is US 74 from Charlotte
to Maxton, North Carolina, about 109 miles.
Yesterday's
run and walk brought us from Asheville, in
eastern North Carolina to Charlotte, in south
central North Carolina. The route surprised
us in its complexity. We got lost lots of times
trying to negotiate the difference between
Rt. 74, Business Rt. 74, Alt. 74 and Rt. 74E.
Someone who shall remain nameless (me) also
wrote "take a right" where he should
have written "take a left" somewhere
in Charlotte. To top it all off, one runner
could not be found by the support driver until
after dark and after dinner! It was a warm
and heartfelt reunion when all were gathered
in the safety 
of
the home of Harold "Hutch" Hutchison
here in Charlotte. Many many thanks to Hutch
for opening his home to us on short notice.
Suddenly, Hutch found himself "father" to
another forty!
Today we are off to Maxton, North
Carolina for a three-night stay with Big Mac,
and a much needed rest before the final push
into Washington, D.C.
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Day
64 - Saturday, April 15, 2006
Maxton, North Carolina - completing our 24 Hour Run
As I write to you at around 2pm on Saturday, four of our Sacred Runners are STILL out there, in the 23rd hour of their 24-hour witness for Mother Earth. I drove out on US 74 near Rockingham, North Carolina this morning to bring an encouraging word, and I found Marcus and K.A. leading. Both were near exhaustion, and K.A. was "walking on water" (blisters), but their spirits were high. Hugs and good words for and from them both!
A few miles back, I came upon Jerry and Octavia, again, very tired and sore, but with great energy and light in their eyes. I asked if they needed anything, and they didn't need a thing, except maybe for the clock to move a little faster. (Actually, that was K.A.'s only request.)
Even the greatest of runners will have a bad day sometimes. Kid ran a marathon on March 21, but this morning around 5am, after running for 14 hours straight (!), he went all wobbly and couldn't stay upright. Les sat him down in the van, and he passed out. Awake when I arrived around 10am, he was talking about recovery in 2 days, and he definitely plans to run into Washington D.C. on April 22. Go Kid! And I would add, as I'm sure he would, not for himself, but for Mother Earth, for Peace, and for the Sacred Circle:
I run I walk I pray
for land and life,
for our ancestors
for the future generations
for the Sacred Places
to protect the four-legged
and the winged creatures
to preserve the old ways
to respect the elders
and for PEACE...
from The Sacred Circle, Kid Valance |
Our Sacred Runners are only a part of the story! Three of our Sacred Walkers kept going for 12 hours yesterday! 12 Hour Walkers included our eldest and most youthful walkers, Paul Owns the Sabre and Minoh Banks, along with Stephanie Manning. All of Sacred Run, every one of us, stand in awe of Owns the Sabre's feat most especially. Blessings and peace to you walkers, all three! For Mother Earth!
Support vehicles were driven by Jim, Les and Melinda, who supplied plenty of water and attention, and endured a marathon sleepless night of their own. Many thanks and much admiration for our support team: Jim Toren and Rogelio Quintero, Les and Tater Burris (with their baby beagle, Tibee), and Melinda Clyne. Again, an incredible effort, for our Mother Earth.
