Four of us went to our Congressman's office at 1:00 this afternoon to deliver a homemade apple pie and the message above. There were no posters or banners or slogans or media. I had gone to the office last Friday to try to set up an appointment, and I learned that there are no legislative aides at the District offices in VA-09. However, the Office Manager had promised to send our materials directly to him so that there would be no delay due to the extensive security procedures that tie up the regular mail.

I started our visit today with introductions and the reading of excerpts from the Howe proclamation, flipped quickly through the clipboard full of handouts I was leaving for Mr. Boucher, and spoke briefly about how the DoP would help to bring "domestic tranquility" to this culture of violence. Pat spoke next about her work with mediation as an alternative to litigation and as a way to reduce domestic violence by offering proactive help to high-risk families. Catherine (the baker of the pie) thanked Mr. Boucher for his support of the ElderSpirit intentional community and talked about supporting our troops with peacemakers who are trained at the Peace Academy. Jean talked about bringing violence to our planet to an end. The office staff jumped in from time to time to let us know about Mr. Boucher's support for cleaner energy production and his efforts to make health care available to everyone. I was glad that the meeting took on more of the quality of a conversation than a presentation.

I wrapped up with a thank-you for his work on internet neutrality, declared my respect for a man who could reach his 11th term in such a diverse district, and thanked the staff for expediting the packet since this is a national action and I didn't want our Congressman to be in the dark when everyone on Capitol Hill was talking about HR808. Mr. Boucher sits on the Judiciary Committee, one of the committees to which the legislation was referred, so I asked to be remembered to Mr. Conyers (Chair) whom I met last July at two different events, and I suggested that Mr. Boucher ask Mr. Conyers about HR808.

Editor, propeace.net

Dee, I am SO GLAD that you found the propeace community website, and grateful that you are willing to carry the torch (or pie) to Henry Brown's office. Two of us presented ourselves at his office with a pie two years ago; I was very sick last winter and spring, so he didn't get one in '06. I hope you've connected with Dwight Fee of Myrtle Beach, but just in case you haven't, I'll drop him a note with a link to your blog. If I remember correctly, he was trying to put together a group for a workshop in Charleston over the weekend - something on peace and spirituality, if I know Dwight - and he may be willing to stay over an extra day or two to participate. I hesitated to write to him until I heard that y'all were actually planning something. Now that you are here, please know that we're behind you.

Editor, propeace.net