Women's March: Seattle

Speaking of best-laid-plans, the planners in Seattle were expecting a lot of people but not 100K+. Our expert school bus driver couldn't get anywhere near the park where we were supposed to gather. That meant we got out and climbed a steep hill, not an auspicious beginning for this old broad. I buddied up with a fellow Hedgebrooker who worked for years for the Mayor of Seattle and knows her way around there. She was wearing one of my hats so she sorta owed me. Good sport, great walker and a mere 69, she kept track of me when we kept losing our group in the chaos.

At one point former governor Chris Gregoire was in front of us, not wearing a silly hat. My Hedgebrook buddy had pocketed hers, the day was too warm for wooly hats. Me, I'm looking like I felt...hangonhangonhangon.... halfway through, heart racing, leg muscles sooo pissed off.

We ducked into a Vietnamese takeout for some sustenance, and to leave some money in Little Saigon--it's close to New Year's and the businesses there were concerned the march would cut into their usual profits so hey, we needed to help out.

I knew there were kin all over the place but only saw one--had a cuppa tea with my stepdaughter at the end of the whole thing. Turns out there were 14 of my clan marching in Seattle, and four in Oakland.

The pictures are wonderful and versions of this one turned up in a lot of strangers' cameras--my grandson-in-law with my great granddaughter, wearing one of my hats. Great shot, right? I got it online--I never saw them.

Were you concerned for your safety in that big crowd?

Seattle couldn't be bluer so there wasn't a lot of reason to be concerned about violence, though my last march there is described as "the battle in Seattle." Then, the peaceful protest of thousands was ruined by a handful of anarchists. This time, the police were on bicycles. No riot gear, some of them even wore pink hats. The only opposition I saw was some guys with bullhorns on the sidewalk, shouting at marchers as being pro-abortion. They had lots of Jesus signs. And no women with them.

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