A Crawford miracle.

Last night I wrote on my blog "I shouldn't be here" because I have to go back home to find another job after my current contract runs out. I wanted to stay longer, but I simply couldn't afford it.

The people I came here with decided to go back to Asheville at 9:00am today. Unless I could find a way to justify staying here, I'd have to join them. It was breaking my heart.

This morning, while I was brushing my teeth at the Peace House, I got a call on my cell-phone. The caller was a former employer of mine who has been reading my blog to see what's been going on with the protest.

"It seems like such a shame for you to go home when you don't want to just because of money," she said. "I'd be happy to help you out. How much do you need to stay at Camp Casey?"

I gave her the a dollar figure I needed to afford to pay my bills and stay.

"No problem. You stay down there and do what you have to."

The lesson to everyone: Come to Crawford! The Lord is blessing people who make the effort to be here.

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I am again writing this from the "Camp Casey II" tent in Crawford, Texas.

I've spent the day washing dishes, shuttling people back and forth between camps, blogging and lugging equipment for Rebecca. (A videographer I'm helping out.)

I'm dehydrated, but I don't know why since I've taken extra care to drink lots of water. With all the exercises and sweating I've done to date, I'll be surprised if I haven't lost at least ten pounds by the time I get back home.

Most people have gone home, there are about 200 people left. In my mind there are four groups of people:

The bliss-ninnies: These are the folks who have just arrived from the road. Most of them are so agog at what they are seeing, and they have so many questions, that they wander around in a state of confused bliss.

The Adjusted: These are activists and citizens who are working hard to pull this off. After you go through the bliss-ninny phase, you get bord pretty quickly without some chore. Eventually everyone goes to the Peace House and is given a responsibility.

The Press: The Corporate Media only stay for a few hours a day, if they come at all. (I saw an AP reporter stop by earlier to talk to Joan Baez.) Indie Media is here, but it's light. I think AAR broadcast from here earlier.

As far as I know, BradBlog, Truthout & Brainshrub are the only serious bloggers here. (Apologies if there are more, but I haven't seen them.)

The moon-bats: I hate to admit it, but we on the Left have nut-balls also. For example, there is a former military guy wandering around trying to convince people that the US govt used neutron bombs in Baghdad.
I'd say there are about 3 "certified" moon-bats here. When there were more people, they blended in with the crowd. Now that the numbers are thinner, their behavior can be a bit disruptive.

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I will elaborate on this more later, but this whole event is matriarchal. It is being run by mothers, sisters and wives. I suspect this is why everything is running so smoothly.

Decisions are made by formal consensus. I've seen this kind of process before, but it's very advanced here.

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This post was not edited. (I'm borrowing this computer, so I don't know how much time I can use it.)