TO GOD IN HIS GLORY,
we two nations
dedicate this garden
and pledge ourselves
that as long as men
shall live, we will
not take up arms
against one another.

Well, P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER has gone international, not so much an intentional happening. Just a zany invisible border that declares one country separate from the other. Perhaps one day we will do away with borders and flags. I mean, the IMF/WTO have already found a way for corporations to maximize profits without heed to borders. Why can’t we as peoples do this, with intent to maximize Peace, culture and the human connection?

I scooted up to the Peace Garden from Devil’s Lake, ND. The visit was planned to be just a quick detour, albeit a completely necessary route deviation. Highway 2 led me over to Route 5N, which I picked up in Rugby. Gas stations where limited, but frequent enough. Due to the massive chunks of farmland, there are few roads to take. Hwy 2 is a four laner, with speed limit of 75, although traffic was sparse, so the road wasn’t stressful at all. Picking up Route 5N led me right into a fair head wind, so the going was slow. I plugged on curious to discover this garden that Americans know so little about.

The dedication of the Garden took place on July 14, 1932, with 50,000 persons present. This is interesting to me for two reasons. One, I haven’t met that many people who even know about the International Peace Garden. Two, the kick-off date for P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER was close to that, July 15. The date was in commemoration to Jimmy Carter and his “crisis of confidence” speech in 1979, exactly three years after he accepted his party’s nomination to run for president. Here is a sample from that speech:

“During the past three years I’ve spoken to you on many occasions about national concerns, the energy crisis, reorganizing the government, our nation’s economy, and issues of war and especially peace. But over those years the subjects of the speeches, the talks, and the press conferences have become increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the isolated world of Washington thinks is important. Gradually, you’ve heard more and more about what the government thinks or what the government should be doing and less and less about our nation’s hopes, our dreams, and our vision of the future.”
(If you want to read this phenominal speech in full, please check out this link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/filmmore/ps_crisis.html)

Anyhow, I decided that my intentions for this trip mirrored his goal; to engage the American public in dialogue about our future. I also hold great respect for his willingness to delve deep into the true problems that our Nation faces, the fundamental problems, and his attempts to be inclusive. At the Peace Garden, a moment was taken in thanks that each mile continues to affirm the modus operandi of P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER. Entering the Garden was easy. The gatekeeper, Sara, overlooked the $10 entry fee, after reading my postcard. I arrived around 4 pm and was a bit surprised that there were not more people enjoying the beautiful gardens. Honestly, the workers in the Garden were just not nice. I guess to them, it’s just a job, perhaps an annoying one with all the tourists???? I was reeling a bit from the general abruptness of the workers and the lack of awareness we have about the Peace Garden.

The pamphlet I read discussed the Gardens creation within a historical context. Dr. Henry J. Moore conceived of the idea; a garden to commemorate and perpetuate our relationship with Canada, and promote the value of Peace in our world. The Peace Garden made the front page of U.S. newspapers, its existence a product of the times. 20 million people lost their lives in World War 1 and President, Woodrow Wilson had recently initiated the League of Nations. It was launched in the middle of our Great Depression, when unemployment was high and people were desperate. The President, Franklin Roosevelt, proposed a plan to protect two resources- our land and our young men. “He proposed to recruit thousands of unemployed young men, enroll them in a peacetime army, and send them into battle against destruction and erosion of our natural resources.”
(i used a direct quote to preserve the ideas potency)

I am completely fascinated by Roosevelt’s creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and projects they helped to develop, like the Peace Garden. The CCC left behind permanent objects in many states as markers of it projects. From inception, the CCC utilized government resources to bolster the quality of living when times were rough in America AND to preserve our environmental resources.

There in the Garden, I struggled to find current examples of such community minded projects that have full support of executive and legislative branches. September 11 pops into my head as having bi-partisan support. Although, now many firefighters are left without access to the medication they need after developing health conditions from the clean up. Hurricane Katrina? Not really. Joseph Albaugh, the head of FEMA at the time, already acknowledged boggling the response to Katrina. And, after visiting NOLA this summer, I would not say that a progressive, bi-partisan recovery action has been implemented. In fact, NOLA is teeming with corruption and its civilians suffering the price. Thoughts like this were racing through my head as I perused the beautiful grounds.

I was also in the Garden wondering where all the visitors were. Apparently, at one time, the Garden welcomed thousands of visitors. It’s easy to understand why, there are 2, 339.3 acres of nature to explore. The landscaping on main grounds is dazzling, there’s like more than 150,000 types of shrubs, grasses, trees, and flowers. There are different monuments, commemorating events throughout the eras. The reality we experience now intertwines with a history often forgotten. How many people who attended the opening of the Peace Garden are still alive today? Apparently, traffic on the Garden’s opening day was recorded at 57 vehicles per minute. The tiny, barely alive town of Bottineau, were I stayed that evening, was completely flooded years ago with Peace Garden traffic. July 14, 1932, all town services were closed. Would Starbucks do such a thing today for its employees?

The afternoon sun offered warmth and cast an amber hue onto the grounds. I had packed a stack of postcards with me, so I scurried around trying to find people. I was only able to distribute about 12, but I did enjoy the conversations that came about, and I hope to hear back from them.
One elderly gentlemen sat on a bench enjoying the view with his wife. He commented that I was young enough to be an idealist. That particularly saddened me-not the first time I’ve heard such a ridiculous comment. Apparently, there is a magic age when I give up on caring and believing in change for humanity. Maybe in ten years I will read this blog and think, “Lord, what an IDEALIST!” Seriously though, I tried to take on his perspective-he was old enough to have visited the Garden’s opening as a child. Nancy, my hostess extraordinaire in Missoula, commented on meeting “war weary” adults. I realized that in my living, there have only been two wars. (not counting invasions). Vietnam ended in my first year alive, so I did not include it in the unfortunate tally. Two wars is still two many for me. But this gentlemen I spoke with, he has witnessed six wars, four invasions in his living. Suddenly, his curmudgeonly attitude was understandable. He’s war weary.

Our generational differences, how do we resolve them? How do we simeoltaneously understand and accept the reality of conflict while working towards a peaceful resolution of conflict? There will always be conflict, but there doesn’t not always have to be outright war to resolve it. My generation-sadly, we don’t really know War or Peace. We live in a sterile neon, marketed time chock full of product placement and seduction. We don’t even know we have a Peace Garden. We don’t know what’s its like to have every aspect of life change because of wartime. We don’t have Victory Gardens or food rations because of this war. Our generation pays more at the pump to keep driving SUV’S while sipping a Frappucino, blasting Fergie, and apathetically laughing at the President. Peacethroughconsumerism.com that’s us. Does our Peace come from the latest mod gadget or American Idol winner? Yea, it might seem like I am pointing one finger, but I pointed it at myself a long time ago. I sold my car and started walking and biking everywhere, eventually got a scooter, don’t shop corporate if I can avoid it, buy local and don’t watch TV, for a few examples. The way I live came about after a deep examination of what I purchase, eat, believe and teach. It was not taught to me and I realize I am a minority group when it comes to thinking like this. I don’t however, believe it’s impossible for my generation, or any other, to change this course we are on. Shifts happen! See above, I’m an idealist! I’ve got ideas!

Really, I saw no one my age, or close to it, at the Peace Garden. And I hope this changes. When I get back home, I’m going to create one. I’m gonna give Peace some roots in my hometown.

It was a lot harder to leave the Garden than it was to enter it. When I entered the Garden I did not go through Canadian customs. Apparently, since the Garden shares land with Manitoba, I had to go through a rigorous U.S. Customs search. That was pretty fun, with a heavily laden scooter, packed to a precision only I understand. Also, if you’ve ever been on the road, you understand how the pants pockets become a filing system. Dumping the contents of my pants pockets led to some raised eyebrows. I was asked where my lucky crystal came from, but maybe just because they thought it was pretty??? I chatted with the customs officials about my trip. All in all it was a nice enough encounter. Their line of questioning was very detective like though; very deadpan and every question loaded. The nice official couldn’t get the compression sack back on the bike, or the SHAD case closed-but he apologized. The saddlebags were also completely off balance from their rummaging. I wasn’t planning on getting very far that night anyways. The search had taken an hour and the sun was beginning its quick descent, so I decided to stay in Bottineau for the night. The next morning I set out for Montana and covered about 300+ miles. There was nothing spectacular along the route, but the landscape began changing as I entered Montana. Cornfields finally gave away to rolling hills covered in grain-and the smell of poop was gone!

Next update: Circle, MT and the beginning of my full week in the grand state of Montana.