Seeds of Freedom2. Text
It’s
late
afternoon
in
Eugene,
Oregon.
Time
to
call
it
a
day.
A
river
of
downtown
business
people
begins
its
exodus,
emptying
the
ofGice
buildings
and
daytime
service
establishments
and
joining
the
Glow
of
trafGic
going
elsewhere.
Some
linger
at
the
afterwork
bars,
like
the
Horsehead
or
the
Steelhead
Brewery.
They’ll
be
going
soon.
As
the
daytimers
leave,
the
people
of
the
street
emerge,
seemingly,
“out
of
the
woodwork.”
Walking
in
the
alleyways,
up
from
their
safe
places
by
the
river,
or
on
the
butte
between
the
tracks
and
the
river,
maybe
walking
down
the
tracks
from
the
north
where
they
just
came
in
with
the
freight
on
the
Union
PaciGic.
The
homeless
in
Eugene
come
from
all
over,
and
right
now
many
of
these
paths
lead
to
the
Food
for
Lane
County
Dining
Room
on
8th
and
Lincoln.
3. The
folks
that
work
or
volunteer
at
the
FFLC
kitchen
or
dining
room,
or
at
one
of
the
farms,
are
as
core
to
the
subculture
of
the
needy
as
the
clients
themselves.
Many
of
these
folks
have
been
touched
by
need
in
their
own
lives,
have
seen
friends
or
family
members
suffer,
and
maybe
have
experienced
personal
loss
related
to
poverty,
homelessness,
drug
addiction,
alcoholism;
the
list
goes
on.
Some
of
them
hold
a
vision
of
a
more
sustainable,
serviceable,
allinclusive
society,
one
that
does
not
stand
passively
by
while
the
dispossessed
lie
drunk
in
the
gutter.
These
are
people
who
have
found
abundance
and
peace
in
the
magic
of
service
to
others,
and
are
focused
on
giving
a
hand
to
all
their
brothers
and
sisters.
They
are
busy
planting
the
seeds
of
freedom.
14. Let
us
sit
down
soon
to
eat
with
all
those
who
haven’t
eaten
Let
us
spread
great
table
cloths,
put
salt
in
the
lakes
of
the
world,
set
up
planetary
bakeries,
tables
with
strawberries
in
snow
And
a
plate
like
the
moon
itself
from
which
we
all
will
eat.
For
now,
I
ask
no
more
Than
the
Justice
of
Eating
‐
Pablo
Neruda