Tomorrow night I will be sleeping in Manhattan as I prepare for the Republican National Convention. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I've felt led to be there. I've often regretted not being in Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention in 2000. I'm certain that I would feel far more regret if I did not head up to New York for this year's convention. I hope to be able to post some of the photographs I shoot next week on my website: WesCheney.com . I'm not going to New York to commit acts of civil disobedience or anarchistic violence, nor am I going as a convention delegate. Rather, I want to be in New York as an engaged observer, a participatory witness. There are no uninvolved, passive observers- merely be observing an observer participates ... read more

My travels in the world have brought me to the Catholic Worker house in Norfolk, Virginia, where I have joined a group of like-minded Christians seeking to do the works of charity and justice in our local community. Last month I moved the last of my belongings out of my apartment and officially changed my residence to the Sedako Sesaki Hospitality House of the Norfolk Catholic Worker at 1321 West 38th Street. For over fifteen years the Norfolk Catholic Worker has run a soup kitchen, feeding the hungry on the streets three times a week, and so it was that I was ladling grits and greeting Jesus, hungry and haggard, one cold morning on the soup line. The children of God came on foot, by bus and by car, and a few came by bicycle, clicking ... read more

5:30 AM and most everything is quiet at the Sadako Sasaki House of Hospitality in Norfolk, also known as the "Norfolk Catholic Worker House." The birds outside are rustling as the sky warms into view, and a diesel locomotive idles less than a mile away. Calvin the cat is eating his breakfast, and I can hear Victor's soft footsteps upstairs as he prepares for another day of teaching school. I've just finished my breakfast and a couple of pages of William Stafford's collected writings, and now I'm focusing on updating my Friends as to my new adventures at the Norfolk Catholic Worker. I've been living at the Catholic Worker for a month now, although I was on the road for a week photographing trains, and my weekends have often been spent with my fiance Jennifer. Yes, ... read more

This isn't so much of a blog as it is an invitation to a potluck lunch at the Virginia Beach Friends Meeting House, following which I'll give a presentation about my bike trip, including ...{drum roll, please!}... PICTURES! Yes, that's right, Friends, for the first time you can see some of the many images that I shot on my trip. If you were lucky enough to receive a copy of my Christmas card, then you know what delights are in store for you! So here's the schedule of events for this Sunday (or First Day, amongst Friends), 1/18/04: 10 AM- First Day School 11 AM- Meeting for Worship 12:30 PM- Pot Luck Lunch 1 PM (or thereabouts)- Friendly Slide Show & Presentation by Wes The address for the Meeting House is 1537 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. ... read more

So far my transition to a life without a personally-owned automobile has been pretty smooth, although the last week has been a real test of my resolve, what with temperatures dropping below freezing, heavy winds, rain and snow. But with my body almost completely sheathed in waterproof gore-tex, I’m pretty much immune to precipitation. I often arrive at work wearing my bike clothes, and so I slip into our photo studio darkroom and change from bicycling casual to business casual. During the day I stash my bike gear underneath my desk, and at night I exchange my office shoes for my bike shoes before pedaling home. At the end of last week a client invited me to travel with him on a private jet to a museum opening on the other side of the state. I ... read more

Getting back home has meant taking care of mundane household chores, such as getting the car inspected. So last week I mounted my bike on the roof rack of my Saab and drove over it to the garage before work. I left the Saab there & rode into work on a morning only in the 40's. While it was brisk, I enjoyed my ride nonetheless, grateful that I had on a pair of pants over my tights. A couple of hours later I got a call back from the garage- they wanted $300 to get the Saab ready for inspection, plus they saw a couple thousand dollars more in repairs that would have to be completed in the near term. And I thought, "Why am I doing this?" I need to renew my car insurance, the ... read more

On the morning of Sunday, November 24, I arrived at the gates of Fort Benning for the annual School of the Americas protest to find that it was true, post-9/11, “everything had changed.” Several hundred people were standing in line, stamping their feet in the frosty air, waiting to be searched at a police checkpoint that would do the the occupiers of Baghdad and the Gaza Strip proud. Although there had not been a single act of violence in the fourteen years of SOA Watch gatherings at Fort Benning, the Columbus Police Department and Muscogee Sheriff’s Department still felt the need to “protect demonstrators from demonstrators.” While demonstrators were not allowed to carry in rope, bungee cords or PVC piping, the police were conspicuously armed with clubs, guns and pepper spray. If the holstered gas masks ... read more

I rode my bike from my hotel to Fort Benning Drive, the site of the Saturday SOA Watch rally, and arrived an hour before it was scheduled to start, but as I rode my bike closer to the front gate I thought it odd that I could already hear music. As I got closer I wondered why “God Bless the USA” was being played, but it was not until after I had locked up my bike and passed through the police checkpoint that I realized that the music was not coming from the stage set up in front of the main gate of Fort Benning, but rather from behind the gate. The Army had set up their own P.A. system just inside the gates, and had pointed the speakers straight out towards the stage. When one ... read more

I celebarated my arrival in Clumbus, Georgia with lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. I had been hankiering for Thai, but aI settled for a $5 buffet devoid of anything as Chinese as tofu or bamboo shoots. While it wasn't as bad as a Chinese buffet I visited in Delaware that offered onion rings and macaroni and cheese, I still wondered about the authenticity of the food. I wanted to ask the Chinese staf, "Do you guys eat anything like this stuff at home?" I've heard that chow mein and egg rolls are actualy American inventions, akin to the tiki bar, which has almost nothing to do with Polynesia. I logged close to 2,000 miles to arrive in Columbus, and the last 30 miles seemed drag, even though they were mostly downhill from Pine Mountain. I was ... read more

Pine Mountain, 11.21.03 While it without a doubt a joy to wake up to a cold, clear mountain morning and the sight of a crescent moon rising, I’ve never found much patience while waiting for a tent to dry. If a tent is packed away while it is still wet, then mildew is sure to set in, and soon the tent will be worthless. As I woke up at FDR State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia, all I really wanted to do was get into Columbus, Georgia,. Instead I found myself sitting at a concrete picnic table, watching the sun slowly rise over the hills around me. The squirrels were chattering away in the trees, and occasionally running from the odd red tail hawk, while the geese competed with the ducks for scavenging rights in the ... read more