When I first read FreewayBlogger’s posts, I was intrigued. The stuff he does looks so cool! And way more people read it than read our blogs here (no offense, my fellow Kossacks, but we’re preaching to the choir here.) I wasn’t sure at first I’d be able to post signs. I’m no rock-climber anymore, but as my back started to heal, I started looking for an overhead projector during my regular thrifting activities. No luck. Then FWB announced the Labor Day collective action, and that was what I needed to get me in gear. I found a box. I stopped by the Habitat for Humanity store and got white paint, and I scored a gallon of black porch floor paint on clearance at the hardware store. It’s thick and glossy and looks really cool on a sign. I taped and painted, asked you guys what my sign should say, and the winner is shown above. I was born in a house with Klan rags in the attic, and although that time had passed for my generation, I wrote (small) on the back of my sign: “I repudiate the sins of my ancestors, their racism and bigotry. It ends with me.” So if anyone wants to know why it’s up there, they can read it for themselves. I used a yardstick and a pencil to sketch out the lettering. I bound the edges in white duct tape and reinforced the attachment points, which now had eight layers of duct tape. I drilled through that with a leather awl and attached my hardware.
I picked out a pedestrian overpass a few miles away because I felt safer with that, although I figured it would get taken down quicker. Then when I returned home, exiting the freeway half a mile from my house, I realized I had an overpass right there. Perfect!
I decided to deploy my sign at dawn. I put my boots on. Then I went down to the overpass, parked my car, removed my folded up sign, walked onto the overpass, unfolded it, and hung it up. Carabiners work great. Don’t use quick links even if you get a package deal on 3 carabiners and 3 quick links. I’m going to go online and purchase a large quantity of carabiners. It took about a minute to hang, but if I’d had all snap links I could have done it in fifteen seconds. Nobody drove by while I was out there.
Then I came home, feeling like I’d gotten away with a jewel heist. It looks great up there and all the people currently being evacuated from the wildfires will drive right under it. I was going to go back to bed but I’m too excited. Now I can’t wait to make more signs! I’m sure the local bike shops will be happy to give me their cardboard, white house paint is super cheap at the thrift store, and I still have a gallon of excellent black paint. The only thing I need is a projector. Digital projectors are getting really cheap so I’ll look for one of those on craigslist. There are lots of places on I-5 right here that would look better with a nice political sign. I’m so excited! Thank you, Freeway Blogger, for showing me The Way.