Brockhoeft Report Chapter 5

THE BROCKHOEFT REPORT

Vol. 1 Issue V ........ Federal Prison, Ashland ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

As has already been mentioned, TBR (The Brockhoeft Report) is a response to
requests from old friends for a written account of my fight against abortion. I just
wanted to remind you of that, because it is embarrassing to submit this fifth issue
and the one which will immediately follow, so the requests are being used as an
excuse for what these two issues contain.

These issues offer a detailed account of exactly what happened on the last
weekend of 1985, when I carried out my first two assaults against enemy targets,
against Martin Haskell's and Planned Parenthood's abortuaries.

No, I'm not the least bit ashamed of having done these things, but only of telling
about it. The embarrassment lies in the appearance of egotism in casting the limelight
on my own cotton-picking self. Only for this reason are you reminded that these two
issues are no more than what has been asked for.

I shudder at the possibility that the effect of this story will be lost for some reader
who gets the impression I'm bragging about these things and am all puffed up with
pride over my past record. I have been careful to describe these events in the most
matter-of-fact, and least boastful, tone possible. If some haughtiness has leaked
through my pen, please forgive and overlook it.

A related concern nags me much more, because misunderstanding here could
cause a baby's life not to be saved: that my story of how I fortified my commitment
to do what I did might seem to belittle the life-saving work of other activists, such
as picketers, sidewalk counselors, blockaders, crisis pregnancy counselors, etc.
When you seriously consider that an abortionist actually tortures a baby human being
to death, it should be obvious that there is no wrong way to save that child's life!
If you save his or her life that's all I care about; I don't care how you did it. I take
my hat off to you. I heartily applaud the fine work of all my friends engaged in these
other tactics. They work!

A few years ago, while I was in the federal prison in Atlanta, I heard a blockader was
scoffing at the picketers and saying these friends of mine were sort of "pro-
choice". The blockader's line of reasoning was that, due to the "simplistic" nature of
the picketers' form of pro- test, the pregnant women still could choose to enter the
abortuary, whereas the blockader, by physically blocking the door, was denying the
woman that choice.

By his reasoning, I should have looked "down" on him from the superior position of a
bomber; but I looked at him from the position of a picketer, which I had been,
shoulder to shoulder with the sisters and brothers he looked down on.
It goes without saying, of course, that neither do I find fault with my brothers and sisters
engaged in blockade tactics. Extremely few of them would have the audacity
to look down on us who picket. If I tried to classify who my top ten closest friends are
I'm sure I'd discover that seven or eight of them have participated in blockades,
including Shelley Shannon.

I don't mean to be too hard on our smug friend. He's saving lives, too. I take my hat
off to him, too. He's my brother, too, as is anyone who heeds the command of our
Lord to "do justice" and to "rescue those being led away to death". I don't even fault him, entirely, for every aspect of his attitude, but reprove him only for that part that makes him feel.

NIGHTLINE

ABC News "Nightline": "Some people call you a terrorist."

BROCKHOEFT: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
It was mentioned in the last issue that "Nightline" was coming to interview me to use
footage for a future broadcast involving a debate on the use of force against
abortion. The interview took place 12/3/93. The show was aired 12/8/93.
The actual broadcast began thus:

TED KOPPEL: "First, protests, then arson, and finally, murder."

JOHN BROCKHOEFT: "It's not murder, it's justifiable homicide."

PAUL HILL: "Whatever force is justified in the defense of a born child is also
justified in the defense of an unborn child."

They interviewed me at the prison here for an hour but used no more than a minute of it.

You may be wondering what went on that was not aired. Here are a few examples.

NIGHTLINE CORRESPONDENT CHRIS BURY:

"Has your position evolved at all during your years in prison?"

BROCKHOEFT: "No, because there is only one degree of absolutism. I
was an absolutist when I came in, and I still am. I will never
compromise with the life of an innocent child, nor moderate
my position, until the day medical science discovers a way for
an abortionist to kill a baby moderately, not absolutely. Those
prolifers who condemned the shootings are seeking a
level of moderation and compromise which they know is
irrational and unjustifiable. They pretend to seek a "balance"
which they know doesn't even exist. There is no such thing as
balance with the abortion issue, because there is no middle
ground, no compromise, between life and death

BURY: "Do you feel any remorse for the bombings?"

BROCKHOEFT: "Only tell me this from your heart: how much remorse
should a man feel for having fought for his country, for having
used force to defend the lives of his people, the lives of American
babies? If you will answer me that, from your heart, I promise I
will deliver all the remorse which you demand."
BURY: "Would you do it again?"

BROCKHOEFT: "When I am released I won't be able to get involved in
any more covert operations. They know who I am now, and they'll
be watching every move I make and listening to every word."
(Note: my agenda will involve activities that can be carried out openly,
because they are legal. It is the only thing that has any chance of
succeeding. It is something no one has yet tried.)

At another point (but I don't remember what the question was):
BROCKHOEFT: "Common sense dictates to us all a couple of very
self-evident truths. First, that everybody in the whole world believes
in the use of force, insofar as the question is not whether the use of
force is ever justified, but at what point? And secondly, everybody
knows these little babies are human beings; the same as the rest of us.

They are so clearly distinguishable as humans that, even after being
mutilated, not only can you distinguish between an arm and a leg,
but you can even tell the right arm from the left arm. So anything that
applies to innocent human beings, in general, applies equally to them,
including that point at which they deserve to have their very lives
defended by the use of force."

* * * * *

JUST BEFORE THE FIREBOMBING

As mentioned in issue #3 of this journal, the realization that my campaign against abortion
would eventually include the destruction of those satanic altars where children are sacrificed
came of a sudden on that hot, summer afternoon in 1984. Also noted was that, seeing a bombing
was not for the spur of the moment, I could not wait that long to start doing anything. Until the
night came when force was exerted, some lesser intensity action against this abomination had to
be pursued. Simply to sit at home every day while babies were killed was out of the question.
So I began picketing and sidewalk counseling. This brought mixed feelings. Surely it was better
than nothing. But was it as much as I "would have others to do unto" me?

I often tried to imagine what I looked like to the Lord and what I would look like to someone
who was about to be tortured and mutilated to death and to whom I was responding by
carrying a sign and passing out literature.

When I looked at myself through the other guy's eyes it was a pitiful sight.

I know that I was using this mental device to judge only myself and not my fellow picketers.
I was not applying this standard to my friends. Furthermore, I wasn't even really using
it so much to judge myself as to encourage myself. It was mainly nothing more than a
psychological coping device to help me overcome the fear of doing what I had already
determined to do. I never looked at the other picketers that way, only myself.

I never deemed myself the least superior to my friends, my fellow-activists. We grew very
close and fond. I enjoyed fellowship with them all the time, not just when we demonstrated
together at the abortuaries. I went with them to all the prolife picnics, banquets, rallies, etc.
We stayed in close contact throughout the week, and every Sunday night we had
supper together.

I really want you to understand.

If the thing the abortionists are going to do to little babies tomorrow was going to be done
to me, I would care only that you save my life. I wouldn't care how you did it. If you
saved my life by picketing or sidewalk counseling or blocking the door, I'd just be so
grateful you saved my life I wouldn't give any thought to how you did it! I would not
confront you and say: "Hey, what's the matter with you? You saved my life the wrong
way!"

No, I'd just be so thankful I wouldn't know how to express it, and all I'd be able to do is
throw my arms around you.

Thinking about it is making me cry, I'll be honest with you. I've been locked up, and helpless,
for almost six years now. That baby you saved yesterday--I love that baby. So I have to be
just as grateful for your saving his or her life as if it were my own. And I am. Please, for God's
sake, never stop doing what you're doing.

I just received the new issue of Life Advocate, our movement's finest source of news and
commentary. I always read "From the Publisher" first. I wish I could write like Andrew Burnett,
saying so much in such a small space. Then I wouldn't have to bore my readers with infinite
redundancies, taking them around the mulberry bush fifty times to make a point. Mr. Burnett
expressed his "gnawing concern" that, in proclaiming the justice of the use of force, we might,
unintentionally, seem to belittle the faithful and vitally important work of our fellow-laborers in
the movement.

It is not the Lord's will for all, or even most, of our people to exert the use of force. It couldn't
be, or there wouldn't be enough targets to go around, now, since the movement has
grown so much in the past few years. But it is the Lord's will for each of us to remain faithful
to that work to which he has called us as individuals. I thank God for the massive influx of new
picketers, counselors, and blockaders we have seen recently.

We still need more, of course; and they are coming; but please remember that in order
to maintain sustained growth it will be necessary not only to get more members
but also for you veterans to remain steadfast and not drop out.

There's another thing you should remember as you read of these fires. These events
took place in 1985. In 1985 there wasn't any prolife activist movement in Cincinnati!

So what was I supposed to do with no significant help as a demonstrator? The weekend
before the fires, Saturday December 21, there were only 6 or 7 other picketers besides me.
In the previous year I never saw over fifteen activists at one time and that many, very
seldom, and even then only in fair weather. Though few in number, you still had to give
them credit, of course, for what they were doing, but all I'm saying is, you call that
a movement?

But I cannot overemphasize the vital importance of maintaining a visible presence at
the abortuaries. You must be seen by the public, media, "government", and the
uncommitted church. Please, for God's sake, never stop what you're doing. Please
keep up the good work.

So please understand that the story that follows does not contradict what I have just
said. What follows is the story of how I prepared myself for what I was about to
do. It is not inconsistent with my respect and gratitude, which I have now and had
then, for those who risk less but whose commitment is as great.

* * * * *

A lot is said among our people about identifying with the baby. This is a good thing,
but if carried to an extreme it is ineffective. A baby is absolutely helpless. We are
not. So identifying with the babies' helplessness should not be used as an excuse for
doing very little, or nothing. Also, the baby does not know, in advance, that he or
she will be killed, and so cannot, beforehand, feel the horror and despair. We do know,
and should be horrified. So in examining myself I had to pretend I was an adult
about to be unjustly tortured to death within a few hours or a day. I know that, without
any anesthesia, my arm will be torn out of the socket and off my body, and my
head will be crushed until fragments of my skull cave inward and cut into my brain.

Knowing this, I look out the window of my cell on death row and see this guy carrying
a sign and passing out literature. He's doing it because they are going to kill me.
So as I look out at this protester I think to myself: "Doesn't he love me any more than
that? That's not very much, is it? Is that what he would want me to do unto him
if the shoe were on the other foot, and he was the one being killed, and I was out
there? That wouldn't be it, would it?"

The fellow I was looking at was me. That's what I looked like. I knew I wasn't
doing unto others as I'd want them to do unto me. I knew that the Lord knew I was
thinking these things, so I had to do it. Knowing how absolute was my determination
to take this decisive action, I was able to console myself and use the lesser
intensity responses as an excuse from guilt for quite a while. "I'm really going to do it,
but in the meanwhile I'll do this."

Week after week, month after month, babies were killed, and I kept saying:
"I'm really going to do it." I meant it, too, and knew I meant it. I knew that I actually
would exert force against them.

At what point does his sincerity start becoming irrelevant?

But, eventually, this fact had to be faced: a man can play this game with himself,
indefinitely, while remaining sincere. So if he just keeps telling himself, "I'm really
going to do it", and even though he is sincere, at what point does his sincerity start
becoming irrelevant? How long? After one year, two years, or what? As that last
weekend of 1985 had been drawing near I had been becoming more and more aware
that sincerity which has become irrelevant is little better than insincerity. There
was mounting internal pressure to push myself.

That earlier issue explained how the resolution to destroy abortuaries was made when
babies were no longer regarded as mere statistics, but recognized as specific
individuals. It was further noted that "courage" (fear working in reverse) began to be
gathered by imagining that I was a preborn baby going through the agony and
horror of an abortion. This helped, but it was still not enough to overcome the final
hurdle of fear.

Even though I recognized each and every preborn child as a specific individual, there
was still a slight degree of abstraction in my thinking, because I'd been imagining
the pain and terror that just any baby would feel. So I had been able to keep saying:
"I'm really going to do it, but I don't have to do it this weekend, because, after all,
the babies who will, otherwise, be killed this week after next are just as precious as
these who will be killed this coming week!"

In other words, the baby in whose place I had been imagining myself to be was both
"real" and "imaginary" at the same time. I had been telling myself: "I'm really
going to do it," until I was ashamed and could no longer use it as an excuse for
postponing the mission. So, in order to gather the last measure of "courage" needed to
carry out the act, it was necessary to stop thinking in terms of just any baby (a baby
who could be partly "imaginary") and focus on an entirely real, particular baby
who was going to be killed on Monday morning -- less than twenty-four hours away.
As I stood in the cold wind among those seven dead babies on the sidewalk across from
Planned Parenthood on Saturday, December 28, '85, I had to tell myself:

"Here is reality. A particular baby is scheduled to be killed, right here, on Monday morning.
I have to love that baby, that particular individual, that neighbor, as myself.
In my heart I have to become that baby. So it is no longer that baby will be killed, but I!
How can I still be too afraid to destroy this building? I can no longer say: 'I'm
really going to do it, but maybe next weekend,' because if I don't do it now, then by
next weekend it will be too late! I'll already be dead!"

No, I had to do it right away. I had to, or I would die. I had superimposed myself
onto that one, certain, real baby. He was real. He really existed. He was alive, still
alive, somewhere in the Cincinnati area. In my heart I became him. I was about to
be killed, horribly, so, without question, I had every right to fight for my life, didn't I?
While I was superimposing the desperation of the baby's circumstances onto myself
I remembered that I must not also assume his helplessness.

If it was still the baby who was about to be killed he wouldn't be able to fight for his
life. I could fight for my own life, and I would fight for his. Moreover, if I was,
indeed, helpless, like him, that's what I'd want others to do unto me. I wouldn't want
others merely to protest my death, but to fight for my life. And passive
"resistance" wouldn't be good enough for me. That's not fighting. No, I would want
someone to fight for my life. So I had to do it for him.

* * * * *

SURVEILLANCE OF THE TARGETED BUILDINGS

Until now references to the firebombings of 12/30/85 have focused mainly on the
Planned Parenthood (P.P.) target, and little mention has been made of the second
one, which lay a quarter mile away. None of us were aware of his invention --
the D&X abortion. All I knew was that babies were killed in his facility who were in
their seventh month of development or older. I'm just like everybody else. Deep
down I know it is irrational to be more horrified by the slaughter of a baby in the
seventh month of pregnancy than of one in the first few months, but I couldn't help
it. Knowing that Haskell was killing children so far along towards their respective
birthdays did increase my eagerness to attack his torture chamber. Only years later
did we hear of his own description of his own war crimes.

Yes, this is the same infamous Martin Haskell, war criminal, who pioneered the
D&X procedure. (Please see the reprinted articles in this issue from the Feb., '93 issue
of Life Advocate concerning abortionist Haskell and his innovation. Also note article
on George Tiller.)

A few weeks before the fires I was invited to accompany two fellow anti-abortionists
to Hassle's site on an intelligence gathering mission. Mike and Tracy wanted to
examine the dumpster behind his building. Very often our people have found babies'
bodies thrown in such dumpsters where their flesh might be eaten by cats or rats.
We've always, then, recovered the corpses and, broken-hearted, tried to give them
a decent burial. Another advantage of going through the dumpsters is to retrieve
memos and various other paperwork which may offer insights into the killing staff's
workings. But I agreed to tag along with Mike and Tracy for another reason.
While they were preoccupied with the dumpster and paying no attention to me,
I slipped over to the building and cast the eye of a saboteur on it, looking for the
weakest point in its exterior -- a point through which an explosive device or flammable
liquids could be introduced.

I found it right away. It was on the left side (facing from the rear parking lot) of the
two-story building. There was an apartment building on the structure's right side,
fairly close by, but on the left there was a wide open space (maybe 70 feet or more)
between the abortuary and the next closest building. So I went to that side first;
and there it was, a basement window. It was just one of those simple basement
windows that opens by swinging inward from the top, with a narrow metal frame and
two panes of glass separated by a narrow, vertical, steel strip. The area around the
window was partially obscured by shrubbery. There was no obvious security tape
on the glass, no readily apparent burglar alarm.

This, then, was where I would strike when I returned some night. "I'm really going
to do it." I did not know, at that time, how soon that night was approaching. Making
a mental note of the window's exact location, I unobtrusively rejoined Mike and Tracy,
who were finishing their examination. We left shortly thereafter.

A few weeks later I began a detailed planning of the assaults as I was driving home
from the December 28 demonstration described in issue #1. I had to strike on that
weekend, but I had never yet done a surveillance of the P.P. target. It was necessary
to go there late that night to find the weakest point in its perimeter.

Whereas I had discovered Haskell's weak point right away, it was not so at Planned
Parenthood. After parking my car on a side street I casually approached the
building. The urban guerilla engaged in surveillance work must approach his prospective
target carefully. He has to strike a balance between being alert, on the one
hand, and not appearing suspicious, on the other. No matter how nervous he is, he
can't be glancing furtively all around and appearing to walk in a slinking, stealthful
manner. This would attract attention, and the city has eyes, even late at night. So
I casually glanced behind me only once or twice as I walked in a purposeful manner
toward the satanic altar.

As at the Haskell site, there was an apartment building next to the abortuary. In both
cases the apartments were corner buildings where two streets intersect. The
building next to P.P. had a narrow, concrete walk leading from the public sidewalk
to the front door. This same walkway then made a 90E turn and continued along
the left half of the building's face to its left, front corner. There it made another turn
and continued along that side to a side entrance and beyond. It ended at the rear
corner, at the top of a brief flight of stairs leading down to the residents' rear parking lot.
The side of the apartment building where the side entrance was located was
the side that faced P.P., next door.

I went along the apartments' walkway, acting as if I were going in to visit someone
(Planned Parenthood was closed at night, so there would be no apparent reason for
anyone to be seen approaching it). Continuing along the little walkway, I came to
the side door. And so, standing alongside the apartment's outer wall, I turned to
behold P.P.'s structure, about fifty feet away.

How ugly and fearsome it looked in the dim light!

It looked like a haunted house! And yet, really, I knew this was subjective.
It was only because I knew the unspeakable wickedness practiced inside by
day. Otherwise, I could see, it was a beautiful building. It was an ancient
and huge elaborate, stone mansion, which had long ago served as a residence
for some wealthy, socialite family. Long ago, children had lived and laughed
and played within. Christmas presents had been joyfully given and received
by a family who lived here. A husband and wife loved one another
within. I wondered how long it had been since its inner walls had heard the
sound of laughter.

Yes, it was an elaborately built, stone mansion, three stories tall. Its four-sided
roof was capped with a square, level, widow's walk kind of patio. It was beautiful,
externally, but that didn't matter. Its old- fashioned, tall windows seemed as eyes
peering out in hatred and fear. As I studied it from this short distance, I was filled
with loathing.

You will devour no more!

"You're mine, now, you foul, foul thing. You're mine, and I will destroy you. Your
inner walls have seen too much innocent blood. Your inner chamber, your unholy of
unholies, has seen too many living nightmares by day. Your bowels have swallowed
up too many children. But you will devour no more. No, because you are now
mine, you foul, foul thing, and when I return at this time tomorrow night I will destroy
you. To the glory of the LORD my God I will tear down this high place."

The middle part of the front of the building projected out further than the other two
thirds, forming an "L" on either side. Within that 90E formed on the right, front of
the structure there was a thick, horizontal, concrete slab attached to both sides of the
angle, sticking out to form a patio whose surface was about three and a half feet
above the front yard. So underneath the patio was a crawl space.

Neither car nor pedestrian was moving along Auburn Avenue at that late hour. Since
there is no unsuspicious- looking way to walk directly up to an abortuary's wall,
at night, it no longer made any sense to try to appear casual. So I rushed from the
apartments to P.P., the dried, fallen leaves crunching beneath my boots. I met the
building's right wall at a point just beyond the patio's crawl space and hurried along it
to the right, rear corner since there was no apparent vulnerable point along that
side. The windows were too high.

The ground sloped downward from the front to the rear, so, whereas the front door
was at street level, the back door led into the basement. This back door had a 2'x3'
window formed by a single pane of glass, so, if it were shattered, great shards of glass
would fall to the concrete, making a loud and conspicuous sound. Also, if I used
this point, while I stood outside pouring gasoline in through the broken glass, some
would flow underneath the door, and I'd be standing in a pool of the accelerant. It
was far from ideal but could possibly be used of nothing better were found. Then,
of course, I would not have been suicidal but would have stepped out of the pool, and
far enough away before striking the match, so that the gas on the soles of my shoes
would not ignite. It would have been very embarrassing to flee the scene with my
feet in blazes.

I considered that the door might have a hidden security alarm attached but,
nevertheless, decided to try the knob, gently, thinking that if the killers had made
a mistake and left it unlocked I would go at once for some gas and torch the place
immediately. It would be far more effective if I could actually enter the building and
pour some gas here and there, in this room and that, leaving trails of the accelerant
between each pool. The door was locked.

I moved along the remainder of the rear wall without hesitation, because the only
other openings were windows which were all too high. They would have required a
ladder. Since I was going to attack two abortion chambers at once, the multiple strike
would have to be carried out with a swiftness which would preclude the lugging
around of a cumbersome ladder.

As I reached the far, rear corner I paused to consider a matter. There, at that corner,
was a line I had to decide whether I wanted to cross. It was the line separating
darkness from light. Up to that point my movement around half the building had been
shrouded in relative darkness. But there was a very bright security light mounted
on that side of the building which lay around the corner; and I was standing right at that
threshold, still within the sharp edge of the shadow. I occurred to my mind that
there might be a movement-sensitive security camera monitoring that side, hence, such
a bright light. I had to give it a little thought.

"What's the matter with you? Why do you fear? Does not the Lord your God watch
your every step? Are not His holy eyes on you this very moment? Shall He see
you turn back in fear? Will you let Him see you retreat in unfaithfulness? Why do
you fear? Only he whose works are evil is afraid of the light! Since the basement
door's window is not good enough, and since you have not yet found this place's
right vulnerable spot, what difference does it make if there is a camera? Remember!
-- it is no longer that baby who is about to die, but you! What do you have to lose?
If you are discovered by a camera, so what? At least then, since you will be ordered
to serve years in prison, at least your life will be spared, and you will live! But if the
destruction of this place is postponed, even one more week, it will be too late!
Because in the meantime you will die! Trust the Lord your God with all your heart;
step into the light and you will live! You will not walk alone."

(Note: at this point I should clarify something. All my friends know, and I know,
that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a lunatic. I have never been out of touch with
reality. Yet, I know that the preceding paragraph has a crazy-sounding tone to it. So for
the sake of any reader who may still be somewhat suspicious of my mental
state, let me explain something. As I stood there, still within the edge of darkness,
my mind was not fluctuating back and forth between fantasy and reality. I did not,
even for one micro-second, actually believe [by way of natural reality] that it was I who
was going to be killed. All the while that I was pretending as though I was in
that baby's place, I was fully conscious of the pretentious nature of my thought pattern.

Only, in order to actually love him as myself, and to overcome the dread of my
mission, and to be able to act exactly as if it were my own life for which I was fighting
...I had to deliberately engage in this pretense, while remaining fully conscious of
the situation's natural reality. It was a very good thing, for the sake of that one, particular
baby, that my mind was firmly made up to act exactly as if it were my own
life for which I was fighting. For when I returned the following night there arose a
circumstance which was so complicating and terrifying that, otherwise, it would
have been madness not to postpone the mission unless I was completely focused on
that one baby for whom time would run out with a postponement of even six
hours.)

And, so, with head ducked, I stepped forward into truth and was bathed in brilliant light.

I wasted no time moving since all the windows were too high. On that side there was
a little wing of the building sticking out which included a window facing toward the rear
(toward me). I could not resist the urge to raise my head and glance
into that window for the glistening, polished lens of a camera. There was none.
Then I was beyond the glaring light, around the corner, and at the front door. All was
dark inside, except for a desk light. What kind of appointments were made at that
desk? Gently, at first, I tried the knob, and then a little firmer. It was locked.
It was stressful to be there right in front of the building, exposed to any passerby on the
street; so with quickened pace I hurried along the front, not seeing any appropriate place
on that side, and arrived back at the place where my search had begun.

I'd been all around the building and not found the right spot. Standing there
by the concrete slab patio, suddenly, on an impulse, I bent over to look at the crawl
space beneath. There it was!

Quickly stepping down into this recessed area (the ground under the patio was a couple
feet lower than the front yard), I crawled over to where the slab met the front
wall (about eight feet).

At that spot there was a large, rectangular opening which had once housed a window,
but the glass was gone. It its place was a piece of plywood cut to the opening's
size and shape. Only a few, thin, brad nails held the wood in place. The effects of weather
had loosened these inadequate fasteners and had even caused them to work outward so
that I could easily pull them out with my fingers. Also, to support the wood, someone had
stacked five loose bricks on the outer window sill. There were two, one on top of the other,
and to their left the other three were stacked haphazardly. Since they were not stacked neatly
I stared at them for several seconds to memorize their haphazard manner, so I would be able
to replace them just as they had been.