Beautiful and poignant: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/24/1387310/-When-Hippies-Roamed-the-Earth?detail=email C/S, Rev J
"So long ago Was it in a dream? Was it just a dream? I know, yes I know It seemed so very real Seemed so real to me..." John Lennon
I also sent a copy of that link to my dad and this is what he wrote back to me: Finally took some time to sit and watch this with my cup of morning java. Lots of things roll through my mind as read, listen and watch. I saw Don Mclean open for the Bee Gees in Norfolk Virginia in 1974. Don't know if he is even alive anymore. Where the hell did that clip with Dylan et-al come from, that was friggin awesome. Yeah the hippies got some things right but in the end they did not have the stamina to hold it together.Their mind expanded way beyond their commitment. Oh a few held on long enough to pass it to a new generation and a few of the new generation are carrying on with a commitment that most of the hippies did not have. There are still too many people sleeping,big biz is still getting away with too much shit, we are gobbeling up more than our share at a alarming rate but there seems to me to be just enough thats good and real to keep me hopeful, sane and happy. 74 was the year before my dad got out of the Navy and the year before I was born. This is what I mean when I say I was born into the hippie lifestyle. Even though he was in he realized early that he didn't belong there. Now he runs a school for sustainable living in Maine. C/S, Rev J
Good collection of songs and thoughts. But I think we did "make the world a better place." I've been thinking a lot about the astonishing changes that have come down pretty much directly out of the 60s. It was more than just hippies that did it for sure, though we were the ones who rent the veil of 50s mind regimentation. We didn't create a great commune of peace and love, but hearts have changed. Last Sunday, for a small example, I danced joyously with more than a million people at San Francisco Pride. It was a love-in, for sure, and not just for the LGBTQ community, but for everyone who was there. Visionaries (straight ones, no less!) gave us the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - and 51 years later, marriage equality and healthcare for all is almost a reality. Between then and now rock & roll was born, environmental consciousness blossomed, cannabis and psychedelics entered the culture, hospice was born, women's liberation became reality - lots of really really good things. Imperfect for sure and plenty of problems, but it's been the most amazing period in the history of human-kind. I'm fucking staggered by the job we did.
Don is alive and was recently indicted into the Maine Music Hall of Fame. Along with Ellis Paul, who grew up on Don's music.
Darryl Hall Also has a house in Mane. My dad runs a school for sustainable living in a small town up there. Unfortunately I don't think I could afford to move back as Patrick Dempsy owns a house in the small town where I grew up as do the heirs to Stanley Tools, Cabot Paints, and numerous other high end brands. C/S, Rev J
Like all rural states, there's cheap to be had, IF you want it. Because we are living soooo inexpensively here, ya know?
Us, too... Drumminmama. It's very inexpensive to live here. Wooded acreage with year-round springs goes for about 1k an acre. My property taxes are only 350 bucks a year unlike my Texas place that cost me 4k a year. The hippie lifestyle is still out there. We're older but we're groovy.
im at the balance potential income in my career/calling versus owning a place point in my life. Do I want land or a house that moves? A cabin or apartment, or RV?
Oooh... Drummin... I LOVE my RV. It's a 31 footer and a fifth wheel so it's easier to tow. I could live in it year-round if I had to. No room for a washer/dryer but it has everything else a person would need. Get your RV first! It's like a security blanket. No matter what life throws at you... you will have your house on wheels. Undeveloped land is soo much cheaper, too. You can park your RV on your land while you build other infrastructure things. I don't need to live in mine so it's my office right now but it's very comforting to know that it's there to live in if I ever had to. I bought mine slightly used for about 14k, if memory serves. Very inexpensive housing! Get a used one that has a perfect roof (roof problems on an RV are a bitch).
