Church of the Good Earth 1963 and Beyond

Oh God, that battle on the 4th !
This is one of my fonder memories, and the story that my son Justin (who constantly hounds me to write down my stories) likes to hear the most.
As I recall, I had a significant role in, at least escalating, if not, some what instigating the whole conflagration. It seems that some of the bro's; maybe Leroy and the "Hat" were lighting off a bunch of fire works in the back yard of Oak St. So I says, I think, to Leo Ron " ya know, somebody aught to lay seige on the Blue House. Of course, he agrees and with bottle rockets and the like we set up our attack from Upper Cole kitchen window; caught 'em unsuspecting! They send a runner down to China town for more ammo while they valiently try do defend their position with limited supplies. When their runner returned they had us out gunned; so "Mad Anthony" made a run down to China Town and came back ready for Armagedon. Holy shit it got wild! I had taken to the roof of Cole St for a better position of fire; I had broken off a radio antennae from an abandoned car on Cole st to use as a makeshift launch tube for my arsenal of bottle rockets; holding on to it with a leather gloved hand so as not to burn my hand, I had a much better aim than trying to aim from a pop bottle. The battle bled over on to Cole st.; people ducking behind parked cars and firing away. I remember seeing a sister (maybe you, Cakes) laughing at the whole thing, so from my perch on the roof I fired one directly through the Under House window. So, they send a runner down to China Town; escalation: it's the American way! I was laughing so hard at what I had done, I wasn't paying attention: WHAM! I about got blown off the roof by Bull & Ranger with their damn sling shots & M80's!
I recall a couple of times a signal went up when the "man" was approaching: instant cease fire, with the squad car driving down Cole St. in what seemed like a silent confetti storm from the fire works detritus floating in the air; hilarious! Finally the "man" shut us down, but it wasn't over; no hell no. Onward to "Battery Davis" the abandoned WW2 shore gun battery implacements. A quarter mile of underground concrete bunkers; pitch black rooms connected by a large tunnel. By this time we decided to have the objective be this keg of beer. The Under House had rejoined the fray with 4 ft long pipes (2.5 inch diameter); pop an M80 down that and jam a potato in the mouth: instant mortar. Lower Cole joined forces with Under house for the assault on the Upper Cole beach camp outside the mouth of the tunnel; where they had the keg. A well planned assault preceded by a huge shower of potato chunk mortar, had them scrambling for cover. I ran into their camp, grabbed the keg (up on my shoulder) and scurried for the darkness of the tunnel. There was no seeing anything in there; pitch dark! I figure I can "vibe" my way down the dark tunnel at a quick pace; BLAM! I run head long into a concrete wall and about crush my head between the keg & the wall. The keg goes rolling away in the darkness, and here comes everybody into the tunnel; hootin' & shootin'; the only time anything was visible was when somebody fired something or other; and then it was only silouettes! Some one tripped over the keg, and the scramble was on again; Wham!, Blam, Zizzz, pop pop pop, screeee; boom!!
Good god what fun those whacky hippies had! And when we had all run out of ammo, well, we drained that keg!! Amazingly; nobody got hurt?!

Peace, Love, and Good Vibes

 

I really enjoyed the bunker battle; going from room to room in the pitch dark, until a bottle rocket was launched at you and the place lit up like a flare went off. Exotic artwork on the walls....

 

Ho damn that was fun wasn't it. That whole scene went on for hours and hours. Cakes we're sorry you were colatorial damage but you know war is hell! Very glad you and your child weren't hurt,just your butt lol Mouse you tell a good story, that one goes in the archives for sure. And a good time was had by all. ;-) My love to all leoron

 

Great rendition Mouseman!!

Myself my boy and my butt survived, the only casualty was the pants

 

Mouse, sounds like you are on the big mend and healing well! RIGHT ON Brother! That 4th of July Battle of Cole Street/Panhandel Park should be a screen play for Wild Bill to make into a film!!!

Would be at least as good as Steelyard Blues do not know if Peter Boyle, Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, are available but maybe just cast the ORIGINAL players!!! The GE's+, who were the originators of the Battle!
Sounds like that would become instant LEGEND on video besides legend of the minds!! Would be a real fun set/soundstage to be on that is for sure.

On a different note, Sheila and I have just returned to Encinitas from the river. I have once again seen why we loved and still love it there!!! Friends whos famlys have grown and some even becomming pillars of the community!! I truly miss it and will be returning way more often!!

Love and peace to all

ww/wickwah

 

A screen play would be excelent!!.. Who will write the play or should it be like each individual rendition of what went down.. I think it would draw a crowd bc it really happened and is more then just sceens of naked hippies dancing around with flowers in their hair. It's more like the infastructer or the working mechenisums of the Family unit.

The behind the sceens effect is more informative to what and how the ppl lived in a communal enviroment.

I gotta run but will be back this afternoon.

Blessings Family
cakes

 

Hey! I'll write the screen play!

Hi all. I'm finally checking in. Dearest Cakes, I've always wondered what or where you had wandered off to in life.

Hi. Its Scorpio Kenny.

Wow. You've got Leo Ron, Spud, Mouseman, and even Zev, all on the same page. Now there's a cast of characters, if I've ever seen one. Hi y'all.

I thought the 4th of July wars was already famous. I'm sure that there are some old neighbors that still remember it.

If any of you don't remember me right off, I use to do the G.D.I. with Sag Johny, and New York Pisces Sunshine. I hung with folks like Mister Machine and Ga Ga. I'm 6'-1" and Blond, and hung with a gal called Taurus Debby. We lived in the blue house basement with Samson, Upper Cole Street with Kelly, Page Street with Scorpio Many, and Missy when she lived there, and the Upstairs back porch above the leather shop, and in the back basement of the white house. Kind of mobile.

Then super mobile. Taurus Debby and I thumbed to Southern California and lived beneath a waterfall in a desert water canyon next to Palm Springs which is where Little Annie hailed from. Deb and I had a son. We moved back to the City in a van and dropped by upper Market Street house just to say hi and visit. Where upon we were promptly kidnapped and never heard from again. Eden through me in her lair and Ranger disappeared Debby. Somehow, two G.E.ers got morphed into two Down Home Nastys, and they never knew what hit 'em. And they all lived happily ever after. For A while. Beyond that, you've got to ask Ranger. Hi Audreyanne! Hi Ranger.

Hi Heif. I'm so glad that I finally got into your spot, here. Home Sweet Home. The dot com would not let me register in here, using my Mac. I've been reading your board for two years now, off and on. I'm finally here. whew. Please tell Ranger that Kenny is in. Thanks, Cakes. Hey, in reading above I just now realized the you and I are the exact same age. 59. Trip! Or maybe that stat is an old stat. Hey how's life in the Lone Star? Terrif I' hope.

Talk with you all latter.

Keep living the adventure. Love ya All Scorpio Kenny

 

u guys are fuckin awesome all of u cakes where do u get the stuff u write wish i had more time here. moved tired inventory tues than vacation front and back yard is huge 50x100 both already started cleaning and planting. Who remebers the block party ? LOVE YA GOTTA GO

 

KENNY!! Howdy Brotherman.. I'm living large on our little farm in NE Texas. Gotta Love It. I been waiting a long time for you guys n gals to show up. Our circle is getting wider and the LOVE FLOWS FREELY. So glad you made it and are still above ground.

There are so many arriving, there must be something in the air that is drawing us together once again. Our work not finished perhaps and we, the ones of us that are left are here or will be here shortly to pick up the torch and continue where we left off.

Just the energy that revolves around this thread is catching flame and starting a fire within us. Our momentum is gathering steam and we are again ready to Board The Bus that will take us there and back.

Our travels have taken us far and wide in the Experience. I think that is the glue that holds us together. There are not many that can say, or have been to where we have and a large part of our making was together at Good Earth. We have a common meeting ground and rememberances of that era, when we came forward and changed america. It was us that took the first steps to freedom.

Now things are looking dreary again and here we come with our loving light to cast out the shadows. To bring back the smiles that we greeted each day with and a glad heart for having each other.

Brightest Blessings to us all
cakes

 

Hey Cheryl,
When talking to loved ones and things I love or love to do. My heart swells up and something higher takes over me, like a wave of the sublime. I love so hard that it pours from deep within my soul. All the emotion comes flooding forth and the words come from a place that is sacred in it's purity. No rehersal or forthought beyond the Now of what is to be conveyed in honesty of ones holy self.. The Higher element of our Being in selflessness inspired by the beauty of LIFE.. it is not life and death.. it is brith and death, Life is Eternal. The Spirit is Alive, when I write I am in The Spirit and where beauty flows, it brings the light. The Spirit is Light. We are joyful in the light.

Lovin' you
cakes

 

Hey Kenny,
Was that place you were at by Palm Spring called Tocowitz Falls ( know it's not the right spelling but sound it out). We use to go to a place like that back in the earily to middle 60s. There were 12 waterfalls, you had to climb up to get to the next fall at the top was an Indain Res. If you made it to the top, sometimes if you had the right attitude I guess, that you could hang out and trip with them a while.

The place was awesome.. after the 3rd fall there were huge, smooth flat rocks with caves from the water running against them over the centuries. The water was chrystal blue with no polution.. The Sun was bright and the desert altitude gave the air of the pristine.

We used to take our kids there when they were wee ones, but as all good things must come to an end, as so did the beauty of the falls. It became such a popular place, the army guys started going out there and trashing out the place with booze bottles and trash that it became unsafe to swim or enjoy Mothers Blessings. Plus it was hard to 'tripp' with drunk marines surounding your hippy family. Yikes!!

They closed it down to the public, the last I heard but hey, that was 40 yrs ago.. There is no tellin' what it has evolved into after all tis time.. I hope they have not distroyed it, it was magnificent.

cakes

 

Hi Cakes,

Hi Cheryl,

I remember Cheryl. Hey Cheryl. I hope that the move went well. Wishing you smiles.

Wow, Cakes, you been there! How cool. It’s a whole different trip, huh. Magic, and a whole different headspace. You are very close. It’s pronounced Ta Quits by everybody but its really Tah Cu-eets or like Eats or Wheats. Tahq wheats.

Its spelled Tahquitz Canyon. It’s a place that is way more than magic. It’s the solitude between this dimension and another dimension.


I included all of this stuff so that you could see it all again, and me too. But mostly so that all of are family could see what the heck we are talking about. To Share.

Yeah, some promoter from L.A. did a major spring-break concert back in ’68 or ’69 at the professional baseball stadium in Palm Springs. After that concert, fifty million idiots from L.A. partied out in the canyon all at once, for nights. Some really bad biker shit went down and they Gang f…ed-up a young chick. Way Way Real sick, serious hospital, and the national news and international news. The city close the canyon forever and the cops cleared out thousands. Three or four years later that just meant that the cops went into the canyon every Easter (spring-break weekend) and arrested anybody that was there. The local freaks all knew that and hung out any of the other 364 days of the year.

Never fear Cakes. I drove past there a couple of years ago and the local tribe has opened it up and charges people $10 a head. You can’t swim or smoke, and it closes at 5 p.m. I guess that ya just can’t hang out nude and swim nude with dozens of tourists wandering by. Kind of blows your whole trip, huh. Sad.


Did you know that Tahquitz Falls appeared as part of a different larger lake within Shangri-La in the movie Lost Horizon (1937), directed by Frank Capra.
Yes the place really is paradise.



The Falls. You can swim around the bolder or sit on it. Take a jump.
http://www.desertusa.com/mag08/feb08/palmspringshikes.html

We lived under this tree for several months.
http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/d/2/d/7/highres_6173975.jpeg


This one is especially for Ranger. Hi Shamam, dude. We are all shaman. We are the joyfulness of the planet. ;^)
http://www.tahquitzcanyon.com/

Cakes, read “The Legend” part of that website. Guess who’s cave you were hanging out in.
“He made his home high in the San Jacinto Mountains in a secret cave below the towering rock known today as Tahquitz Peak. It is said that his spirit still lives in this canyon.”

A shot of the mountain where this is all at. Just for everybody’s reference.
Mount. San Jacinto (Ha seen toe), Palm Springs. The falls and the canyon are in a whole other canyon way to the left off of the photo. A Serious Mountain. A Very Big Spirit.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/139452262_bf3087d937.jpg


Anyhow, Love you all, and take good care, Kenny
.
.

 

Kenny,
Thank you for the closure on the Falls. It was an Inspirational place and time. It opened up my mind to new possibilities of the spritual kind. I am so totally gratefull that I had an opportunity to experience it first hand. I'm glad the Indains are getting some back from what humans distroyed. I am also thankful that this energy point was keep alive.

Thanks agin for the info.

Much love to you and yours

cakes

 

hard to distroy the true energy Cakes!!
My wife (Sheila) took me there on a horse camp trip from Borrego Springs years ago the energy is AWESOME.

peace/love
ww

ps Nails you and the others who started the site did the "Field of Dreams" thang.......you built it and they are comming!! GOOSEBUMPS eh!!

 

Sure, Cakes. Yer welcome.

I hope that the web links took your head on a vacation. Or at least a pleasant break for a moment in life. S'cool.

Maybe everyone will take a tour, here. It's a very hippie place.

WW, energy is the same as mass that is magnified, accelerated or effected by a multiplication of the speed of light multiplied by its self. That's some fast mass.

Your energy is flying. All energy is.

Or I could say (you're) energy is flying, (you are energy that is flying), but that's a little to Wavy Gravy.
Heavy. …*Hee Hee.

I love "The 4thWars" versions. I think that I showed up the very next day and heard all about it. I was probably at a party at another house or something. Not on Cole that night.

We should all get together someplace once again and do it again. I'll get together a film crew to record it all and we'll all pilot a reality TV show. Then we could get payed to do it for 13 weeks, live. "The 4thWars" a non-reality hippie TV show, coming soon.

Everyones feedback on this concept is welcome.


love yuz, Scorpio Kenny
… ;^)

 

Hey Kenny,
I grew up in SoCali ( Anahiem ) DisneyLand was my old stompin' grounds. The Canyons were the trippin' places.. DisneyLand was a bit too surreal to trip there, all them little ppl n critters could really blow your mind.

I like the nature trip better then my mind being turned inside out freekin' on Sleepy, Sneezy and Dopey.. lol

We would go up to Laguna and score some LSD-25 from the Brotherhood ( Tim Leary's) and go to Tahquits Falls and campout over the weekend. It was very cool, very sacred. One could really find truth and meaning trippin up on them rocks.

The higher you went the more nakedness you would see. I think by the time you got to the 6th fall even the rocks were naked. I doubt if that is a more magical place anywhere then these falls that dripped diamonds from the sky.

Thanks again for reminding me of such a lovely place and time. Kenny Rocks!!

It's hard to capture what when down in the City with GE, there was always something going down that was majorly dramatic. but cha know our gang did something with what we had, the energy that was thrust upon us from the cosmos made it impossible not to take action. I mean isnt that why we were there, what we had been called to do. I think the fact that we even showed up was enough to save us. To show the love we had for our fellow man. It redeemd us and we humans got a second chance.. bc we can really fuck shit up sometimes. It was love that saved us, it was love that slayed the beast.

A reality show about sur-reality, wow, what a concept, with all the special effects that are availble nowadays, it would be very trippy.. where's our director?!? Wild Bill where ya at? Well he's probably off somewhere on the Riveara eating grapes at the moment, leave a message

I know there is a movie in us, how could there not be.. we were so active in so many areas and the philosophy of our nature was of the fifth kind. One could not reasonably say that we would not be an interesting subject. Ppl are fancinated with Old Hippies.

Perhaps it's bc they themselves always secretly wanted to be hippie just to see what it was really like to be FREE.

Bright Blessings
cakes



cakes

 

Hey Chris,
Glad to see you posting more... YES!! the vibe that eminated from the Falls were deffinatly awesome. The whole place seemed to viberate tranquility, love, and peace, like touching God's face.

We come for the love. In our youth we had young love.. as we have grown so has the love we carry inside us. We each had a piece of Good Earth Love placed in our hearts when we were united. It doesnt matter the distance or lenght of time that passes, that piece of love has stayed and grown and hungered for the rest of the pieces of love that has scattered to the wind. They yearn to be one again with the whole. It's a Calling of Love that brings us.

Lovin' you all
cakes

 

Hey Cakes,

Cool, you grew up in Disneyland. Sounds fun. The whole world needs more fun. I love fun. My mom always said that she wished that she could move in to one of those pretty front windows that are upstairs from the shops on Main Street USA. There’s a thought. Huh?

The Canyon fer trippin’. A perfect place. But there are some very serious solid heavy vibes in that canyon. And it is so very bright, dry, hot, silent in that place. Overwhelmingly so. When you are near the water and hearing the water, it changes everything.

You Rock!

I grew up in a lot of places. A farm country burb in Southern Ca., small town farmlands and woods in central New Jersey, swamps and beaches in Florida, a beach, N.J. all before I was 10. At 10 through 18, I lived in a small boring town northeast of Palm Springs. My back yard was Joshua Tree National Park. Lots of huge boulders piled on top of each other. Hide, run, climb, hang, crawl underneath them. And a wonderful place fer trips. Put some friend in a neat place and it becomes a special time.

Have you ever been there? Joshua Tree National Park? You can do some serious spaces and traces there.

So, from the description above, you can gather that I’m a country boy. Lots of different kinds of country. Deserts, swamps, hot and cool beaches, woods and creeks, fields and orchards, that’s where I came from. When I grew up, (Did I ever really grow up? No.), the very first thing that I did was to run away to the big city to seek my fame and fortune. Off down the road of life to have a great adventure. I first lived in Berkeley and Oakland and went to art school, and partied a lot and danced in the City. Latter I lived in the Haight. First a bus and soon Good Earth. To me it was all still one big great adventure, dancing through life. Even the hard times. Part of the deal. The romance of life, the experience, the fun, the folks.

G.E was a big part of that. People. What I came to the City for. People. Faces. Hearts. Their feelings. Some of us were just struggling through are daily work and lives, and others of us where living the adventure, and sometimes some and each of us where doing one or the other, and sometimes we where all doing both all at the same time. Would you believe it? Sometimes it all happened.

Wiping the kids nose and pulling a sweater over her head, working our butts off at work, freezing while spare-changing on Haight Street, surviving together. Joint meals, joint rents, joint utilities, joint joints. What else? We were surviving, and in a smart way. Sharing expenses. Living. Joint living. Communing together. Economically and on a personal level. Joint refrigerator. Joint toilet paper. It worked. Commie or not, we survived. We ate. We loved. And we enjoyed each other, and what’s most important, we had fun. And I personally want to thank each and every one of you for that. Thanks forever. Love you more than you could know. And we probably all feel that way. Nuf said.

So, you might ask yourself why did we end up in the Haight? Each and all of us. Yeah you. ‘Cause it’s a special place. Energy. In the very same way that the redwoods are special, or Joshua Tree National Park, or Tahquitz Canyon, or a lot of other special places, like Cougar Hot Springs ( http://surfing-pictures.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/cougar-hot-springs.jpg ), or Crater Lake, or Shasta, or Zion. The Haight Ashbury is its own very special energy. And we all came there to share it. That’s human. Enjoying energy. Its part of us. Our nature. Our being. Enjoying energy, and sharing the experience of enjoying that energy. Kind of like: “Wow, did you feel that?” Yeah like that. Experiencing together. We love that. Its FUN.

Anyhow, Cakes, and all folks. You get my drift.

Movie? Hey, lets organize it, so that we can all quit our day jobs and make 5 times the money by being on TV. Face it, we are all very unique, very entertaining, and very epic. Hey, Mouseman said that we’re all a legend in are own minds. But in point of fact, we are all the legend, for real. We are the thing that everyone does really want to know all about. For real. And if you all really do want to save the world, than share your experiences with the younger ones who want to really know. Past the torch. Share the Humanity.

“Ppl are fancinated with Old Hippies,” Says The Cakes. And it’s so very true. So saleable, too. Get’in paid for being yourself. How cool is that? Be Here Now. On TV.

Anyhow, Oceola. … (I’ll see ya all later.)
Do you remember that one?


Ciao, Kenny
.
rettyplease:

 

S Kenny you sre ready for the next trip!!! lol as we all are I am sure! My old Production Lighting Company can help out with any thang you all put togather! Still operating out of Smell A and I can lay my hands on some grip stuff and "SPECIAL EFFECTS" light that I am sure will come in HANDY! lol Wild Bill where are you. TV THO! Do not know if that would be the way trying to repeat our reality I do not know if it can be done! Execpt in our minds?? Willing to help try tho!

e=mc CUBED now lol. Hanging with the Bristlecones just laying hands on them is a trip that makes you reall feel well just feel!!! Oldest living things on Earth and right there in backyard (sorta) as a kid! That must have been NICE. I used to go there when hitching from NM back to bay area or other points north. I hear now you cannot get near thr Brisstlecones!!! If that is the case well....glad I was able to be there when you could.

Sleeping inside of a redwood was also another one of those natural trips that I will never forget! I wonder if my kids will be able to find spots like we did. I hope so!!!ll

Remember back then how we could actualy go to those places and just find a quite spot and stay without being Hasseled! We stayed in Crater Lake for 4 days by the pinnicles with my kids when they were little ones and it was just mindblowing. We would go to the NPs in our converted Station wagons and just stay!!

We also we so blessed to live in some of the most electrafying (sp) places in the bus!! Up in Forest camps where "Scuse us as we were kissed the sky" every night! I just got back from going up river almost to umpqua falls
Up AV way and man it is still very much the same and I got a lot of GOOD CHILLS as did Sheila. AND there are still good peeps there as we knew. I want to go back as I get older to that more!

S Kenny no problems at all with memories of Hugh!!!!!! Did you ever stay at the house on the Berekely/Oakland city line sorta?? 59ave maybe?

Bright Moments!!!

peace/love
ww

 

Kenneeee!
Soo glad you've come aboard!! so good to ..feel you! Yea, we are the genuine items; we did (and are doing) what others can only fantasize! The "faith" is strong in all those who really Did it and are carrying on. We'll get together: Mouseman is working on a plan!