Chapter 21 – Following the Rainbow

The Rainbow Gathering

They left Boulder early yesterday morning and drove straight through to Lander, Wyoming, a drive of over three hundred and fifty miles. They got into Lander late last night, but it was already shut down, small town style, so they camped outside of town for the night.
.

It’s morning now and they’re back in town, looking for anyone who might know where the gathering is. At a cafe, they meet some folks who tell them that it’s south of town, back the way they came up yesterday.

After breakfast, they head out, picking up four hitchhikers on the way – a young Mexican looking guy, named appropriately Mexican, a tall, young guy named Sunshine, a wise-eyed woman named Karen, together with a young girl traveling with them named Colleen.

These folks had been on their way to the gathering when their VW van broke down. They left it where it had died – with the keys, the title, and a note saying that anyone who wanted it could have it. They’re all acid folks, traveling adventurers. Synchronicity!
.

They finally find the gathering, pull into the dusty parking area, and get their camping gear together. They’ve never camped among so many folks. Even in the parking lot, there are hundreds of folks all about. Their new friends go on ahead. They’ll all find each other later.

Walking in from the parking lot blows him away. There are camps and people everywhere. It’s like an old time Native American village. There are campfires burning, dogs barking, and the sounds of laughter and music everywhere.

They find themselves a spot to camp and, after setting it up, do some acid to check out the gathering. They’ve only been here a few hours, and already they’re meeting lots of good folks, the kind of folks he has been looking for all this time on the road, folks who can take care of themselves, folks who are both brave and smart.
.

The next day they move up onto the hill overlooking the main circle. It’s drier, and there’s a breeze up here. There will be fewer mosquitoes tonight. He drops acid again. There are really good folks camping all around. It’s cool today, cloudy with a few drops of rain. It’s quiet and peaceful now – folks working, building, and hanging out together.

He has been rambling about all day. He has seen the sweat lodges and the main kitchens. These folks know what they’re doing. There are good people everywhere. He’s already wanting to stay here longer if enough others do, not just for the four or five days they had planned.
.

Acid at the Gathering

People have already begun to come to him here, wanting to connect to him and acid. Some of them just want to get some acid from him and then go their own way. He doesn’t mind sharing some, but he would rather share the acid consciousness with them too.

This morning, their hitchhiking acid friends are waiting outside their tent when they wake up. They want to do some acid with them today. After they’re up and about, they all drop and spend the day together wandering around the gathering. It’s such a joy for him to be doing acid with folks who don’t need anything from him. They’re all experienced acidheads. Mexican’s been doing it for years, since he was thirteen. Even Colleen, still a girl, does acid better than Ron or Don ever will.
.

Someone brings peyote into the gathering, gunny sacks full. They hand it out indiscriminately, and later everyone who did some is up in the hills above the camp howling at the moon. The vibe is crazy and wild, and somewhat scary.

The next day, the peyote folks move to the other extreme and declare that anyone who wants to eat peyote with them has to climb the mountain and approach the medicine in a sacred way. That night, tripping again, he and Karen and their new friends climb up to do some peyote with them. The peyote is okay but the people holding it are uptight and righteous, especially with regard to acid. They really piss him off. They keep putting down acid and everyone who uses it. Mostly they say, because it isn’t “natural,” whatever that means.

In the main council the next day, he takes up the talking stick to remind everyone that it isn’t how they get high but whether or not they are high. He reminds everyone that folks who have to put down another person’s way in order to put up theirs are not really high.
.

On the fourth of July, everyone at the gathering walks to the sacred meadow one set-aside for this special day. Everyone sits in a giant circle together, several thousand folks in all. Most of them are doing some kind of medicine. The smell of grass is everywhere.

They meditate together in silence as they all come on, and, at noon, they all end their silence by Oming together. Then the Children’s parade comes into the meadow and the party begins, as they celebrate their oneness and the beauty of the day.
.

They’ve become very close with their new friends. They decide that they will all meet again in Boulder, score some money, camp and trip again together, and then see from there.
.

Back in the Straight World

Watching the way the peyote people misused their power, putting their egos into it, has sure helped save him from falling into the holy man trip. He would rather be innocent and free anyway. He’s going to have fun with his life from now on. He’s not going to take himself so seriously.
.

He and Karen stay at the gathering for a couple days after it officially ends There are lots of folks still here, doing cleanup work or just hanging out, not wanting to leave. He’s tempted to stay longer, but they’re going to meet their new friends in Boulder soon.

No one wants to leave, not really, but they all know that they’re seeds. They all know that they have to leave in order to find a place in the world for the spirit they now embody to take root and grow. He and Karen, by having been part of the gathering, now share the Rainbow Family’s vision – one of folks living in love and peace and harmony together.
.

However, reality, straight world reality that is, rudely intrudes soon after they leave. There are cops everywhere on the road, stopping everyone they can. Somehow though, they manage to run the blockade and aren’t pulled over.

Soon after that, they stop at a little cafe just outside of Rock Springs. Inside the cafe, he’s told to put on some shoes and to button up his shirt if he wants to come in. At first, he’s in shock. At the gathering, he didn’t have to worry about what anyone else thought. He didn’t have to deal with people wanting to tell others what to do.

Later that night, parked in a Safeway parking lot in Aspen, Colorado, the police roust them. They’re nice about it, but they follow them to make sure they drive on out of town.

The next evening in Central City, the police stop them again. The police don’t like them wearing their sheath knives in town, tell them to take them off or leave. He’s angry and asks the cops why they’re worrying about their knives when they’re wearing their guns. He says if they want him to take off his knife, they should take off their guns.

He tells the cops that if they’re really trying to cut down on violence, they should stop telling other folks what to do. The cops just stand there with their power and won’t argue, so he and Karen leave their town and continue on.
.

They finally stop above Boulder in the mountains, between Nederland and Ward. It’s going to be difficult to find fertile ground for this spirit of sharing that they carry within them now. They’re supposed to meet their new friends in the morning; maybe together all of them can do better. It’ll be good for Karen and him after all they’ve been through.
.

Camped Above Boulder

They head down to Boulder in the morning. They’re going to visit John and Mickie there, maybe Karen’s friends, Wolf and Mildred, too. They’re going to meet Mexican and his Karen in town later today or tomorrow. They’ll be hitchhiking in from Florida, after first hitching to California and back – all since the gathering!
.

Mexican and Karen show up the next day. They call him and Karen at their friends’ house, and soon they all meet up in town. Sunshine is in Florida still. Colleen is back with her folks. They do some acid and hang out in Boulder for the day, mostly in the park by the creek.

Someone they know from the gathering feels their energy and introduces them to folks with land up off Magnolia Road, west of town in the foothills. These folks tell them that they can park on their land and hike a ways into the nearby national forest. They say it’s peaceful and beautiful there with a stream flowing by.
.

When they first get to where they’re going to camp, they’re still really hassled by the road energy. They all feel though, that the hassle is in the world, that it’s not coming from them. When they were at the gathering, they weren’t feeling hassled at all. Now that they are back in the world, they certainly are

But by the time they have their camp set up, they’ve let it all go. It’s too beautiful here, the creek sings so pretty, and the smoke slowly opens them back up.
.

Later on, in the middle of the night, it starts to rain. Fortunately the rain is light at first, and they have a few minutes to put up their tent in the dark. But after they’re inside and just beginning to settle down from the rush, they notice that their friends are still up, sitting huddled under one of the nearby trees.

They holler over to them, asking why they aren’t getting their tent or tarp up. They say that they don’t have either. He and Karen hadn’t known this. They go back outside with their own tarp, and help their friends put it up. Just in time too, as the rain really begins to come down.
.

The next morning, it’s beautiful and sunny. He’s feeling lazy today, not going to do anything except essentials. He’s not the only one. They all just laze away the day. Being on the road is hard. He can really appreciate this more now.
.

The next day, they all do acid together and hike up the creek to a big pool. Sitting together on the rocks above the pool, enjoying the beauty around them, they all feel their shared love, feel that they’re family. They want to do something together out of this feeling. They figure their spiritual work together is to be like the Caldron hexagram of the I Ching – medicine people working to help others through the great changes happening in the world today.
.

Back in Boulder

Mexican and Karen need to get back to Florida soon. He and Karen need to get back on the road too. He is going back East with Karen. She has followed him all around the Southwest and up and down these Rocky Mountains these past few months. He owes it to her. He’s definitely not looking forward to it though.

After their friends leave for Florida, he and Karen head down to Boulder for a few days. They’ll visit with their friends and stock up on road supplies. They’re waiting for the beginning of the week to leave so they can take Sam in for some work. His clutch is acting weird, and they need to buy tune up parts and a grease gun for the road.
.

They’re hanging outside the Rocky Mountain Grainery, this wonderful natural foods store in Boulder. They’re parked in front of the store in the van. He’s doing acid again. He’s realizing that he’s short of money for the trip east. He has only enough to pay for his share of the work on Sam. He could sell some of his acid, he has more than he needs, but he’s too scared to just walk up to someone and say he has acid. He wishes he could just buy his groceries here and hand them some acid in trade. He would like to do the same with the mechanic who’ll be working on Sam next Monday.

However, Karen wanders off, and, a few minutes later, she’s back with two young guys, Daniel and Jerry. They had met them at the gathering, although they hadn’t gotten to know them very well there.

Daniel and Jerry buy some acid from him. Now he has some money. It’s easy. He’s really having trouble being brave about copping that he does acid. Karen is showing him the way.

He feels like treating himself and Karen to dinner; so later, when he’s down enough from the acid, they look for some Mexican food in town. Everyone says there won’t be any east of here. The place they do find, the one that everyone says is the best, is okay but nothing like the food offered by those folks down in Reserve, New Mexico. Those folks really know how to cook.
.

He’s sad to be leaving these beautiful mountains so soon after discovering them. He wants to return as soon as he can and live in them, never going down to the flatlands again. He wants to wander in these mountains for the rest of his life, staying in the southern parts in the winter and moving north with the spring, returning south again with the fall. He wants to use horses and live in a tipi like those folks they heard about in Taos when they were there last winter.
.

Chapter 22 – Synchronicities

Heading East

Leaving Boulder and the mountains behind, they begin their slow and uneasy descent into hell. At first there’s still a little green, but all too soon the land is brown and dry. The land isn’t desert, not yet anyway, although man is certainly trying. Once it used to be all woods and grasslands. It’s very hot and humid here now. The heat is very hard on them after having been in the cool of the mountains for so long. They’ve certainly picked the worst time of year to cross Kansas and Missouri.

The first night they stop in a small Kansas farm town. The folks here have a campground right in the middle of their town. It’s their park too. There are places to park and a bathroom, with showers. It’s free too. He and Karen are very grateful, appreciating folks this open and unafraid. They’re learning that farmers aren’t at all like city folks.

The mosquitoes almost kill them in the night. It’s a choice between leaving their windows open for some air or being slowly eaten alive. They vow to get some mosquito netting as soon as they can. They don’t ever want to spend a night like this again.
.

The next evening, just at dusk, they drive into Lawrence, Kansas, where the university is, and, as they park, Daniel and Jerry walk by. Synchronicity! They are on their way out of town soon. For some reason, none of them are surprised to see each other again. This is just the way of Medicine people

It’s raining here, heavy rain coming down in sheets, drumming loudly upon Sam’s roof. At least it’s keeping the mosquitoes down. It sure doesn’t cool things off though. Daniel and Jerry decide to stay the night in town, not wanting to hitchhike in the rain and wanting more time to connect with him and Karen.

They meet some folks with a hot tub and sit in it with them for a while, smoking some good hash that someone offers. He finally gets really stoned. He wonders if he has brought the rain. The folks here say it hasn’t rained in weeks. He’s beginning to believe that wherever he goes, if he’s centered and if rain is needed, it will rain. He is the rainmaker, son of Thunder and Wind.
.

The next morning they say goodbye to Daniel and Jerry, buy some mosquito netting, and hit the road again. They’re heading to Columbia, Missouri to see a friend of Karen’s; planning to head from there to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then they’ll make their way north to Virginia, to where Karen’s folk’s live, then further north to see what they will see.
.

Stoneybrook Farm

In Columbia, Missouri, they stop at a natural foods restaurant for lunch. They’re surprised to find one out here in Middle America, so far from the West Coast. The folks running the restaurant are hippies. They live communally on a farm several miles east of town.

At first, when he walks in, they mistake him for Stephen Gaskin, a San Francisco acid guru who led some folks to a farm down near here in Tennessee. He tells them that he’s an acid brother but not anyone’s guru. That’s not his trip. They are very open and friendly with him and Karen. They invite them to stay with them, say they should go on out to their farm, that some of the folks are there now.
.

Later, as they drive up to the farm, they see some folks standing outside, obviously expecting them. When they say they were just at the gathering, the folks tell them that some other folks are here from the gathering too – hanging out in the back in an old, abandoned VW bus.

They walk out back, and of course it’s Daniel and Jerry.

Synchronicity again! They’ve been sent to help him get across the country, and they’ve really helped. They’re going on to Tennessee next, to Gaskin’s farm. He and Karen say that they are too, thinking maybe they’ll meet again there.
.

The next day Daniel and Jerry leave, and he and Karen decide to stay here for a while. The folks have asked them to stay for the week. If they do stay that long, they’ll be here when Karen’s friend Margie returns. The folks here at Stoneybrook have been farming now for several years. They grow grass on their land too, mixed in with their other crops.

The next day, he thinks of dropping acid but decides instead to go into town and work at their restaurant. He’s going to wait on tables. If he’s going to stay here, he wants to help out, and the food is very good and free.
.

He and Karen both work at the restaurant for several more days, getting to know all the Stoneybrook folks while they’re working. He and Karen are considering living here with these folks. He doesn’t especially like the land or the weather, but he sure does like these folks and the work they’re doing together.

He’s going to drop acid and hang out with them tomorrow. The restaurant will be closed then, and everyone will be on the farm. He’ll decide then from his acid high whether or not he wants to live here.
,

Acid at Stoneybrook

He dreams he meets a therapist who’s helping folks go crazy in a healing way. Karen is working with him, trying to let go to her own craziness.

He’s reading a science fiction book now called Pilgrimage. In it, folks are waking up to their unique psychic talents – healing, sending and receiving thoughts and feelings, seeing into the future – all those talents that are commonly thought of as crazy or magical by the straight world. In fact, at first each person in the story thinks that he or she is crazy. No one has any idea of how to relax and grow into his or her newly found powers – not until folks like him come forward to help.
.

In his life now, he’s waking up to his own unique talents. He’s “going crazy,” as the straight world would say of him. Actually, he’s just coming to accept who he is and the powers that work through him.

He has psychic powers. With no validation from his parents or from anyone else in his life, they were unable to develop easily or naturally, not as they should have, as any talent that is supported and encouraged does. Acid, however, has opened him to these powers, and, now that he knows them, they are a major part of himself.

He knows that craziness is just being high with fear. He would rather defeat fear than return to small mind consciousness again. Then he would just be high with no fear to bring him down.
.

He’s sitting out back of the big farmhouse here at Stoneybrook, meditating and reflecting. He’s the only one tripping today. It’s everyone’s day off and a family meeting is happening soon. He wants to be there even if he has to go inside.
.

Later, at the meeting, after all the usual business is complete, they discuss the possibility of him and Karen living here, working at the restaurant, and becoming family. No one’s opposed to it, but he’s bothered at having to plug into an already formed family with ways and unwritten rules that he would have to obey.

When it’s his turn to speak, he suggests that they all start over, with everyone together deciding how they’ll be. He suggests that they all do acid together if they really want to be an open and sharing family. This doesn’t go over so well, especially with Karen, somewhat to his surprise. She’s happy to accept things as they are and fitting in as she can. She tells him that he’s being pushy.

He has been bothered by this for a long while, ever since he became Wanderer and realized that he’s living in a society where someone else made the rules, made them so they could keep their edge over him and his. He’s not about to join a family that could do the same.