(previous chapter)
It wasn't long until it was time for Nelsonville Music Fest. Since I lived in the woods around Nelsonville at the time, moving my tent to the festival was a no-brainer for a camping fee of only $30 for the weekend, like I'd be anywhere else anyway - I've got pride in my home town, and Nelsonville Music Fest is our pinnacle of awesome.
I'm used to volunteering at festivals, or doing something with my time to keep me occupied and meeting people, but I waited too late to apply for Nelsonville. Instead, I racked my brain for things I could do, ways I could add something to the event. In addition to gathering trash, I settled on an idea I had seen at the Ocala Rainbow gathering - Gone Postal.
My weekend was spent going around the campgrounds, delivering festival mail. It was the greatest expression on people's faces when they got mail at the event. I found people by having the person writing the letter I was transporting describe the person I was looking for, their camp, and about where they were located, on the letter. Most of the letters got delivered successfully. I even delivered exactly one letter to someone I already knew - N's brother!
Unfortunately, I was unable to afford the full ticket and wasn't a real volunteer, so missed out on any music that wasn't in the campgrounds. I heard that, when the Flaming Lips played, they sent up a giant balloon that said, "Fuck Yeah Nelsonville" on it, and when it popped, a bunch of kids converged on the pieces and sold them to the crowd for $20 each.
At this point in my life, I figured my next stops would be Wisteria Summer Solstice, then on to Nationals in Michigan, then up to Maine to work on a farm. In the meantime, I wanted to see N again before I left, but wasn't sure where we stood anymore. I messaged her to ask if I could stop by before I left if I behaved, and she told me that she didn't want me to have to behave, she just wanted me as a friend, and that I would see her at Solstice. After trying for the last couple years to get N to like me as something more than that, and her still insisting she wanted me as a friend, I figured she deserved to have me as a friend - not some flake that disappeared at every turn because I couldn't control my feelings.
At Solstice, I was back on trash crew like most any time I was at Wisteria. In addition, I also helped out in the kitchen in exchange for free meals. Besides, the kitchen is where most of my friends were, anyway. N brought Go Time and Banjo.
The council for Nationals was in South Dakota in the Black Hills on Lakota territory, but they didn't want us there. I assumed the consensus would be to hold the gathering in Michigan, which was where I had heard all year it was going to be, but council elected to stay where they were. This decision was made late into Solstice. In light of the gathering being held on native territory without a proper invitation, I elected to stay in Ohio and do Starwood instead.
As a result of staying in Ohio for Starwood, I ended up at N's house again for the in-between period, then helping out in the kitchen to get into Wormhole, which takes place the week before Starwood.
Wormhole is filled with Subgeniuses, which are people that worship a prophet, named Bob, whom was contacted by the alien Jehovah 1 to brainwash the people into working for a living, but he infiltrated their ranks to promote slack instead. They're an interesting group, to say the least, and they make some good breakfast for the "Last Pancakes On Earth."
Wormhole ran into Starwood and more hippies started to arrive. N's brother's crew's camp was set up in the same location and style as the crew N and I had been a part of when we met in 2012. The night before the big bonfire, I sat at Crossroads in the middle of the campground and shouted nice things at people, calling myself the reverse troll. The day of the big bonfire, I picked a bunch of flowers and went around passing them out, calling them torches of love and light. I dropped some acid just before my trash shift, and was starting to come up by the time we had finished. I went around the rest of the day giving out more compliments, then found myself at the Marsh Swamp putting glow sticks together just before the fire.
The bonfire is lit after the last act on the main stage, which is followed by a procession to the bonfire field with chanting while they carry the ceremonial torch. Also included in the lighting ritual is a fire-spinning show, and the chasing of new fire tribe members around the fire. There's always a firetruck there for safety reasons, but this year's fire went off without a hitch.
I saw N in a group around the fire and wanted to do a lap around the fire with her so we could talk, but I didn't know what to say and she probably wouldn't have wanted to hear it anyway. I sat down instead, because that made sense to my tripped-out mind. Some blonde girl I had never seen before sat down almost on top of me a few seconds later, and after a few minutes of talking, we ran around the fire together, then she disappeared. I ended up in the pufferdome for awhile so I could be mostly on my own somewhere comfortable to ride out part of my trip, but eventually made my way back to the fire. A few people even approached me who still had their flower from earlier, which really helped my night.
Eventually, worn, I went back to my tent. I was back in Nelsonville a day later.
Showing posts with label welcome home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label welcome home. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Saturday, September 26, 2015
What A Ride: Apalachicola
(previous chapter)
There weren't many people at holding camp when I arrived, as most people were still in transition from the Ocala gathering. The only camp I remember being set up was Wolfpack 13, though there were a few others.
When we pulled into the campground, I rolled down the window and shouted out the window, "Are we home?"
One of the members of Wolfpack answered, "Are you home? Yes, you're home. Welcome home!"
The man who gave me a ride and I set up camp just off the road, where a fire-pit was already in existence. I kept a stock of wood for fires at night, and making breakfast and coffee in the morning. My ride left after only a few days to go pick up his woman, leaving me with plenty of supplies to feast on. I donated something around half of it to the Stockpot Kitchen, which had become my favorite at Ocala for its very welcoming atmosphere.
An overdose happened very early on at holding camp after a family member consumed a bunch of Benadryl capsules to achieve a high and ended up in the hospital. An emergency council was called to decide on how to act, and one of the members of the family that had not intervened was saved from excommunication for inaction due to a vote that determined that, while sad, the party that had overdosed was an adult - just barely - acting on his own free will. He survived, by the way.
The lake we were gathered beside had been ravaged by Florida State University students that would often come to party, leaving a gigantic mess of nails, broken glass, and other items of trash strewn all around, but focused on the beach. You could shift through the sand for hours in the same place and still be picking up trash. Starting with a girl named Katie, her boyfriend Bo, and myself, we began picking up the mess. The first day was just us, but after that we had an entire group. All we had to do was clean. Other members of the family would satellite us food, drinks, and anything else we might need. I began sorting through the broken glass for pieces to turn into jewelry to reduce the amount being tossed. It wasn't enough. Even with a whole, dedicated group that spent most of their days picking up garbage, there was still trash to be gathered when we left to the actual gathering.
The Forest Service officials that interacted with family were grateful for the effort, giving us a great permit for the Apalachicola gathering, including an extension for cleanup if needed.
I joined up with the Hookah Lounge as a barista at seed camp. I spent almost all of my time there when I wasn't cleaning to keep myself caffeinated and in good company, anyway, so I figured I could learn how to make their (s)expresso (espresso with sweet and condensed milk) and take shifts as barista/host. I traveled with the Hookah Lounge to the Apalachicola seed camp from holding camp
Overall, Apalachicola was a more relaxed gathering than Ocala, with very minimal interference from law enforcement. Well, until the shooting happened.
Towards the end of seed camp, a group of projects kids were engaging in their tradition of burning a tire. The shooter thought he'd record it with his camera, but one of the gatherers took his camera and smashed it. The shooter went back to his truck for his gun, then opened fire, went through a clip, reloaded, then began firing again. Family did what they could to contain the situation and subdue the shooter. Smiley lost his life, while Dice was injured to the point of paralysis. The shooter was also placed in critical condition, having been stabbed multiple times, castrated, and being nearly beaten to death. The mamas came in last minute, claiming he needed to live with what he'd done.
All this, the night after some Front Gaters sought to beat an attendee named Dale for false accusations of him beating his woman. What really happened was a verbal argument between Dale and his woman that a Front Gater stepped in on and picked a fight with Dale over. Dale won, and the Front Gater got his friends. Being afraid for his life, Dale hid while the search party sought him out. I found an elder to call an emergency council, but first Dale had to be brought back to the elder's camp for sanctuary. That elder was Greywolf. I went on a reconnaissance mission to sneak Dale into Greywolf's camp, where he was sheltered until council decided he could leave the woods without confrontation, but he had to leave immediately. His woman went with him, though she was not made to.
Healing council the morning after the shooting, a picture of Dale and Smiley was passed around a circle. The person who had died, and the person that would have likely died had I not stepped in the night before the shooting. It was kind of a surreal moment for me to see the picture.
Law enforcement had set up roadblocks to keep gatherers in and newcomers out while they searched for the murder weapon they had already secured after responding to the shooting, but subsequently lost. Their claim was that all they wanted was the gun, and if it was not turned over in a set amount of time, then a judge was going to sign a blanket search warrant for all gatherers. The whole forest had its mission for the day, with everyone wanting to just find the gun and turn it over to the authorities.
When the deadline to turn the gun over had almost past, the law enforcement officials claimed they found the gun and left. The next day, they came back, claimed it wasn't the gun, and demanded all gatherers be out withing 36 hours, setting into motion a frenzied tear-down of camps that left much cleanup to still be done by the time everyone had evacuated. I acquired a tarp and rope that had been left behind during the mess, and a group that provided family with necessary gear gave me a new tent.
Since everyone was fleeing the gathering so early, there was not much time for me to figure out my ride situation and where I'd be going now. Nano and Mama Frea from the Hookah Lounge had split up, and rides for the Hookah Lounge's staff became uncertain as the van belonged to Mama Frea. Mama Frea gave me permission to accompany her into Alabama, so I left with a caravan of three vehicles - Mama Frea's van, a car with Wolfpack 13, and the RV transporting Brand X Kitchen.
(next chapter)
There weren't many people at holding camp when I arrived, as most people were still in transition from the Ocala gathering. The only camp I remember being set up was Wolfpack 13, though there were a few others.
When we pulled into the campground, I rolled down the window and shouted out the window, "Are we home?"
One of the members of Wolfpack answered, "Are you home? Yes, you're home. Welcome home!"
The man who gave me a ride and I set up camp just off the road, where a fire-pit was already in existence. I kept a stock of wood for fires at night, and making breakfast and coffee in the morning. My ride left after only a few days to go pick up his woman, leaving me with plenty of supplies to feast on. I donated something around half of it to the Stockpot Kitchen, which had become my favorite at Ocala for its very welcoming atmosphere.
An overdose happened very early on at holding camp after a family member consumed a bunch of Benadryl capsules to achieve a high and ended up in the hospital. An emergency council was called to decide on how to act, and one of the members of the family that had not intervened was saved from excommunication for inaction due to a vote that determined that, while sad, the party that had overdosed was an adult - just barely - acting on his own free will. He survived, by the way.
The lake we were gathered beside had been ravaged by Florida State University students that would often come to party, leaving a gigantic mess of nails, broken glass, and other items of trash strewn all around, but focused on the beach. You could shift through the sand for hours in the same place and still be picking up trash. Starting with a girl named Katie, her boyfriend Bo, and myself, we began picking up the mess. The first day was just us, but after that we had an entire group. All we had to do was clean. Other members of the family would satellite us food, drinks, and anything else we might need. I began sorting through the broken glass for pieces to turn into jewelry to reduce the amount being tossed. It wasn't enough. Even with a whole, dedicated group that spent most of their days picking up garbage, there was still trash to be gathered when we left to the actual gathering.
The Forest Service officials that interacted with family were grateful for the effort, giving us a great permit for the Apalachicola gathering, including an extension for cleanup if needed.
I joined up with the Hookah Lounge as a barista at seed camp. I spent almost all of my time there when I wasn't cleaning to keep myself caffeinated and in good company, anyway, so I figured I could learn how to make their (s)expresso (espresso with sweet and condensed milk) and take shifts as barista/host. I traveled with the Hookah Lounge to the Apalachicola seed camp from holding camp
Overall, Apalachicola was a more relaxed gathering than Ocala, with very minimal interference from law enforcement. Well, until the shooting happened.
Towards the end of seed camp, a group of projects kids were engaging in their tradition of burning a tire. The shooter thought he'd record it with his camera, but one of the gatherers took his camera and smashed it. The shooter went back to his truck for his gun, then opened fire, went through a clip, reloaded, then began firing again. Family did what they could to contain the situation and subdue the shooter. Smiley lost his life, while Dice was injured to the point of paralysis. The shooter was also placed in critical condition, having been stabbed multiple times, castrated, and being nearly beaten to death. The mamas came in last minute, claiming he needed to live with what he'd done.
All this, the night after some Front Gaters sought to beat an attendee named Dale for false accusations of him beating his woman. What really happened was a verbal argument between Dale and his woman that a Front Gater stepped in on and picked a fight with Dale over. Dale won, and the Front Gater got his friends. Being afraid for his life, Dale hid while the search party sought him out. I found an elder to call an emergency council, but first Dale had to be brought back to the elder's camp for sanctuary. That elder was Greywolf. I went on a reconnaissance mission to sneak Dale into Greywolf's camp, where he was sheltered until council decided he could leave the woods without confrontation, but he had to leave immediately. His woman went with him, though she was not made to.
Healing council the morning after the shooting, a picture of Dale and Smiley was passed around a circle. The person who had died, and the person that would have likely died had I not stepped in the night before the shooting. It was kind of a surreal moment for me to see the picture.
Law enforcement had set up roadblocks to keep gatherers in and newcomers out while they searched for the murder weapon they had already secured after responding to the shooting, but subsequently lost. Their claim was that all they wanted was the gun, and if it was not turned over in a set amount of time, then a judge was going to sign a blanket search warrant for all gatherers. The whole forest had its mission for the day, with everyone wanting to just find the gun and turn it over to the authorities.
When the deadline to turn the gun over had almost past, the law enforcement officials claimed they found the gun and left. The next day, they came back, claimed it wasn't the gun, and demanded all gatherers be out withing 36 hours, setting into motion a frenzied tear-down of camps that left much cleanup to still be done by the time everyone had evacuated. I acquired a tarp and rope that had been left behind during the mess, and a group that provided family with necessary gear gave me a new tent.
Since everyone was fleeing the gathering so early, there was not much time for me to figure out my ride situation and where I'd be going now. Nano and Mama Frea from the Hookah Lounge had split up, and rides for the Hookah Lounge's staff became uncertain as the van belonged to Mama Frea. Mama Frea gave me permission to accompany her into Alabama, so I left with a caravan of three vehicles - Mama Frea's van, a car with Wolfpack 13, and the RV transporting Brand X Kitchen.
(next chapter)
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
What A Ride: Ocala
(previous chapter)
The four of us set off from our roadside camp in the morning, ready to reach the gathering. After awhile spent walking, a local picked us up and gave us the last ride before we were really in the woods.
It was still holding camp when we got there, meaning there weren't many people, kitchens, or other precious resources - like water buffaloes - on site yet. I wasn't really sure what to do or where to camp when I first got there. People had set up all along the fireroad into the woods, but said most of the people were further ahead. I decided to set up at the point where the road made a right, but on the left-hand side. There had been a fire constructed in the bend in the road, and the early gatherers had made it the place to gather. Fire does that.
From what I knew of rainbow gatherings of the event, they were places of love and gifting, where money is meaningless, and everyone is expected to contribute how they can to help support the community. Kitchens serve free food, mamas and babies eat first, everyone listens to and respects the elders, and everyone is family.
I didn't really have much to offer when I got there, nor did I know how to contribute, really. I knew gathering firewood was always a priority, and stocks were still low and building, so I made that my job. I loved gathering wood and tending fires, and was really good at it. I spent much of my time on the main fire at the intersection of the roads, but contributed to kitchen and personal fires throughout the gathering as well, which gave me invitations to meals and caffeine.
Now, things get kinda blurry at this point.
I became friends with a man obsessed with tea, where I began spending my mornings - and much leisure time - drinking cups of tasty caffeine. I also met, and moved camp with for awhile, Happy Joe, who ended up joining the Bear Necessities kitchen. I also learned how to do wire wraps and started to acquire trades slowly. Trade circle started at the fire in the road, but moved into the woods when seed camp started. Forestry officials shut down the fire in the road sometime around then, anyway.
That fire had actually been a hotspot of activity before it got shut down for being in the road, as it was a central place to gather. During one day, a girl who was autistic, schizophrenic, and French-Canadian became the center-focus of a dispute between gatherers and law enforcement when she, in a state of delirium, made contact with an officer who had been trying to ticket people for their dogs not being on a leash. The officer suspected she was intoxicated, and began asking her questions to determine her state of mind. Because of the language barrier and her psychosis, she had difficulty answering. Before the whole thing was done, there were six law enforcement vehicles, a firetruck, an ambulance, and a helicopter on site for the tense confrontation. The "man" wanted to take her to a mental institution, she didn't want to go, the gathered family didn't want her to go. In the end, amid all the stress, she reached for someone's knife, saying she wanted to kill herself. There was no help for her, then, and it was only a matter of time to get her to go willingly.
The same fire was where forestry officials announced the gathering had exceeded the 75 people limit early, and without a signed permit - a result of the location being released prematurely. That made the gathering "illegal." We didn't get kicked out, but the forestry officials responded with heavy policing. Law enforcement at a gathering is split between the Sheriff department and the Forest Service. We had to deal with often four to six law enforcement vehicles in the woods at a time, rolling in early in the day, late at night, and whenever else they wanted, hanging around as long as they see fit. Also used to police the gathering, helicopters and drones could often be seen flying overhead, especially at trade circle and main circle. Apparently, Ocala is the largest regional Rainbow gathering, and it's where several law enforcement offices, including the Rainbow Task Force, conducts their training.
At some point, I became "Vibe Patrol, keeping the vibes up." That meant I was going around from one end of the gathering to the other, keeping people's vibes up. I usually just ate as I went into a kitchen to keep their vibes up when I was hungry, since I kept myself too busy patrolling a large gathering to really keep up on meals. I think that started the night after I got dosed on some MDMA. Later, being Vibe Patrol led to my other dosing - on LSD - as I walked into a kitchen holding a conversation about how amazing Albert Hofmann is!
After spending somewhere around a month in the woods, the Forest Service informed the gathering it was finally time to leave. I was gonna stay for cleanup, but the Forest Service wanted the names of everyone staying on a list, and they only wanted fifteen people. Rainbow is supposed to have 75 people allotted for cleanup, and they got the number fixed, but not until after most gatherers had already left.
I caught a ride straight from the Ocala gathering to the Apalachicola gathering's holding camp.
(next chapter)
The four of us set off from our roadside camp in the morning, ready to reach the gathering. After awhile spent walking, a local picked us up and gave us the last ride before we were really in the woods.
It was still holding camp when we got there, meaning there weren't many people, kitchens, or other precious resources - like water buffaloes - on site yet. I wasn't really sure what to do or where to camp when I first got there. People had set up all along the fireroad into the woods, but said most of the people were further ahead. I decided to set up at the point where the road made a right, but on the left-hand side. There had been a fire constructed in the bend in the road, and the early gatherers had made it the place to gather. Fire does that.
From what I knew of rainbow gatherings of the event, they were places of love and gifting, where money is meaningless, and everyone is expected to contribute how they can to help support the community. Kitchens serve free food, mamas and babies eat first, everyone listens to and respects the elders, and everyone is family.
I didn't really have much to offer when I got there, nor did I know how to contribute, really. I knew gathering firewood was always a priority, and stocks were still low and building, so I made that my job. I loved gathering wood and tending fires, and was really good at it. I spent much of my time on the main fire at the intersection of the roads, but contributed to kitchen and personal fires throughout the gathering as well, which gave me invitations to meals and caffeine.
Now, things get kinda blurry at this point.
I became friends with a man obsessed with tea, where I began spending my mornings - and much leisure time - drinking cups of tasty caffeine. I also met, and moved camp with for awhile, Happy Joe, who ended up joining the Bear Necessities kitchen. I also learned how to do wire wraps and started to acquire trades slowly. Trade circle started at the fire in the road, but moved into the woods when seed camp started. Forestry officials shut down the fire in the road sometime around then, anyway.
That fire had actually been a hotspot of activity before it got shut down for being in the road, as it was a central place to gather. During one day, a girl who was autistic, schizophrenic, and French-Canadian became the center-focus of a dispute between gatherers and law enforcement when she, in a state of delirium, made contact with an officer who had been trying to ticket people for their dogs not being on a leash. The officer suspected she was intoxicated, and began asking her questions to determine her state of mind. Because of the language barrier and her psychosis, she had difficulty answering. Before the whole thing was done, there were six law enforcement vehicles, a firetruck, an ambulance, and a helicopter on site for the tense confrontation. The "man" wanted to take her to a mental institution, she didn't want to go, the gathered family didn't want her to go. In the end, amid all the stress, she reached for someone's knife, saying she wanted to kill herself. There was no help for her, then, and it was only a matter of time to get her to go willingly.
The same fire was where forestry officials announced the gathering had exceeded the 75 people limit early, and without a signed permit - a result of the location being released prematurely. That made the gathering "illegal." We didn't get kicked out, but the forestry officials responded with heavy policing. Law enforcement at a gathering is split between the Sheriff department and the Forest Service. We had to deal with often four to six law enforcement vehicles in the woods at a time, rolling in early in the day, late at night, and whenever else they wanted, hanging around as long as they see fit. Also used to police the gathering, helicopters and drones could often be seen flying overhead, especially at trade circle and main circle. Apparently, Ocala is the largest regional Rainbow gathering, and it's where several law enforcement offices, including the Rainbow Task Force, conducts their training.
At some point, I became "Vibe Patrol, keeping the vibes up." That meant I was going around from one end of the gathering to the other, keeping people's vibes up. I usually just ate as I went into a kitchen to keep their vibes up when I was hungry, since I kept myself too busy patrolling a large gathering to really keep up on meals. I think that started the night after I got dosed on some MDMA. Later, being Vibe Patrol led to my other dosing - on LSD - as I walked into a kitchen holding a conversation about how amazing Albert Hofmann is!
After spending somewhere around a month in the woods, the Forest Service informed the gathering it was finally time to leave. I was gonna stay for cleanup, but the Forest Service wanted the names of everyone staying on a list, and they only wanted fifteen people. Rainbow is supposed to have 75 people allotted for cleanup, and they got the number fixed, but not until after most gatherers had already left.
I caught a ride straight from the Ocala gathering to the Apalachicola gathering's holding camp.
(next chapter)
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