From the cover of the book Huerfano: A Memoir of Life in the Counterculture. That is the author, Roberta Price.
Huerfano is Price's captivating memoir of the seven years she spent in the Huerfano ("Orphan") Valley when it was a petrie dish of countercultural experiments. She and David joined with fellow baby boomers in learning to mix cement, strip logs, weave rugs, tan leather, grow marijuana, build houses, fix cars, give birth, and make cheese, beer, and furniture as well as poetry, art, music, and love. They built a house around a boulder high on a ridge overlooking the valley and made ends meet by growing their own food, selling homemade goods, and hiring themselves out as day laborers. Over time their collective ranks swelled to more than three hundred, only to diminish again as, for many participants, the dream of a life of unbridled possibility gradually yielded to the hard realities of a life of voluntary poverty.
Ah, yes, the commune years. Remember them well - not because I ever joined one but because there were several around here including one on the farm I now own which in those days belonged to my Dad. We had an old house back in the woods with a few cleared acres that we rented out to a bunch of students from one of the local universities who wanted to "get back to the land."
I think the first thing they found daunting was the outhouse. Nothing like traipsing through the weeds in the middle of the night to use the outhouse only to find a snake in residence when you get there.
And in wintertime they discovered what it was like to keep a fire going 24/7 in order to keep warm. They raised a few crops and I'm pretty sure they grew pot back in the woods. Dad took them under his wing, mainly because he thought it was amusing. And having grown up on that farm during the Depression with an outhouse and a woodstove, I think he also pitied them.
They lasted two years.
A couple of years ago I noticed a Mercedes parked outside that house. I drove over to see what was up and it was some of the commune members, standing around in suits and reliving the old days. Apparently they were at a college reunion and wanted to see if the house was still standing. We had a nice chat, turns out they had all become doctors and lawyers and bankers and such. I wished them well and went on my way.
As Jerry Rubin said, all the yippies became yuppies.
boopyouonthenose on May 15th, 2018 at 13:10 UTC »
A good sized bush was all the rage in the ‘70’s
notbob1959 on May 15th, 2018 at 14:16 UTC »
From the cover of the book Huerfano: A Memoir of Life in the Counterculture. That is the author, Roberta Price.
Nagsheadlocal on May 15th, 2018 at 15:43 UTC »
Ah, yes, the commune years. Remember them well - not because I ever joined one but because there were several around here including one on the farm I now own which in those days belonged to my Dad. We had an old house back in the woods with a few cleared acres that we rented out to a bunch of students from one of the local universities who wanted to "get back to the land."
I think the first thing they found daunting was the outhouse. Nothing like traipsing through the weeds in the middle of the night to use the outhouse only to find a snake in residence when you get there.
And in wintertime they discovered what it was like to keep a fire going 24/7 in order to keep warm. They raised a few crops and I'm pretty sure they grew pot back in the woods. Dad took them under his wing, mainly because he thought it was amusing. And having grown up on that farm during the Depression with an outhouse and a woodstove, I think he also pitied them.
They lasted two years.
A couple of years ago I noticed a Mercedes parked outside that house. I drove over to see what was up and it was some of the commune members, standing around in suits and reliving the old days. Apparently they were at a college reunion and wanted to see if the house was still standing. We had a nice chat, turns out they had all become doctors and lawyers and bankers and such. I wished them well and went on my way.
As Jerry Rubin said, all the yippies became yuppies.