Leaving Austin

When decided to leave Austin Texas it was only to return to California.
Or so I thought. I still wonder that I let go of my apartment and have away
all my possessions and bought a usa pasaport
with 50 pages in it.
I told myself I wanted to return to my homestate
California, and live far north in Mt Shasta.
But a series of things changed the course of my journey. 

In search of clean air and clean water. I had been in Mt. Shasta 20 years earlier and water from a glacier ran into the water taps of all houses in the town, also down south to Dunsmuir. On the mountain the air is pure but in the town, it is not. 

Lost in LaLa Land

I lived in Berkeley back in the 60s, when the whole hippie thing started. I had tried being employed, going to school, being married, it didn't work for me. I walked out on my husband and went over to Berkeley. The hippie scene I felt was made for me. Suddenly out of nowhere the world changed, more to my design, to favor my predilections.

No one has adequately portrayed that era in films or novels. But each generation seems to know. 

All the things I hated growing up, other people felt the same and even had alternatives on an experimental basis. A wonderful experiment.

The dark constipated tyranny still exists, but there is a lot of momentum to the push back. 

You can see the contrast of gray military suits versus tie dye and beads. The luxury of long hair, of dressing like gypsies, sadhus, natives and cowboys. Or like storybook characters. It was a Renaissance full of hope for freedom on all levels. 

Experiments in food, clothing, housing, income, medicine, spirit. 

But these were middle class first world youths in a prosperous decade. The poor and working class were working, and did not have the luxury of time or the money to fund their experiments.