So when I arrived at the gathering the night of June 19th, the Front Gate was a blue tarp tipee and a bunch of guys I know including Plunker, Quiet and Kudzo (sp). I felt doubly blessed to see Quiet because I think of him as my baby - he learned to hold the gate with me doing Welcome Home at the Full Moon Circles in San Diego going back to the mid-nineties. Always a brother you can count on!The brothers held the gate, greeting people with information on parking, cop movies and how to not get pulled over. And it was alcohol and spange free!
The Front Gate was on BLM land and subject to a fourteen day camping limit. Plunker had set up his vehicle and considered the camp his camp but needed someone to "camp" there after his fourteen days were up, so my trusty 1956 Ford Step Van took over. The hard working crew built a tarp structure using my van as a foundation and from then on, I became one of the "happy shiny" people at the Front Gate. I alternated nights in my tent by Oji Kitchen with nights at the Front Gate. The core crew was Quiet, Red, Blue, Stale Fish and Chris and these are the best brothers I've ever hung with at a Rainbow Gathering - you guys rock!!!!! And the sisters - Susan, Ellen and a bunch whose names I don't remember - WOW! Working front gate with sisters is the bomb.
We had a fire pit and once it was dark, encouraged people to camp with us for the night before heading into the gathering. Many nights we had a wonderful bunch of happy hippies, singing songs, or talking about road trips and gatherings past and always shouting out "Welcome Home" and "We Love You" while those that had been hanging around for a while shared the 411 on danglies from rear view mirrors (illegal and used as an excuse by the LEOs to pull you over) and the monumental importance of using turn signals even when there was no one to signal for. We also shared info on the various parking lots and access points to the gathering.
I never made it past 2:30 AM before crashing in my comfy bed in my van, but the rest of the crew held it until dawn night after night after night - and shuttled people up and down the road besides. I bow down to you!
Having a alcohol free gate was a major accomplishment and thank you family for doing it. I hope this is a new tradition that carries forward to New Mexico and beyond. Love and hugs family. Love and hugs.
1 comment:
i feel that this years Gathering was a new leaf turned for many things. That is awesome that people hung out with the Death Camp kids, it's exciting to hear that there was no Alcohol at Front Gate (although there was some in the Gathering itself), and the incident with the Cops will be something to learn from. I hope that all these new things will make next years better in so many ways. This was only my 2nd Gathering (my first in Colorodo in '06) and I could tell a huge difference between the two. I hope next year to see more people helping the kitchens set up and keep up n more people helping our brothers n sisters haul there things in (even if it's just up the hill). I saw lots of "Drainbows" this year which made me sad. I'm sure next year there will be some change for the good.
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