One of the high points of my life was performing "Uncle John's Band" at the Rainbow Gathering in Idaho. I met a young man and showed him the Chords and Lyrics that I had written down in my spiral notebook... After we played that song, he said: I don't want to learn any more songs, let's just play this one again...

We were sitting in the shade at the "Relaxation Station"... the very first place everyone walked past after leaving the parking lot... A lady was doing Tarot Card readings and we were passing around a bottle of TEA with some kind of stimulant in it... Someone told me it was ephedrine...  it did make me feel alert and optimistic... Since there was a constant flow of people walking by, it made perfect sense to Play the Same Song Again and Again and Again... Give the people what they want... 

There was a big meadow surrounded by forest and most people were camping under the trees. THEN... all of a sudden... the people out in the meadow were pointing up at the sky... dozens of people were talking excitedly and pointing at SOMETHING... So I stood up and walked out to the middle of the meadow and saw... a giant "Sun Dog" rainbow covering half of the sky. Ice Crystals at a Very High Elevation refracted the sunlight to make an astonishing display of colors... That's why everyone was cheering! This Gathering was near the Sawtooth Mountains... a truly miraculous place to camp...

On another day I played the Song "Aiko-Aiko" many times and walked all the way around 5,000 people waiting for dinner. They were sitting in a series of big circles... The Rainbow Gathering serves a big free meal every day in the afternoon. Everyone meets at Main Meadow and relaxes while the Servers dish up the food... Usually a Vegetable Rice meal... In theory, all a person needs to bring to the Gathering is a CUP... because many people put a lot of effort into buying and cooking and there are usually a dozen kitchens set up all over... The concept is that IF EVERYONE BRINGS FOOD AND SHARES, WE WILL ALL HAVE ENOUGH. I brought a couple of cans of Bugler roll your own tobacco and donated it to the "Nick at Night" tribe. They roll up cigarettes and distribute them freely to the group... You certainly wouldn't want to run out of smokes at the Gathering and suffer withdrawal symptoms... It's more fun to simply BLISS OUT and enjoy the bounty...  

~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~

For the Complete Story... 
I went to the gathering with a goal in mind. I wanted to play my guitar and sing in public. Yes, mission accomplished. Living in Chico, California and working at the plastics factory when there was a layoff, my wife suggested that I borrow the car and drive over to the gathering. My friend Mike Jensen wanted to go and so we checked the oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid and water and set out on a classic American road trip. We made it as far as Reno the first day and slept by the side of the road. Read More:
http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2017/06/rainbow-gathering-idaho-2001.html

Rainbow Cube - gvan42

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