HiPPies!!

[herald_to_hell]

This past Wednesday my old friend Zeb and I got to talking. Whilst discussing random topics and whatsuch we came to the conclusion we were bored, bored as hell. To cure this boredom we decided to do something out of the ordinary: we decided to go camping. So by that afternoon we had a tent and had gotten all the stuff we would need to survive for three days in the woods, mostly ramen noodles. The place we decided to camp was one that Zeb had remembered going to long ago, in the days of boy scouts. A lake, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of nowhere. The idea sounded pretty cool, I figured, we could just kinda hike around or chill or whatever. So, we headed out. It was a long drive to the lake, about an hour and a half to two hours. We drove through Deland *tear* and out west, then north, then west some more, then south a little and then east a tad bit; and there it was: Buck Lake. We drove up, expecting the lake to be bereft of human existence and to peacefully relax in the quiet. What we found was quite the opposite. It was definitely peaceful, but far from quiet. We had stumbled upon a gathering of America's most lovable losers: The Rainbow Family. At first we wondered why it was so crowded at this particular spot in the Ocala forest but as we began to unpack our things it became clear that these were no ordinary campers. The first two hippies we came across were a fat kid of about 20 and a tall 16 year old, both dressed in full, baggy, tie-dye attire, total hippies, they told us that they were trail trolls and required a toll from us in order for us to pass. They said a handshake or a hug would be fine; I gave them a granola bar, they were happy. We found a camp site and while we were unpacking our things a few of them wandered over to our fireside. At first they were wary and greated us with "you guys cops?" and muffled talk betwenn themselves. Finally they came to the conclusion: "Nah bro, these guys ain't cops," and all was well. We got to talking to them and it turns out hippies are weird. Firstly, when they figured out we weren't cops, they asked us if we had any pot, we didn't, so we just sat around with em and chatted. We stayed by our fire the entire night and were visited by several groups of hippies, all wandering around catching up with everyone they hadn't seen in a while and interested in new people. They are interesting, though a bit scewed. We received a fair number of hugs from both male a female hippies alike, they are extremely peaceful, I mean these guys are chill. That's why I don't see why they are the #2 most dangerous terrorist organization according to a list put out by our government, the only organization above them on the list is al queda, at least this is what a few of them told us. There was no organization, they had a kitchen, that's about it. There was no evil about, maybe some pot, but definately nothing terrorist-like. A few of them did talk anti-bush but mostly they talked about fairies and plants and Nature. Their ages ranged from little kids to about 30ish, with the oldest guy we talked to being a hippie named Spirit, born in 1966. Most of them were about twenty years old. They came from all over the country to that gathering in all sorts of dilapidated cars, bikes and the ever-so-popular camper van. They go to Buck Lake just to relax and live off of nature, as is there way of life. They rejected all norms and just moved into the forest. It's a weird feeling being among people that seem so totally different from you; you realize that you aren't so different after all. They aren't terrorists, just a bunch of kids that just want to stay kids forever. Kind of like the Lost Boys... eh... two mins til the ball drops..

Happy New Years!!! :)