Photos from the Colorado Rainbow
Page 5
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Hardy cleanup volunteers waved goodbye to us amidst mountains of trash. When they were done not a tin can would be left behind to show that thousands of hippies had spent a month on this land. We have a photograph to remember their devotion and hard work. We passed Welcome Home kitchen -- the first kitchen to be formed and the last one left -- still feeding the clean-up crews, still serving coffee and tea. Still stoking fires. Still toting water. Still washing cups for everyone. Cheery tired faces. A photograph. We were surprized to see that Bus Village was nearly empty of cars and buses. There was a very tiny kitchen in the center of the defunct parking lot that was in the process of packing up their gear and tearing down their tarps and poles. We photographed them too. A single brother functioning as Rainbow security patrolled the parking lot in his old brown sedan. The light of day was nearly gone from the sky. Only a very few cars were left of all the thousands that had once been parked row upon row. The Rainbow Security brother sat in his old car keeping an eye on everything, bidding goodbye to each final carload of brothers and sisters. The nights are chilly at this high altitude. He wears a down jacket. He holds a kitten gently in his lap carressing it, keeping it warm. Or maybe it is keeping him warm. The kitten is good company when all the brothers and sisters are leaving, going home. A lonely feeling is in every heart. We are all aboard our VW van and our wheels are rolling. There is a clown with a microphone wandering up and down the road. We hear his words loud and clear. Over and over his amplified words drone into the night. He is saying: "Attention! Attention! DO NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THE CLOWN WITH THE MICROPHONE IN THE PARKING LOT!!! ATTENTION!!!! DISREGARD ANY INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO YOU BY THE CLOWN WITH THE MICROPHONE!!! We slowly rumble past him. We have a thousand mile drive ahead of us in a thirty year old vehicle. No telling what that will entail. Ah! But what memories we have to relive in our hearts as we travel down life's highways! The sky is purple velvet and the stars are jewels. The world smells of sage. We still hear the drums. All the hugs live yet in our hearts. We are still whispering Om to the stars. We know all the other brothers and sisters are feeling just about the same wherever they are. Each one once lived alone inside their shell -- and found a family in their hearts at the Rainbow. How long will this warm wonderful feeling last? Om. We shall see...
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