Ha! Be nice to some of us Old Hippies, not all of us smoked pot. There was many of us closet conservatives lurking around at the time. We were there for the wine and girls. Kept our mouths shut and enjoyed the times.
SPEAKING OF THOSE TIMES.
During those times I was living in what is called a Cliff House in Sausolito. I worked every third day for a 24 hour shift and then was off for two days. So I had a lot of free time to go into San Francisco. Right below the house I lived in was a row of house boats, tied up to the dock running along the shore. Every morning I saw this little Hippy Chick, walk down the dock, and open up a small daycare for little kids from the local commune. I often spoke with her, as she arrived. I learned her name was Lisa. Then I broke up with the owner of the Cliff house and moved back to the base, and I did not expect to ever see Lisa again.
One night I was invited to a party in San Raphael by some friends at the air base. When I arrived there sat the little Hippy Chick, Lisa. She had been invited by my friends wife. She was surrounded and totally engaged by a bunch of single GIs from Hamilton AFB. Seeing me she yelled my name, broke through the crowd, and came running to me. Recognizing her I said, "Hi, Lisa". She threw her arms around my neck and give me a big loooong kiss, then asked me to take her outside. Once outside she apologized for the kiss, saying it was the only way she could think of to get away from all those guys, and to maybe give them the idea she was not interested. She said all of them was trying to ask her out, and getting very insistent. Lisa and I went for a short walk, where she asked if she could tell all the guys that she was my girl friend so they would leave her alone. I said only if she would go out with me, she agreed. We started going out together, then went to the rock concert at Altomont togeather. Upon returning to the base after the concert I was given short notice orders to go to Alaska. I went and tried to locate Lisa so I could tell her, but a storm had blown the house boat away from the dock and damaged it severly. The daycare was closed, and the boat Lisa lived on was gone. I left for Alaska wondering what had happened to Lisa.
40 years later I had driven into the gym one morning and was sitting listening to the news on the radio, before shutting off the truck. Then the announcer said, "40 years ago today the Rock Concert at Altomont took place". WOW do I have fond memories of that concert. As I went into the Gym, I mentioned to the receptionist that I knew where I had been 40 years ago today. She replied "Me too, I was at Altomont". I stood there staring, and suddenly it dawned on me. Here was Lisa, after all those years. And we had seen each other every day for three years, and neither one had recognized the other.
Lisa had gotten married and had three children. Her husband worked in Fairbanks, and they had a good life. Shortly after that they moved so she could take care of her aging Mother (Alzheimers), and her husbands Father (Cancer). We now keep in touch, and Lisa says it's a good thing. Our spouses did not like it when we introduced them. Her Husband did not like me, and my wife got jealous for the first time ever, when she met Lisa. Lisa says out spouses no longer takes us for granted, they feel there is some competition out there, and treat us better. Works for me, since meeting Lisa, Michelle is more tolerant of my absent mindedness. When I was teasing her about it recently, she told me I better remember that the next time I needed rescuing from a bear.
