grampa's farm

how you gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

Took a trip to grampa's farm. It's three miles out of Manning, Iowa. Lots of memories from when Teri and I were young are still in the wind and everywhere there, even though the farm buildings are gone. Seeing old friends who loved her was good for the soul. We all miss her so.

squirrel's birdfeeder rag

almost june

A Sixties Story will soon be available in print and in four e-publishing formats, including the latest, iBookstore for the iPad. Veddy exciting.

I've been keeping away from too much news since the oil spill. It's so depressing that we have unleashed into our ocean what the earth kept wisely buried for billions of years. And there's been another hit to the economy because Europe's PIIGS are going under: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain--all overextended with no good solution except to be bailed out by other countries. Doesn't seem fair. And it's scary so the stock market drops. Greed runs the world unwisely.

In order to make sure that the younger folks can have jobs, we feel it is our civic duty to retire. Sitting in the back yard looking at our flowers and basking in the warmth and sunlight of our hard-earned good fortune seems the best option at this point. It's a lovely day every day in our back yard.  The roses are blooming. Playing around with photoshop earlier this month gave me this photo of our amazingly giant tulips.

pre-self-publishing jitters

A Sixties Story will be published this summer. I'm excited and nervous. It's amazing to me that at last my goal of telling this story will be met. I hope that it adds depth to the image of the sixties and what it meant to us. It was much more than getting high and jumping around like crazy people at be-ins, although that was undeniably part of it. What drove me and many others was the desire to change the world for the better. I started trying in the civil rights movement and haven't really stopped since. I participate in politics differently now, mostly as a voter, an internet activist and a donator to causes I believe in. 

When I heard us called "hippy dippies," I knew I had to get the book out. Even though George Carlin coined the phrase and I loved his comedy, there was more to hippy than dippiness. My determination was reinforced when I was at the '68-'96 reunion of the Democratic Convention in Chicago and a woman labor organizer pointed out into the audience and said, "your stories have not been told. You need to tell your stories." My friend poked me and said, "get that book written." I started writing in earnest. It's 2010 and I'm self-publishing my sixties story at last. 

rock 'n' roll reunion

It's time to send the final version of A Sixties Story to dog ear, my self-publisher. Doing the final tweaking of my book brings back so many memories and on the social networking sites many of us are back in touch. So many years ago we lived our sixties lives and now we are all adults.

Here are a few of us last fall at The Abbey in Chicago for the 60s and 70s music reunion. Maybe you recognize Fred Glickstein (second from right). He played with the group The Flock, that recorded in the 60s and 70s and played on the same bill with many of the major groups of the day. The four of us in the photo went to high school together.

I am so heartened by the effect pressure from online activists is having on the political process. We are all still here and have found a way to be heard. So far, people are still the only ones allowed in the voting booths. The Supreme Court hasn't let corporations vote yet.