Dispatches from the Old Man in the Hills (#5)

Many moved to Humboldt during the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s as part of the back to the land movement or to simply get away from the mainstream American machine. Corporatization, the military industrial complex, the nine to five – whatever the reason for getting away, Humboldt was (and still is) a bastion for those moving a different direction than the masses.

These people are the counter culture of America. A profit driven materialistic society is what they fled. Cannabis was their misunderstood companion plant. They didn’t move to the emerald triangle to get rich from growing weed – as later generations intended. They moved to get back to the land, to be around like-minded people, and live a simple life, protesting with silent civil disobedience.

Weed was apart of this equation. First as a way to “turn on, tune in, and drop out” as Timothy Leary put it, then as a way to pay the bills, weed, already apart of the (counter) culture, became an asset.

Slowly many-a-counter-culture-forefather/mother watched the plant, which first opened their doors to another reality, become increasingly mainstream. Like hip-hop in the late 90’s, cannabis moved from counter culture counter part to mainstream pop icon. It now seems cannabis has defected and is opening the door for mainstream takeover of the emerald triangle. With legalization on the horizon, land is being snatched up that was once owned by back-to-the-landers (who nursed it back to health after clear-cut logging). Increased demand leads to increased prices as many living a subsistence life style might become priced out.

Diesel rigs have replaced old VW vans. Kush has replaced Haze. Times are changing, and like the Haight and Mission districts in San Francisco, is Humboldt and the emerald triangle gentrifying? Is it inevitable? Must we adapt or move? Whatever one decides, the old man in the hills reflects as he watches from afar…

The views and opinions expressed by the old man in the hills does not reflect the views and opinions of the Humboldt Underground. HU feels obligated to provide a voice for all in our community. Our goal is to move the conversation forward and all points-of-view are legitimate (unless hateful or discriminatory). Every voice in our community deserves to be heard.

so not everyone is crazy about the legalization of weed like the folks who have grown it for many years because they fear the stupidity of government and the corruption that seeps into everything that has money attached to it

here is a little poem about that:

for years we tilled the fields

living off the earths yields

asking no more then what she gives

takin enough for us to live

but the outside world like a sieve

cuts down the worth of what we give

begs for more like a wounded boar

who deserves to take no more

pop into the mainstream forevermore

will that make us rich or poor

will our knowledge and expertise

be coddled or blown out like a sneeze

i for one see the world is burning

corporate influences got us churning

they will sequence the genome

then send you home

-the old man in the hills

the old man in the hills like ie cummings does not use punctuation or capitalization and like james michener likes run on sentences and unlike all you lemmings diving into the corporate way of doing things….. he is free

Agree with the old man in the hills? Disagree? Let him know what you think: email humboldtundergroundblog@gmail.com, subject line Re: old man. Give him a piece of your mind!