OCCUPY THE WOODS

   You wouldn't know it by looking at me, but I'm no hippy. I'm old enough to be one, but philosophically speaking I'm much more aligned with punks than their body painted, flower waving elders. My cynicism runs too deep. This said, I spent last evening at Andy Mephisto's birthday bon fire, on a hill overlooking Ellenville, with a bunch right out of 1967- not in age, but in spirit. Andy shares the farm with his wife Drekes and little girl Junie Moon Beam. Kids and dogs froliced. Veggie keesh was served. Thank God the drum circle didn't develope. There was a flute that a guy pulled out and half-heartedly played for a couple of minutes. Then all went silent.  The fire crackled, swirling sparks dancing, disappearing into heaven's inkwell. Hey.....any of you been to "Occupy"?

    Turned out that amongst the group was Echo. I'm not up on the personalities of the movement, but it seemed apparent that this was one of the movers shakers. I'm fascinated by OWS. Aside from The Black Block anarchists of the 90's, OWS is the only movement of youth that has had any effect on the political machine daily grinding up our souls. The group (and esp. Echo) came to life at the mention of OWS. All talk of the dry conditions that the big fire of cedar boughs could ignite into a blazing inferno at any moment, turned to politics. I'd been hitting the beer keg pretty good and the eye medicine was being passed freely, so I don't remember much. But to have OWS royalty amongst us was fascinating. I do remember his haircut.
    I'd brought a package of hot dogs and a six pack of beer to this shindig. In retrospect it wasn't the proper gift. I told Echo about the piece I wanted to do last deer season down at OWS and how it was poo-pooed by the group. I wanted to take a freshly killed deer downtown, string it up on a tree branch, skin it, butcher it, cook it and feed it to the movement. No one seemed interested. But maybe I was just talking to the wrong people. In a leaderless group it's a bit hard to tell who's running the show. Echo seemed hyped about the piece. A couple of other people expressed interest in how rad it would be to kill a deer. Like Hunger Games Kids, I'm not so sure I want these guys sharing my deer woods. By evening's end I was drunk and bathed in the fire's glow, as well as the possibilities of a new generation of positivists. I'm still no hippie. But I wish them well. Good luck kids. It's your world. I left the six pack, grabbed my dogs and drove home. Turkey season is right around the corner. I'll be occupying those woods soon. Ain't no politics out there. Gobble-gobble.