Generations

Chet Helms. After my morning surf on Sunday, AP and I decided to have breakfast down at our favorite organic cafe Feel Real (4001 Judah). This place is amazing, besides tasting great, the food just bursts with nourishment and all things good. Over breakfast I noticed in the Guardian that later in the afternoon there would be an event in GG park that was some sort of 'tribal stomp'... and then there was something else that had to do with commemorating some guy named Chet Helms (photo on left is him) who just passed away (he was only 62). Since it was just a few blocks away in speedway meadow, we decided to go check it out. What an interesting experience. I don't think either of us really fully understood what the whole thing was about, but apparently this guy Chet Helms was some sort of activist who organized several of the biggest and most impactful demonstrations / music events in the 60s in SF area. To learn more about Chet helms, go tho the Chet Helms profile (published by the SF Cronicle), what we learned was that Chet was the real deal, a SF original and one of the people who had a huge influence on the development of the whole 60s movement. The weight of the event really started to hit us when we had a closer look at the profile of the crowd... and it was a BIG crowd.

Think original hippie... average age in the crowd was easily in the 50s with tons of people who were well into their 60s, all clad in funky tie dye, glitter, and general 60s style hippie clothes.


The really inspiring thing was that they not only showed up, they were dancing, partying, and having a great time! We were sitting on the grass while these 60+ year old hippies were smoking weed, drinking beers, and enjoying the hell out of the day! At one point this guy with a thick gray beard, tie dye, etc., comes along with this giant conch shell and started blowing it in front of us, generating this low vibration you could feel all the way to your bones!

Grace Slick was on stage singing 'free your head' or whatever the name of that famous song is, the sun was shining, and everywhere you looked were old hippies getting their groove on. It got me thinking... I hope there is some sort of common element to my and AP's lives that will allow us to reunite with like minded souls in our sunset years.