[pct-l] OC Weekly Columnist calls us dirty hippies!

[Jeffrey Olson]

For those who missed the late sixties and early seventies, the badge 
"hippie" was one of honor.  It meant a person was aligned with the 
forces of peace and justice, was self-conscious and environmentally 
aware, and pointed only incidentally to exploration of hallucinogens. 

Today it's a label for a druggie, someone out of touch with "real" 
reality, someone who lives a fringe lifestyle.  It's a negative 
stereotype that the forces of conflict and injustice have transformed 
from a hopeful outlook on life to one of a loser. 

Perhaps the best example of hippie today are the "shed boys" living in 
the Port Townsend area.  These were men who saw the world of work as 
defined by others to be shallow, unrewarding and utterly uninteresting.  
They gravitated to abandoned outbuildings and made them into homes.  
They developed skills working with their hands and carved niches where 
they define what work is.  The fringe lifestyle is still a beacon for 
those for whom the externally defined world of work and its material 
rewards holds little attraction.

that said, a 23 year old fellow I hiked with last summer stopped by 
while on a trip.  He talked of hiking the CDT.  There was a longing in 
his voice and an openness to different ways of seeing what life is about 
that wasn't there a year ago.  Perhaps the worm of the trail eats its 
way into our hearts and ruins us for modern ways of living.  This can 
only be a good thing...

Jeff, just Jeff...