Personal Reflections

I came into this gathering a bit hesitant (due to personal issues).   I packed heavy and managed to stay warm and dry the entire gathering (even during the stretch of rain that lasted 36 hours straight).  Here are some of my own thoughts and reflections.

Due to the snow, seed camp got a late start.  Although I arrived on June 23rd and there were kitchens already set up by then, the gathering seemed like a ghost town. I hiked around the meadow trying to find some place to camp and couldn't find any place that felt like a place.  I ended up spending two nights at the gate by FS Road 150 where I had friends.  A lot of kitchens came in late and the money started coming into the magic hat pretty late as well.  Getting such a late start on seed camp was hard to recover from although people worked hard.

I participated in the Town Hall Meeting the night of June 24. There was a great turn out and lots of good conversations happening. For a copy of the handouts that were distributed at the meeting, click here.  (Warning! It's a large file). Once back on the land, I ended up plugging into INFO and spent most of my gathering hanging out there and trying to help other people have a positive gathering.

Gathering participants met with the USFS Resourse folks and worked out an unsigned operating plan on the land. Click here to see the PDF version I scanned.

One of the things I really noticed this year is that there are a lot of amazing and wonderful younger family plugging into to kitchens and getting things done.  Yet it still seems like some of the tasks that deal with the gathering as a whole are under represented by the younger folks.  Some examples:  meeting with the Sheriff and Emergency Medical Services in the area; working out gathering logistics with the USFS Resource Advisers on the land, dealing with the circle on the 4th, and parking.  I didn't really realize this until after I left but as I was thinking back on these things, I realized we as a family need to do a better job of making sure our younger family knows how to work as individuals with various government agencies and how to think about gathering wide issues (such as not camping next to the creek, protecting our non-human family and coming to the town meetings).  I guess this is food for thought for next year.

I met hundreds of day trippers and over nighters. Starting on the night of July 1st, they came in droves. Arriving by car at 1 PM and by the time they made it into the gathering, dinner circle was winding down and the day trippers had flip flops and hoodies - many didn't even have flashlights.  Every evening as it got dark, they landed at INFO, lost and not sure how to get back to their cars--cold, hungry and thirsty.  We tried to help them as best we could, but it was tough.  Despite all the warm clothing people brought to share with others, it went as fast as it came in.

Despite the high numbers of first time gatherers, most everything rolled on peacefully and positively.  The nights were cold. The nights were cold. Some of the days were cold as well, but the sun did come out for the weekend of the 4th.

The Rainbow Guide went into shipping hell and never made it to the gathering, nor was there an Always Free, but a new focalizer for Always Free has stepped up so I'm thinking good thoughts for next year.

Thanks to my wonderful friend Cody's hard work at facilitating Main Council, it happened every day. I made it twice and we had people discussing pressing issues regarding the gathering. I also made it to the Cyber Council and it was great to put some faces to people I only know online. We had a lot of people listening in to the discussions and some very good points were made. The two best points where that using the Internet to share directions, raps, etc. is great, but that we need to remember we make decisions on the land. The other good suggestion is when circulating info on the Internet, always include information on what a gathering is, a few of the raps, and make sure people understand what they are going to when someone post directions to a rainbow related event.

We had the usual Shanti Sena issues and lots of people plugging in.  There was a Shanti Sena Council on July 3rd that had a small group of people sharing methods and styles of dealing with various issues. There was a lot of discussion on preventative measures and how people can make sure that no one is getting lost or starting to feud with their neighbors. We had a great mix of young folks who have been actively doing Shanti Sena and experienced folks.

Because most of the meadows were marshes, dinner circle happened on a small spit of dry land between Montana Mudd and Rainbow Crystal Kitchen.  It was cozy to say the least.  On the 4th, there were two circles: a small intimate one in the dinner circle meadow and a large one that spanned the perimeter of Main Marsh.  The children made it to the side of the circle where they stayed before the oming even started (kids were a bit early if you ask me).  The circle at the far end was pretty sparse with fingers stretched out to touch fingers, but I think we closed the circle before the Om broke.

The USFS Resource Advisers came in a couple of days at the end of June and July 1st. Other than that, Gary Campbell and Mary King came in and walked around a few days.  While about 150 people received tickets on the road, the LEO DID NOT server warrants in the gathering.  I repeat, there were no bands of armed and hunting law enforcement officers inside the gathering. I only heard six up a few times in almost two weeks.  From July 2nd until July 6th, we didn't see any forest service.  They did return on July 6th although I was driving out when they were coming in so I don't know why they were coming into the gathering.

For what ever reason, we never manifested a Welcome Home. There where 3 or 4 gates depending on how you counted them and people coming in all of them.  This made it very confusing to direct people out as everyone came in via the "main gate."  Luckily 3 of the 4 gathers dumped people out very close to info, but I know a lot of people had a hard time with the chaotic energy where they came in and it would have helped out a lot to have a Welcome Home camp that was actively greeting people.  The INFO crew was out in force on the busy nights welcoming people home and helping them find the camps they were looking for.

The parking scene was a bit tight. Much of the road side parking was covered in snow drifts that were 2-3 feet high when I drove out on the 6th.  I came into the gathering twice and both times was greeted by a friendly and peaceful face (Thank you front gate - you rocked!).  Unfortunately, some of our family is pretty stupid when it comes to parking and a few people did get their cars towed, but for the most part, we controlled the road and it was tough to stay on top of it.  The USFS LEOS did close the road for 12-14 hours, but then the blockade came down and people started double parking and blocking the road.  Hey family!  DO NOT EVER PARK SO A FIRE TRUCK AND/OR AMBULANCE CANNOT GET THROUGH.  We have medical emergencies all the time and need to get our family medical help.  Don't be an ass.  If you have to park 5 miles away so you're not blocking the road, do so. The life you save may be your own.

I was also dismayed at how many people think pitching a tent two feet from the bank of a creek is OK.  Never, never, never camp on the bank.  All the foot traffic causes erosion in the banks and that's not good for fishes and other creatures who live in the creek.  Plus this sort of damage is very hard to repair. Creeks are sensitive areas.  This year in particular, Bull Trout eggs were getting ready to hatch downstream.  Stirring up dirt in the creek can plug the air holes in the eggs and prevent them from hatching.  Please remember to consider all the living creatures who depend on the ecosystems in which we gather.  A standard rule of thumb is 50 feet back from surface waters.

A big shout out to the folks on the land early who shoveled snow to get into the gathering. That's hard core energy and I'm glad it was you, not me.

Loving all of you!