We all had a good time at the tenth annual San Francisco Queer Longhair party, with guests traveling from as far away as Australia, Germany, and Omaha, Nebraska. Click once on a pic to see a bigger longhair, twice to see humungous hair.
We had an amazing longhair ritual in the backyard “faerie garden” during the queer longhair party this year.
(Thanks to Mike of San Francisco for all the pictures in this blog entry.)
I’m just back from an amazing radical faerie gathering at Breitenbush Hot Springs Community in Oregon.
Because my plane was delayed by a day, I now have only one day to prep for a two-and-a-half month trip to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. Wish me luck!
The morning after, I read a note Storm left a note on the kitchen table saying this birthday party was the best ever!
As you can see, from time to time, we do find time for mud packs here at the Winfield manse. My housemate Storm and his friend Austin cleanse their pores.
Although postponed by a couple of days to accommodate attendance at the Romp Naked event in Seattle on July 22, the “Two Spirit Day Out of Time” gathering took place from July 23-26 on Mount Rainier. Sierra, who works as a ranger at the Sunrise Camp on Mount Rainier, issued the call and dealt with logistics, and Franz prepared healthy organic food and Julie Andrews “Sound of Music” inspired art for the gathering. The pictures below come from the cameras of many of those who attended the gathering.
Kirby (pic above) took a bit of a leap by driving up with Sierra and Franz for the gathering while still on crutches! I hitched a ride from Mugwort (above), who also shared a campsite where we both pitched our tents. Thanks to my dad for loaning me a tent so I didn’t have to cart one up on the plane from San Francisco.
My first view of Mount Rainier after two years stunned me. Grandmother Rainier–as Fruitboy has dubbed her–radiates beauty.
Mugwort, Kirby, Dazzle, Tusk, and I admired the landscape at the lookout point on the way up from the White River campground to the Sunrise Camp, which is the highest altitude point on a highway in the state of Washington, according to Ranger Sierra.
The greenery provided an amazing contrast to the mountain, snow-covered even in mid-summer.
Much of the gathering took place at the Sunrise Camp employee living quarters, the home for Sierra and other rangers and interns during the season when Sunrise Camp is open to visitors.
Sierra can see a great view of Mount Rainier, similar to this one above, from his bedroom window.
Sunrise Camp consists of a lodge with a snack bar for visitors and the Visitor Center and employee living quarters. You can’t beat the views from Sunrise.
The first evening Mugwort and I arrived a bit late. After setting up our tents at the White River campsite that Dazzle and Tusk saved for us, we drove up to the Sunrise Camp and found Kirby and Franz chatting near the entrance to the employee residence building with the great view of Mount Rainier. Franz said he’d pull some dinner together for us in a bit, so Mugwort and I hiked a bit up the trail toward Dege Peak and had a look over the other side of the ridge at a beautiful rock slide canyon with a sunset on a multilayered mountain horizon that took my breath away.
After dinner, we were exhausted and went back to the campsite for an early night. I was fighting off a nasty cold, but the next morning I decided to accompany the group on the planned hike to the Burroughs Peaks, thinking I would turn back after reaching the summit of Burroughs Peak I, while the group continued on to Burroughs II and III.
After hiking past a mountain stream and lots of beautiful flowers like the Indian Paintbrush above, we saw spectacular views of glacial lakes and snowy mountain peaks on the way up to the Burroughs Peaks.
At an overlook point, we got a good look at the glacier we would visit the following day. Plus, we saw some Bear Flowers.
Part of the trail was on rock slides and Sierra led us fearlessly upward.
The summit of Burroughs Peak I is large and flat, kind of a moonscape.
We got some great views of the Mount Rainier summit and saw patches of snow all around us.
Burroughs Peak I affords a good peek at Burroughs Peak II, and after some persuasion by Sierra, I decided to continue on to the second peak.
We could see down into Berkeley Park, home of the amazing wildflowers, from the trail between Burroughs Peaks I and II.
We crossed our first snow on the trail at that point too.
The views from Burroughs Peak II were also spectacular.
The Hills Are Alive… with Fruitboy on Burroughs Peak II of Mount Rainier.
In the distance was a snowy lake that may be a reservoir.
After Burroughs Peak II, I headed back down while the others continued onward to Burroughs Peak III.
I was quite exhausted on the way home, due to my cold, but still enjoyed pine groves and flowery meadows while hiking.
We met again at the White River campsite the following morning for a hike to the ice cave at the base of the glacier we had seen the day before. Kirby held down the fort at the camp due to his broken leg.
On the glacier trail, we saw Devil’s Club plants, a deer, and some amazing mountain streams and lakes. The lakes were cloudy due to deposits from the glacier.
We saw a strange pyramidal peak in front of the Mount Rainier summit. Fruitboy, Sierra, Mugwort, Dazzle, and Tusk all joined me in checking out the glacier lake.
Besides the strange pyramidal peak, I saw what looked like an owl in stone from an outcrop looking over us on another side of the glacial canyon. On the canyon floor, Sierra noted the change in rock deposits perhaps due to the river, the glacier, or to lava flows.
The floor of the glacial canyon included other mysteries, such as the white lichen and the lime deposits thrust up from the canyon floor.
We got up close and personal to a glacial lake, some composite rock, and Fireweed flowers.
As we walked, I looked back and saw a marvelous vista. We came across Monkey Flowers and strange slime in a creek.
After fording a glacial creek, we approached the glacier. At first, I thought the finger of the glacier extending down between the river and the mountain was the mountain itself, but I eventually noticed the rocks tumbling off the melting ice.
Falling debris gave us the clue that we should not approach the glacier too closely.
At last, we saw the ice cave!
We got up fairly close and I was tempted to crawl inside, but both Sierra and Fruitboy insisted that would be a very bad idea.
So we watched from what we thought was a safe distance.
I decided to call the cave the alabaster ice cave due to the beautiful texture of its ceiling and walls.
A glacial river streamed out from the cave.
Watching the cave became a bit of a spectator sport.
Then, the ice cave started to collapse!
Large ice boulders started falling downstream and Sierra went down to retrieve some of the smaller ones for us to examine up close.
One piece of ice had a mysterious thing trapped inside, which must have been there for many years.
Then, the ice cave collapsed some more! This time baseball-sized chunks exploded out from where the ice crashed into the river and nearly hit us, so we retreated back further from the ice cave.
We remained entranced by the glacier melting for a long time, then did a ritual for healing of the earth so that the glacier would continue to exist. On the way back to the campsite, we saw a red succulent and stopped by a flowing stream to rest.
I saw a strange fungus on the trail and Fruitboy taught me how to identify different types of pine trees on our way back to camp. The next day was the day to head home, so I took a few pictures of Ranger Sierra at Sunrise Camp before saying goodbye.
Judy, our gathering mascot, gave us all good luck to spread whereever we go on our way down from the mountains. Thanks to Sierra and everyone else who made this gathering possible. 🙂
From Eric and Mitcho’s land, Covelo, Mendocino County, CA:
How amazing to be back out in the country camping on the land. During the Queer Freedom Day festivities, Eric (aka Cattail) invited me to come to a Fourth of July camping weekend at his and Mitcho’s land in Covelo. Coincidentally, Yoyo (aka Joe), who I met at Antler’s Comfort & Joy Afterglow party, is the current caretaker and Eric and Mitcho’s place. So, I got a ride up with Andrew, his boyfriend Nori, and Anthony. We talked radical politics for part of the ride, considering my proposal for limiting income from all sources to $7 million a year.
We ate at a Chinese buffet restaurant on the way up, after getting a jump start for the van from a neighbor on Bernal, near my house.
We arrived fairly late at night, but I really wanted to set up my tent so I could feel fully landed and grounded in this beautiful place. So, I asked Eric, who was kind of helpful, and Yoyo, who brought me to a fabulous camping spot in a madrone grove not far from the main cabin. The path to the location feels like it is magically warded somehow because I have to concentrate very hard to remember the path even though it’s within shouting distance of the cabin.
Jack T., former housemate, is also at the Covelo gathering and it is great to have an informal environment where we can reconnect.
So far today, I’ve done my yoga — been keeping up a good practice, although my lower back seems tight — and helped with installing a solar water pump down by a creek, which was fairly hard work, but I got to jump under little waterfalls in the creek afterwards. Apparently, there is a bigger river to play in nearby which I hope to check out a bit later today. These are all tributaries of the Eel River, which Mitcho tells me is one of the last few clean rivers around here.
Buck and his friend Prickly made magnificent Hawaiian macademia nut, mango, blueberry pancakes for breakfast, which I ate along with a mimosa from Eric. I skipped the bacon and eggs.
From 304 Winfield Street, San Francisco, CA:
Yesterday, the mystery of what happened to Guille was solved. I noticed him online and chatted him up. He was cordial and even friendly and loving, yet he was on there to call his sister for her birthday. The day before he had sent me an email explaining that he had received the funds for his mother’s medical treatment, that the treatment was going well, and that he had been busy traveling around to take care of her. In other words, he was very busy, so didn’t have time to answer my emails or phone calls during that week. Then, while we chatted online, when I realized he was preoccupied with his sister’s birthday, I offered to wait and chat with him whne he finished with her. He seemed glad about that and said, “Dale,” in Spanish, which means, “Let’s do it.” So, I waited and waited for him, then I noticed that he signed off chat, then briefly back on, then off again, without chatting with me. I can’t help but feel disappointed. I’m feeling like the best move now would be to let him contact me, rather than throwing so much of my energy into what may be a lost cause.
No, that is too harsh. I want to let him contact me so that there is a balance in desire to connect within the relationship.
Interestingly, Paul T., who I met in Rio on my last trip and who now lives in Cordoba, Argentina, started chatting me up yesterday. This after I had decided not to seek him out any fruther since he didn’t want to meet with me while I was in Argentina. I told him that I didn’t feel like he was really a friend because chatting online once every several months didn’t make a friendship for me. I asked him if his boyfriend had broken up with him, and of course that was the case, probably because he gave his boyfriend the same on-and-off again attentions he has given me. He thinks a deep connection with me isn’t possible because of the distance, or so he says to me, even though he is now coming to the States on a regular basis. We left it that he will contact me on his next trip to the States and we will meet in person to see how things work out between us. Basically, I feel like it’s up to him at this point.
Meanwhile, on the eve of Queer Freedom Day in San Francisco, I met up with Robin Hood, who I had met previously at the Vancouver Green Body radical faerie gathering. He is a faerie who lives on an island on the Canadian coast. He and I set up a ritual (or scene) where I met him at the dinner that Kirk R. and his partner Ed had set up for Canadians coming to Witch Camp in Mendocino redwood territory. The scene involved a whirlwind tour of San Francisco’s queer underbelly, with him blindfolded and on collar and lead. We had a great time at various venues, such as navigating through 20,000+ people at the Pink Party on Castro Street, where I showed him the center of gay mecca as well as Harvey Milk’s camera shop, while we danced, him blindfolded, in the streets. People tried yanking his chain, removing his blindfold, and other shenanigans, sometimes without permission, but apparently the protective spell we cast to initiate the ritual on my back deck held well throughout the evening. We also visited the Hole in the Wall, where we removed the blindfold briefly so he could appreciate the visual panoply of this historic dive, then to the Powerhouse which we checked out and kissed and got blown on the rear patio after navigating stairs jam-packed with sweaty guys, all while he was still blindfolded and on collar and lead. Then, to Blow Buddies, the first time for both of us, where they made us remove the blindfold, and we watched lots of mindless sex in little cabins with glory holes and got blown again by a cute boy who sat on a toilet seat after we pissed in the nearby urinals. I liked how Robin Hood shared the boy freely with me and I loved the feeling of his short dark hair in my hands as my dick slid in and out of his sweet throat. I pet him as he sucked me, then kissed him after I came in his mouth, tasking my own cum on his lips. Then, we left Blow Buddies and headed to Afterglow, a Comfort & Joy party at Antler’s place in the Inner Richmond. There, we released our scene of Beauty (Robin Hood) and the Prince (moi) by Robin Hood saying, “And they lived happily ever after.” We partied a bit more there and I met a delicious faerie named Yoyo who Robin Hood urged me to get to know better, so I made out with and smoked a little pot with him. It turns out he is caretaking Eric (Cattail) and Mitcho’s cabin up at Covelo, and the next morning, after riding groggily with Mikes on Bikes (gay guys on bicycles) just after Dykes on Bikes (lesbians on motorcycles) who start the Queer Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, I was at a brunch with Cattail and Mitcho where Cattil invited me to a little gathering over July 4th weekend at their place in Covelo. Thus, a possible time to hang out with Yoyo some more, although he may still have a “friend from New York” visiting him at that time. I’m trying not to get too attached to the notion of him falling for me, although I bet I could fall for him.
I saw him again on Queer Freedom Day when I went with the brunch boys from Johnny Thunder and Brian’s place in the Haight over to the Faerie Freedom Village. We weaved our way through the humungous crowds to drop our bikes off at the cool valet parking offered by the San Francisco Bike Coalition. The Faerie Freedom Village seemed more packed than usual, and with a lower proportion of faerie faces I knew to those I didn’t. That still meant hundreds I did meet and greet, including Ron and Rog who are real sweeties. A photographer friend persuaded Ron and me to get nekkid for pictures in the Vilalge, including some with the grease-covered buy in overalls who organizes Mikes on bikes each year. Hopefully, she will email copies of the pics as promised. I even had enough energy to stop in at the Mikes on Bikes party at Marty’s place on 14th St. on my bike ride home. I was hoping Yoyo might show up there as well, but he had been up all night since he stayed at Antler’s and probably crashed out somewhere before heading to the Mikes on Bikes party. I called and left a message with him about potentially hanging out a bit in Covelo over July 4th weekend. I will go anyway because it sounds like a fun group and an amazing place, even if I don’t get to hang with Yoyo.
Meanwhile, I’m focusing this week on Egypt, reading history and learning hieroglyphics. My project is gradually coming together and I’m very excited to be working on my true passion. Let’s hope the money side of things works out as well.
I’m really loving riding my new bike with the raised handlebars, so I don’t have to worry so much about my neck/spine trouble, and I’m ready to check out local swimming pools to get even more exercise. I’m doing yoga almost every day before I work on the novels, and I’m eating carefully to keep my weight down. I’m experimenting with going off my blood pressure medication and, so far, the blood pressure reading averages appear to be the same as when I was on the medication.
Storm’s buddy Hawke is visiting us for awhile and we are still searching for another housemate since the departure of Joannes (aka Janice) and Kat. I saw them at the Trans Rally and March on Friday, which I attended wearing a paisley skirt on my new bike.
Wow! What fun. Jim e went off on his own and Edgardo brought me to a colorful neighborhood of Buenos Aires called La Boca.
We walked around the shops and climbed narrow stairways in a place where Italian immigrants lived in tiny rooms when they first arrived in the city.
Then, we sat at a table out on the street at a restaurant where a couple danced tango for the tourists, along with a singer, accordion, and guitar. The big surprise came when the beautiful tango dancer grabbed me from the table and insisted I dance with her in front of the crowd of diners and tourists on the street. I got really embarrassed but she was really good and helped me to dance. Edgardo managed to snap a photo. Later on, she danced with him as well. I had a fabulous time!
Next we met up with Edgardo’s friend Nerissa. We walked through town until we got to the San Telmo neighborhood. We saw an interesting monument at a park and stalls where people were selling all kinds of arts and crafts. We had a coffee at a well-known cafe in San Telmo, then we found an amazing little shop that looked like a faerie homeland.
They sold faeries and dwarves and all kinds of creatures there. I bought some as gifts for folks at home.
To round out the evening, we joined a Catholic procession and Passion Play as part of Easter weekend festivities. People listened to sermons broadcast from speakers on the street and walked along with statues of Jesus and Mary that rolled slowly to the stage in a plaza where a play re-enacted the crucifixion of Jesus with a hunky Jesus and other hunky guys getting crucified.
Yesterday was one of those uniquely San Francisco days. I woke up and biked out to the bimonthly queer longhair brunch after which I delivered a check and contract to Roger on Online Policy Group business (we’re moving our servers from San Francisco to Fremont).
Next I went to a house on Church Street for a ritual and reception to celebrate the publication of “Direct Action,” a historical novel about San Francisco Bay Area activism in the early 1980s. The author, “Luke Hauser,” organized a wonderful ritual of envisioning what our future could be like, followed by lots of great conversation and food. I ran into Anthony from the faeries, as well as Luna, a witch I had seen previously at the Pagan Surprise action in Union Square, along with her daughter.
Rather than biking all the way home before the next event, I spent some time hanging out at Muddy Waters Cafe where I discussed politics with a few people. Overhearing discussion about how to organize for change in San Francisco, I handed them one of the Free State of San Francisco leaflets and much healthy debate ensued.
Finally, I biked over to the New College for Social Research where I saw a film called “Straight Outta Hunter’s Point” by director Kevin Epps, a Hunter’s Point resident whose best friend was shot and killed during filming. The film focuses on interviews of Hunter’s Point residents and a description of the music, gangs, politics, drugs, homicides, police abuses, naval shipyard and sewage treatment superfund site pollution of the local environment and its effects on the population, and community revitalization efforts in the area. It’s an excellent view of the community there that I would never otherwise be able to access. Donations given at the free showing of the film went to a youth center in Hunter’s Point.
