So I was mowing my overgrown front lawn, trying to listen to Paul's podcast inside my ear muffs, which meant the volume was all the way up (annoying).  Because the grass was long, I had to stop and empty the grasscatcher after less than a minute of mowing.  I was emptying the grass over the front fence (to where the cows are), and I found myself thinking about whether I should be doing that, or just leaving it in place to rot.  Not wanting to go and put my earmuffs back on because I could actually hear the podcast (the sounds of cows eating and birds singing were also quite nice), I started pulling a few weeds and throwing those to the cows.  So I found myself thinking about a scythe, and how nice that would be to use because it would be quiet, and I'd just be able to sweep up the line of cut grass when I was finished 'mowing'.  Not really thinking, I grabbed a handful of weeds, which had a blackberry stem or something in the centre, and so I cut up the inside of my knuckle.  At this point, I found myself thinking "I wish I had my bees already, because some propolis would probably help that cut.

And then I realised... am I becoming a hippy?  Is this how it happens?

I always thought that Permaculture could be a system of agriculture, but could it be that in order to "get it", some part of your brain has to be unlocked, and after that it's only a matter of time?  Am I now "on the path"? 

Now that you've been exposed to the soundness of all these ideas, you are breaking loose from the shackles of corporate/industrial/economic/consumer indoctrination that has trapped you.  You are free to follow the path which leads to harmonious coexistence with the natural world. 

You gonna need some sandals.

Hippies (real ones, not the radical youth culture of the 60's/70's) ruled this earth for 390 million years.

They made do with what they had and for the most part they enhanced their environment. Call them hippies, call them indigenous, call them wild humans.

Being able to join them would be an honor and a pleasure. And one day we probably will, out of necessity.

william

Through a few podcasts i started off with "I think the hippies wouldn't have me." and then in the podcast with jack I laid out how I figured out that I was a hippie whether the rest of them let me in or not.

I'm going to draw the line at not wearing shoes outside.  Humans have evolved bloody useless soft feet.  We developed really good shoes to compensate.

I'm wearing shoes.  They can be made of leather, wood, and thread - all sustainable products.  There is no good reason why I should stop wearing shoes, and I stand to be much more effective in my outdoor activities when wearing them.  Sandals may be acceptable for social occasions on short grass or at the beach.

Music is okay.  Acoustic music is entering dangerous territory.  Music that consists only of drums and vocals has definitely crossed the line.

If you spend some time barefoot in the grass, the bottoms of your feet get calloused ...

yep I ran all over my granfolks place barefoot summers as a kid by fall the bottoms of my feet would be tougher than your average sneaker sole but I could still feel what i was walking on well enough to adjust my stride. unfortunately I spend too much time in places where wearing shoes is required as an adult to build back up my feet

I spent a bit of time in Victoria, Aus. There are some pretty gnarly snakes, let alone the rest of the local bitey/stingy population.
I kept forgetting that you can't just take your shoes off and run around in the countryside like you can here, where a sharp stick or a prickle-patch is about as dangerous as it gets for feet
Gardening barefoot or in open shoes has its own set of issues. At least with closed footwear there's a bit of warning before you lean too hard on the fork...
Another, purely social-acceptance thing, is  if I garden barefoot, my feet start to look like my hands: stained, grubby and very 'farmer'. Not a good look in summer sandals!

Everyone keeps warning us about snakes, but I've never seen one on the farm here.  When I lived in Canberra, I'd see several big snakes every week on the edges of suburbia during Summer.

The main reason for me to be wearing shoes is that we have cows.  I don't like standing in cow poo, and I certainly don't want one of them standing on my unprotected foot!  Also, we have inch long bullants that hurt a hell of a lot when they bite.

On the flipside, I really don't like wearing shoes inside, or when I'm driving...  Oh God, I really am turning into a hippy!

Although I have "real" shoes, and wear them when it makes sense to, most of the time I'm in sandals, even in winter. Socks and birks...

A number of years ago, I was at a live concert, some folkie musicians from the south who played very danceable music. Between songs, they commented with some amusement that they knew they were in the PNW, because people were clogging in birkenstocks!

Leila, goop your feet with your a heavy cream/lotion, then put on socks - do this every night, especially in summer, and your feet will stay presentable.

I used to only employ footwear when it was required by law. 
Now that I am older and considerably more cranky, I find it is handy to have something on my feet.  Sandals are the preferred fashion.  There is the bull, and the chickens to thing of.  Mostly, there are these medieval torture devices called sand spurs lurking around the yard.  HOLY MOTHER OF GOD do they hurt.  It would be more relaxing to staple bologna to my face than step on those things.

Ken, I hear that about the sand spurs. Where I grew up, we had these (Trubulus Terrestris) everywhere. You had to have kevlar and slime in your bike tires to go off the road, forget about walking barefoot:

Quite simple - Yes! You are. It will soon just be an integrated facet of your personality. Redneck/Hippie/Libertarian/Liberal/Curmudgeon/Pirate/Hobo/Poet/Cynic/Bhuddist/Nudist/Scientist/Dreamer - Eventually it will all mesh. And then disintergrate again. You don't need acid to help the process-trust me. It will all compost together. Sometimes beer helps though.

If you trade-in your Volvo for a VW bus, you are automatically initiated into the clan.

indoctrination complete.

welcome to the borg. err collective.


Get some Keens on those feet

Keen Newport, widest sandle on the market, machine washable, toe protection, anti-slip sole.

I chuckled reading this thread sitting here in my sandals, in the corner of the living room that my fellow hippie in crime says looks like an early seventies album cover..a thousand LP's some pottery big speakers a plant and anti war posters/text/and peace signs.

I used to think I was a hippy until a month ago when my friend informed me he was living in China on a mountain top studying Taoism and martial arts.

He out hippied me. The jerk (playfully kidding).

Most hippies that I know are quite poor.
I have often seen 6 or more of them sitting in a circle, sharing the same skinny cigarette.

ha ha ha, John...I always loved being called hippie or freak as a social class...there was a nice comradery attached...when we moved to arkansas in seventy three we were"them damn hippies" then "them hippies" and after awhile by the time our sons were in school it was almost a term of endearment.

Yeah. I think most rural folks in "Middle America" soon discovered that they had more in common with the "hippies" than they did with the media that was 'warning' them about the hippies.

"You do your thing, I'll do my thing, and we'll get along just fine."

My parents were hippies in the 6os and 70s, and I've been brought up in that environment.
There's lots and lots to commend it, but
A couple of things I've noticed: 'hippies' nearly always came from reasonably privileged backgrounds...they can afford to be poor as there's usually a financial backstop.
'Sexism' is a very polite way of describing how some naiive young women were treated.

Leila, Unfortunately for any named group the negatives start becoming the stereotype. We did not have financial back up...many of our friends first worked and saved money to buy land (we came with none) and most, usually the men, worked at any hard labor available. I'm not sure what you are implying about sexism (in my experience growing up...sexist was how most young women were treated from any walk of life) and naive young women (I definitely was one)...I did stay home with the kids, cooked, gardened, did house stuff...I liked it. That's when I started weaving as a home based business. As in any social group (including permies) there are all kinds of mindsets and 'come froms'. Chosing any one as a description of the group would be inaccurate.

i started out as a hippy first (in 1969)..the long hair, beads, etc..yup..a real 60's hippy..then found permaculture...had to edit this to say, you'll find me outside in the snow at about -20 F barefoot, people wonder when they come over and see barefoot tracks all over in the snow..first thing I do when I get home from shopping or whatever is get my shoes off !!!