RFD Issue 9 Fall 1976

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L etters Faggots everyw here Indoor Bulb F o r c i n g J e r r y W e l l e r , OR R h e t o r i c and R e a lity F ruit Soup Chuck B ec k w ith , WI P oetry Ollie, I A ; M elvin, C A ; B ill T a o r m i n o , VT Chief S eattle L e t t e r s f r o m the F o r e s t C a r l W ittm an , OR How to Appeal a B L M D e c is io n C a n d o r 's Ritual C. S m o o th s to n e , OR

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F r o m the W a rm i n g Oven 34 Dave K nutson, WI A Home on W heels R i c h a r d W ilso n , CA 3^ Keeping W a r m With Mill Ends Jo hn U p son , N .M .

40 Poetry Jo hn U pson , NM; Sandy L ow e, CA; M elvin , CA; L y l e , Mo; A a ro n Shurin, CA; S ilvan a, CA; B ill T a o r m i n o , VT; David P i n i , CA; C adieux M a r i e Vind ish , MI; C h a r l e s B .

C aleb au gh , CA

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You Were the S t r a i g h t e s t One in Y o u r C l a s s S t e w a r t S c o f i e l d , IA Range B o i l e r s P e t e r , OR Contact L e tte rs Faggots everyw here Buying Land Is H a r d e r Than You Think Kent Newby, OR R F D In fo rm atio n R F D C h ro n ic le

S T A F F : S m o o th s to n e, F a y g e l e , T i m , M i c h a e l, Landon , Sean, Sandy, Chenille

RFD is published four t i m e s a y e a r by R F D . 4 5 2 5 L o w e r Wolf C r e e k Rd, , Wolf C r e e k , OR 97497.

C R F D 1976. All rights r e v e r t to the a r t i s t s .

S U B S C R IP T IO N S : fo r one y e a r : $ 4 , third c l a s s ; $ 6 , f i r s t c l a s s ; $ 5 , Canada and o t h e r c o u n ­ t r i e s ; $ 8 , in stitu tio n s; $15, su s ta in in g . $1. 25 e a c h s a m p l e copy o r back i s s u e . F r e e fo r all p rison ers.

R F D is a n o n - p r o f i t c o r p o r a t i o n . Donations a r e ta x d ed u ctib le.

D ear F r i e n d s at R F D , In the G ay B ib liograph y I will o£ c o u r s e list yo ur subtitle ju st a s you've given it.

But !iave you c o n s i d e r e d that you m ay be limiting in stead of widening yo ur ap p eal by saying " c o u n t r y f a g g o t s " in stead of " r u r a l gay m e n " ? I'll bet t h e r e a r e f a r few er r u r a l g ay s who'd feel c o m f o r ta b l e with the p o litical w ord faggot than t h e r e a r e r u r a l gays who'd a c c e p t the d e s c r i p t i v e word gay men. And if you c a n 't r e a c h ' e m you c a n 't t e a c h 'e m !

In gay s p i r i t s , B a r b a r a G ittings A LA T a s k F o r c e on Gay Libe ratio n P . O. Box 23 8 3 P h ila d e lp h ia , PA 19103

RFD J u s t re c e i v e d a p r o m o l e t t e r asking for a s u b s c r i p t i o n . I would love to s u b s c r i b e and co n trib u te o c c a s i o n a l a r t i c l e s , e t c . but f r o m the co p ie s I've obtained I've noticed a p r e - o c c u p a t i o n with c o m m u n e s and (for lack of b e t t e r w o rd s ) the r u r a l gay f r e a k c u l t u r e .

To no d e g r e e do I put down th ese life s t y l e s but~neither can 1 r e l a t e to th em e x c e p t for th e ir being gay and r u r a l .

When your c o n c e r n s genuinely include all r u r a l g a y s , then I would be happy to give you my subscription.

Since r e l y , J e r r y K ozm a P . O . Box 1026 P l a t ts b u r g h , NY

D e a r R FD

D ear R f D frien d s, As you can t e ll f r o m the new a d d r e s s , 1 got out of the city to a r e a l l y beautiful f a r m with h ills , c o u n tle s s t r e e s , a lake and so quiet that the loudest sounds a r e b ird s , fro g s and wind. Right now i t's playing with the idea of having a grand s t o r m ; the wind ts like sound t r a c k s f r o m old m o n s t e r m o v i e s .

But i t 's snug h ere and the s t o r m s h e l t e r is c l o s e by. T h e r e h a sn 't been one bad day in the two and one half months! L o ts of m u s i c , too.

W riting and meeting R I D folks has r e a l ­ ly changed my outlook. It's im p o s s ib le to get d e p r e s s e d with so many good people in my life! M ost all of the good in the past y e a r wouldn't have happened without R I D . So this is an oth er l e t t e r of thanks fo r being, s u p ­ porting and s h arin g .

T h e r e ’ s a s p a r e b ed ro o m h ere if anyone wants to v is it. And things a r e p re tty happy h e r e . Hope y 'a ll a r e doing a s well.

Love, Evan Tonsing Route 1, Box 21 G l e n c o e , Ok la. 7 4 0 3 2 403 - 6 0 9 - 2 6 1 3

12901

I know my age group is outnum bered by the young. 1 hoped t h e r e 'd be r a p p o r t b e ­ tween u s. As a m i n o r i t y , we should be m u c h c l o s e r , i n ­ stead of a ll this "y ou th c u l t " .

I say rid icu lou s b e ca u se take the hun­ d r e d s of ads in gay p a p e r s such a s A DVO­ C A T E , and the younguns a r e c r y i n g out for stable r e l a t i o n s h i p s , having sick ened of the b a r s , T - r o o m s e t c . And it is we that axe o l d e r , that in m o s t c a s e s can offer this s t a ­ bility. T h e r e a r e a few yo un g er guys that v is it me o c c a s i o n a l l y and we get along well.

If only they lived n e a r e r !

At the beginning I got s o m e frien d s to s u b s c r i b e , and th ey 'v e a l l been v e r y d i s a p ­ pointed in the r e s u l t s , so I h e s i t a t e to r e c ­ om m end RF D to old e r guys and those who e s p e c i a l l y want c o u n try a r t i c l e s . Hope things im p r o v e and that you can give som e c o n s i d e r a t i o n to us that a r e o l d e r , a l s o th ose of us living in the c o u n t r y and not fa n ­ t a s y s in g about it f r o m the city .

Love and p e a c e , Rod Route 1, Box 104B L y o n s , OR

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RFD, I 'm happy. I 'm an only child. R ais ed in a home with a d o m i n e e ri n g m o t h e r and the a p p a r e n t right e n v i ro n m e n t - - I'm gay.

I’ ve a c h i e v e d m y co n stan t w ish o v e r the y e a r s - - t o live in the c o u n t r y - - yet I 'm not a ru t h l e s s o n e - t r a c k s u c c e s s f u l kind, but have v a c i l l a t e d , and s till do.

A d r e a m e r , a l o v e r of m u s i c , p o e t ry , n a t u r a l beauty, I've a lw a y s liked to have la r g e a r e a s of tim e aro und me to w a n d er in thought and p e r s o n . A ten t, b i c y c l e o r good stout p a ir of boots to hike in the c o u n t r y s i d e r e p l a c e d my e a r l y d ays in the c o u n tr y w h e re I w an d e r e d in the m e a d o w s w h e re c a t tl e g r a z e d c o n ten ted ly , and sailed my s tic k boats w ith p a p e r s a i l s in the s t r e a m s .

I left the c o u n t r y to w o rk in the c i t i e s , and my s t i c k boats b e c a m e o c e a n l i n e r s on many a s u m m e r A tlan tic c r o s s i n g m ade p o s ­ sible by w orking s e a s o n a l l y and saving e v e r y d im e . My c o u n t r y s i d e living then w as in ten ts and youth h o s t e l s . A tte m p ts to s e t tl e p e r m a n e n t l y in the c o u n t r y w e r e f r u s t r a t e d by l a c k of m oney and j o b s , but I w as able to buy a few' rundown c o t t a g e s to r e n o v a t e , when, having used my fin a n cia l r e s o u r c e s in the e f f o r t , had to s e l l and r e t u r n to the h e c t i c life of r e s o r t hotel w ork .

Though n e v e r skimping on p o s s e s s ­ ing s o m e of the things I held d e a r to m e , like books, I've n e v e r had a d e s i r e to p o s ­ s e s s a ll the baubles so many c l u t t e r t h e ir lives with. In this way my tiny s avin gs g r e w . T h e y ' r e s t il l tiny but sufficien t to have en abled me to a c h i e v e m y d r e a m - - a r e t u r n to the c o u n t r y , w h e re I now’ happily w o rk hard grow ing a ll my v e g e t a b l e s and f r u i t s . Hard w o rk it i s , but how enjoyablel I can lift my e y e s to the m ountains a ll a round and be thankful that my r e t u r n to the c o u n t r y s i d e is eve r y th in g I d r e a m e d of.

Dear Friends F e e l like som ehow my l e t t e r r e p e a t s i t s e l f . I've read s o m an y, fr o m v a r i o u s types of c o m m u n e s to l o v e r s living in an isolated l ife s ty le with no gay s o r v e r y few’ a round.

My l o v e r and l left the c ity (S. F . ) lb months ago . hoping to s e ttle in New F n g l a n d - - t o o c r o w d e d - - a n d decid ed T en n es ee was the right p l a c e .

It w as the f i r s t w i n te r that e i t h e r of us have not had the c o n v e n ie n c e of h eat, w a t e r , and plumbing f a c i l i t i e s . We w orked hard on the house we now oc c u p y during the fall, and then w in te r c a m e .

Getting up in the m o rn in g and finding 15 d e g r e e t e m p e r a t u r e s inside w as a c o m ­ mon o c c u r e n c e , but cutting the wood for the s t o v e , c om p lain in g the w'hole tim e of the fr igid cold and putting the w a t e r on to boil u su ally b lo s so m e d into a v e r y r e la x in g and i n tim a te tim e spent in the kitchen r e a d ­ ing, sewing and cooking m o s t of the day.

F o r 4 months my lo v e r and I enjoyed the solitude of e a c h o t h ­ e r and growing of s p i r ­ i t s . But now sp rin g has p a s s e d and s u m m e r has a r r i v e d . We live on a s c e n i c r i v e r , the H iw a s s e e , and a r e supporting o u r s e l v e s with an antique shop in ou r h o m e. What used to be our kitchen and fron t r o o m is now "L iqu id A m b e r " , and our new k itch en , w hich w as our go p h e r hole a l l w i n te r , is c o m f o r t a b l e ; we have an old gas stove to cook on. Life is a little e a s i e r now, but i r o n i c a l l y enough s o m e of the people that c o m e to can o e down the r i v e r a r e n ' t read y fo r two lo n g - h a i r e d b eard ed m en .

But the shop is holding its own. And i t 's not quiet h e re like the w i n te r but i t 's our h o m e , and the people who do stop a r e m o s t i n t e r e s t e d in our l i f e s t y l e . A Lot have b e co m e p l e a sa n t people to v i s i t with.

V e r y s e ld o m a r e t h e re any g a y s , but we m an age and we have e a c h o t h e r . It would be nice to iro n out m a t t e r s with gay f r i e n d s , but we a lw a y s c o m e out ah ead with o u r se lve s .

M ostly what I wanted to get a c r o s s is that being gay d o e s n 't have to be a burden; Y ou r lifes ty le d o e s n 't have to m ak e you feel lonely and desp on d ent. Being your s e lf and living the way that m a k e s you hap py is a ll that one n eed s. I cou ldn 't re a lly be any h a p p ier deep down in sid e, b e ca u se having J i m tie re s h a r i n g e a c h o t h e r ' s joys and s o r r o w s is all that r e a l l y m a t t e r s .

B e c a u s e of my lonely childhood, I enjoy my a l o n e n e s s now, and the few frien d s I've c ultivated a r e added s p ic e w’hen they c o m e to spend v a c a t i o n s and w e e k e n d s, leaving me the l a r g e a r e a s of ti m e to continue to d r e a m and enjoy sile n t fr ie n d s - - those wrho w ro te the books that fill my s h e l v e s .

Rod, O regon

D ear RFD To know you people ju s t E X I S T is a w on d er and delight; have w ondered and looked but n e v e r been lucky enough to c o m e in c o n t a c t . As to your e d i t o r i a l . . . Y E S , we c o u n t r y fag go ts have m o r e than enough to say to e a c h o t h e r to ju stify y o u r l a b o u rs and your lov e. Thank you fo r 'b e i n g '. . .

Will C a l d e r , B . C . , Canada

L o v e , p e a c e and h app iness, R o b e r t and J i m , i e n n e s s e e

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G en tlem en of RFD : l v e r y much have enjoyed your p u b l i c a ­ tions to date and a m s u r e the many c h an g es you a n tic ip a te in the future will s u r e l y i m ­ prove your m a g a z i n e . I r e a l l y don't have any c o m p l a i n ts about what you a r e turning out. I do feel you a r e s t il l s e a r c h i n g fo r d i r e c t i o n and b a s i c a l l y if you a r e aim in g your m a g a z in e at R u ra l f a g g o t s , this is what you should p u r s u e ..............h o w e v e r , b e ­ ing n e a r many of the l a r g e m e t r o p o l i t a n a r e a s a s any r u r a l a r e a i s , you m u s t make it valid enough to touch on the City s c e n e .

I a m s u r e it is difficult to hit a happy m e ­ dium , but being f r o m a l a r g e l y r u r a l a r e a h e r e , I do enjoy a ll of the R u ra l e x p e r i e n c e which is e x p r e s s e d .

W h a t e v e r happens in f o r m a t o r style o r d i r e c t i o n of yo ur m a g a z i n e , I do w ant to r e ­ main a s u b s c r i b e r to be able to grow along with you.

Y o u r s in p e a c e and lov e, A r t h u r , N e b ra s k a

D ear HFD 1 live on a f a r m n e a r B r u c e , W i s c o n ­ sin, It's 130 m i l e s f r o m St. P a u l , w h ere I used to live. I now r e l y on the Husk County L i b r a r y fo r the books I read .

T h is l i b r a r y is s m a l l and the s e l e c t i o n of books l e a v e s m e w ondering for whom they w e r e p u r ciia s e d . Many Gothic n ov els .

But it w as t h e r e that I stumbled upon a book by a v e r y en joyab le n ovelist named Iris M u rd o c k . S h e 's w ritten s e v e n te e n . So far I've read A F a i r l y H onorable Defeat and An A c c i d e ntal M an , and a m half way th rough T h e T i me of the A n g e l s .

I love h e r! H er c h a r a c t e r s a r e r e ­ p etitiv e, but v e r y b elievab le. T h e i r lives a r e i n c r e d i b l y entangled and they a l l g rop e to see through the illusions that a r e t h e i r lives. The Ju ly i s s u e of M s. talk s at length about all this in g r e a t d e t a i l.

But the p art that M s. does not talk about is the m o s t f a n t a s ti c . T h e r e a r e q u e e r s in a ll the books I've read s o f a r and t h e y 'r e r e a l ! T h e y 'r e not alw ay s m ain c h a r a c t e r s , but then, who would want to be an Ir is M u rd ock m ain c h a r a c t e r ? The w o ­ man has a tongue! The q u e e r s often c o m e out in the m o s t fa v o r a b le light. Is she a dyke ?

In A F a i r l y H onorable D efeat the m ain theme t a k e s p la ce betw een t h r e e c o u p le s .

One of th em is q u e e r . I t 's v e r y s t e r e o ­ ty p ic al: o ld e r p r o f e s s i o n a l - -youn g, p re t t y h a i r d r e s s e r living in an e v e r - s o - v e r y house in London. But, by the end of the book, they se e t h e m s e l v e s , e a c h o t h e r , and th eir situation b e t t e r . Not bad!

In An A c c id e n ta l Man the q u e e r is a fo u rteen y e a r old boarding s c h o o l student in love with a s t r a i g h t s i x t e e n y e a r old fellow student. T h is guy is a m i n o r c h a r a c ­ t e r who only a p p e a r s a t s c a t t e r e d points through his l e t t e r s to and f r o m his s i s t e r .

But h e 's a g e m of a c h a r a c t e r ; 14 pushing 80. His p u rsu it of the guy h e 's hot f o r is c r i s p y and delightfully c a l c u l a t e d . And he gets him com ing on his k nees.

So f a r , the q u e e r in The T i m e of the A ngels is a bit d r e a r y . H e 's a m i d d l e -a g e d h e a d m a s t e r who d o e s n 't know h e 's q u e e r .

C an 't see how h e 'l l dig his w ay out of the heap of his life. But, m ay be by the end. . .

Now, b ack to the book.

I love you one and a l l , L aw so n B r a c e w e l l W is c o n s i n

D ear RFD: I'd v e r y m u ch like to s e e an a r t i c l e (or i s s u e ) focusing on the e x p e r i e n c e s of gay and b is e x u a l people in New Age s p i r i t u a l c o m ­ m u n itie s . It tends to be quite a h a i r - r a i s i n g tale! Stephen G a s k i n 's 9 0 0 - m e m b e r c o m ­ munity in T e n n e s s e e , fo r e x a m p l e , is re a l l y ripe - - and long ov erd ue - - t o have a bunch of it s s p i r i t u a l / s e x u a l a s s u m p t i o n s d i s c u s s e d by gay folks who have v i s i t e d , o r t r i e d to live with the S u m m e r t o w n e r s .

Love, Dave, M ass.

D e a r F o l k s at R F D , A tip to the fr u it g r o w e r s out t h e r e : I had a hell of a tim e finding any i n fo r m a t i o n on how to r e c l a i m old fru it and nut t r e e s or o r c h a r d s , but nothing on how to r e - c l a i m old t r e e s . The M an ual of P r a c t i c a l H o m e ­ steading by John V ivian (Rodale P r e s s , $ 8 . 9 5 ) has quite a good s e c t i o n on t h is, plus lots of o th e r good i n fo r m a t i o n , too. S p e a k ­ ing of books, I a l s o run a s m a l l o u t - o f p rin t b o o k - s e a r c h b u s i n e s s . J u s t w r i t e to L o s t W o r k s Book S e a r c h a t m y a d d r e s s and I'll m ak e an a t t e m p t to find any o u t - o f - p r i n t books that you've been looking f o r .

Lou H am burg 2714 E . 13th St. V a n c o u v e r . WA, 98661

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D ear RFD The a p p a r e n t p r e c a r i o u s n e s s of your e x ­ i s te n c e m a k e s me want to be s u r e to let you know (again) how m uch I’ ve a p p r e c i a t e d it. i m ean a s a s t r a i g h t w om an, a city p e r s o n , I have probably needed this point of c o n ta c t (and id entification ) m o r e than s o m e people w ho a r e w e l l - r o o t e d in yo ur kind of l ife s ty le .

The best re l a t i o n s h i p s I've had in my life have been with gay m en , so m e urb an and s o m e r u r a l . . . a n d m ay be t h a t 's a sad c o m ­ m e n t a r y on s t r a i g h t men o r on my ab ility to r e l a t e to th e m , but i t 's m o r e than that.

My h e a r t go es with you.

Love, N an cy, Grand Rap id s, MI

H e r e ' s a g r e a t idea to bring a touch of e a r l y May to your house in the middle oi w in ter.

In late S e p t e m b e r o r e a r l y O cto b er when you m ight be planting bulbs for the sp r in g , pick out five o r six daffodil o r hyacinth bulbs (tulips work too , but only the v e r y e a r l y types and c r o c u s will w ork, but t h e y ' r e d ilticult), L se only one type of bulb f o r e a c h pot, it d o es n 't w ork w ell if you m ix s ay daffodils with tu lip s.

P i c k a nice sized c la y pot and fill it 3 / 4 full with g a rd en soil m ixed with sand o r p e a t ­ m o s s . The bulbs don't need m u ch r o o m - - i t i s n 't n e c e s s a r y to have m u ch m o r e than 1 / 2 inch between them and it looks r e a l nice to have a bunch in one pot s o plant five o r six bulbs t o g e t h e r . Add s o m e m o r e s o i l , but leave the tops u n c o v e r e d , then w a t e r t h o r ­ oughly.

N ext, the idea is to fool the bulbs into thinking th e y 'v e gone through a full w i n te r .

You can put the pot in your g a r d e n and c o v e r it w'ith s ix in ch es of p e a t m o s s , s o il, o r s t r a w (with s t ra w I've h e a rd that t h e r e is a c h an ce of being bothered by s l u g s ) .

L eav e th em t h e r e f o r s e v e r a l months and then c h e c k th em . If t h e re is about two in ch es of grow'th you can bring th em in sid e, if not w ait a few w eek s m o r e . If it i s n 't con ven ient to put th em in yo ur g a r d e n a cold c e l l a r or g a r a g e will do.

When you f i r s t bring th em in s e t the pot in a d a rk c o r n e r for s e v e r a l d a y s . Then bring t h e m into a lig h te r p a r t of the r o o m a s the s t e m s begin to turn f r o m yellow' to g r e e n .

A fte r a few m o r e d a y s , put th em by a sunny window. W a t e r s e v e r a l t i m e s a w eek and in about t h r e e m o r e w eeks yo u 'll have a pot of beautiful f l o w e r s . They help m ak e those d a r k days of J a n u a r y and F e b r u a r y a bit brighter.

J e r r y W elle r, Penna.

D e a r e d i t o r , staff - - " a f f i c i a n a d o s " - My s u b s c r i p t i o n w ith ered m o r e in the n e g le c t than d i s i n t e r e s t - - tho I do believe your note con tain s a w’e l l - t a k e n point - person ho od and b a sis for r e a l and deep p e r ­ s o n al r e s p o n s e s a r e grounded on totality r a t h e r than the highly a c c e n t e d "y o u th " and p h y s i c a l beauty - - in its highest s e n s e - the r e f l e c t i v e r e a l i z e the c l o c k tick s for everyone.

1 b elieve a l s o R F D has a p lace for " s m a l l t o w n " people who a r e r e a c h in g out to e a c h oth e r and would find that w h o le n e ss of u n d erstand in g if they take the o c c a s i o n to m e e t . As a p riest., I a l s o feel that p e r s o n a l id entification and p r e s e n c e is not alien atin g , p e rh ap s r a t h e r a d i v e r s i o n that opens s om e light at the end of the " e s t a b l i s h m e n t " tunnel.

You m a y s a y this to anyone to whom it would m a tte r.

R egards, from a m idw estern p riest

It w as E n g l a n d 's e ru d ite C y r i l Connolly who said: E v e r y m an p a s s e s th rou gh th e se t h re e i l lu s io n s : 1.

2.

3.

He falls in love.

He s t a r t s a little m a g a z i n e .

He thinks he c an m ak e m oney raising chickens.

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in the s u m m e r is su e of R F D (#8 , p. 3) T o m Kennedy of San F r a n c i s c o w ro te a l e t t e r c h a l ­ lenging the p o litica l re s p o n sib ility of R F D and gay men who have c h o se n to live in the c o u n tr y .

T o m c r i t i c i z e d the " c o n s c i o u s n e s s that p e r p e t u a t e s the notion that we can e s c a p e the e v i l s of a fu cked -up w orld by s t ra y i n g f a r , f a r away f r o m the c i t i e s that m a n i f e s t such e v i l s . " U n d er the heading of R h e to r ic and Reality we a r e printing a n um ber of r e s p o n s e s to T o m ' s l e t t e r t o ­ g e t h e r w-ith s e v e r a l independent s t a t e m e n t s r e l e v a n t to that th e m e . C e r t a i n l y , continuing d i a ­ logue is invited and w e l c o m e .

RFD

I'd like to speak about the l e t t e r f r o m T o m . He s e e m s to c r i t i c i z e the m a g a z in e for d r o p ­ ping out. The r e a l rev olu tion , he i m p l i e s , is in the c ity . Not e v e r y o n e can e s c a p e and indulge. " S o c i a l i s t fem in is t revolution is our only hope for an a l t e r n a t i v e . " 1 beg to d iffe r .

I called m y s e l f a f e m in is t - faggot - re v o l u t i o n a r y fo r o v e r a y e a r . It w as long enough fo r me to r e a l i z e the d i ffe r e n c e between r h e t o r i c and r e a l i t y . Although I do b elieve s e x i s m is a l l p ervad in g. it is but one of the m an y f o r m s of o p p r e s s i o n . H o m o s e x i s m , r a c i s m , c l a s s i s m , c a p i t a l i s m : all n a m e s for the s a m e b e a s t . The b e a st is fed by p r e j u d i c e , h a tre d and f e a r .

And its d e s s e r t is s e p a r a t i s m . Of c o u r s e it is vital and p r i m a r y at this tim e in our liv e s to identify with o t h e rs who a r e o p p r e s s e d in a s i m i l a r way. W om en need to d i s c o v e r oth er w om en.

B l a c k s , C h ic a n o s , Native A m e r i c a n s , and oth e r raped c u l t u r e s need t h e i r own people. F a g g o t s need to know e a c h o th e r; (for e x a m p l e , R F D ). All o p p r e s s e d g r c u p s need t h e i r identity, c u l ­ t u re , and p rid e. But the u ltim ate goal has to be a unity that will f r e e us a ll. Only then will we no longer f e a r the s t r a n g e r and thus feed the b e a s t .

This is what I did not u n d erstan d back then. 1 didn't r e a l i z e that t h e r e can be t y r a n t s in s o c i a l i s t fe m in is t p olitics just a s t h e re a r e in A m e r i c a n c a p i t a l i s m o r Ch in ese c o m m u n i s m .

W h enev er p o litical id eas or e x p e r i m e n t s a r e put s e p a r a t e and above the individual people i n ­ volved, the new fr e e d o m will be lost.

S o c i a l is t fem in is t p olitics a r e vital and need to be d ealt with in R F D , but they a r e not TH E ANSWER. The a n s w e r is not in any p o litica l s y s t e m , but in the human beings that populate this earth.

How many thousands of y e a r s have t h e re been w a r s , killing, and v i o l e n c e ? C u l t u r e s and e m p i r e s c o m e and go r a t h e r e a s i l y . S urely the w o r l d 's p r e s e n t s ta te of a f f a i r s is our s p e c i e s culm in ation of p h y sic a l and s p i r it u a l rot. But it is a l s o the c u lm in ation of an en ligh tenm ent that is spreading fa s t. This a w a r e n e s s of the d r a s t i c c h an g es that have to be m ade for h u m a n ­ i t y 's s u r v i v a l is sensed m o s t a c u t e l y by those who a r e o p p r e s s e d .

So what is the a n s w e r ? A rm e d r e v o l t ? M o re v i o l e n c e , d eath , and d e s t r u c t i o n ? They have all the w eap on s. W itn ess SWAT and the S L A . They can round up all the " u n d e s i r a b l e s " .

Dachau au ain. Or g u e r i l l a w a r f a r e in the s t r e e t s of A m e r i c a . Irelan d , Lebanon, V ie tN a m ,

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take yo ur pick. T h e r e a r e thousands of e x a m p l e s through-out h i s t o r y . P e r h a p s I m i s u n d e r ­ stood the i m p l i c a t i o n . P e r h a p s vio le n c e w as not m e a n t in y o u r t e r m rev olu tion .

Then what c an that w ord m e a n ? D r a s t i c chan ge only. A rev o lu tio n of m i n d s , and not guns. Change that c o m e s f r o m the c e n t e r , f r o m e a c h of u s . A p e r s o n a l rev olu tion in the way you live y o u r life e v e r y d a y - what you e a t , how you love, the people you live with. I t 's to take an a l t e r n a t i v e l i f e s t y l e , h o w e v e r you c an, a s long a s you s a y no to th em . You c a n 't m ake anyone e l s e ch a n g e . Revolution begins in sid e.

How d oes this r e l a t e to R F D and a l t e r n a t i v e faggot l i f e s t y l e s ? S im p le. S u r v i v a l . It can be done in c ity o r c o u n t r y . P a r t of this is individual, p a r t c o l l e c t i v e . A f t e r our p e r s o n a l r e ­ volution is begun, we c an then begin w ork on the c o l l e c t i v e one. That in volv es c o m m u n i c a t i o n , w hich c a n m e a n R F D . The m a g a z i n e is only f a g g o t s , you and 1; telling e a c h o t h e r of o u r f e a r s , n e e d s , h op es. It can be a v e r y pow erful tool.

The i m p l i c a t i o n was a l s o t h e r e that this w as an e a s y d e c i s i o n : "indulge in the lu xury of an a l t e r n a t i v e l i f e s t y l e " . Again m u s t I d iffe r . It is not all p ran cin g th rou gh p a n s i e s . It's u su ally hard w o rk and f r u s t r a t i o n . F o r m any gay people i t 's a l o n e n e s s . F o r anyone into s e l f s u f ficie n c y i t 's c o n s t a n t p atie n c e and b ala n c e with N a tu re ; fo r h om es a r e not rented but built; heat c o m e s f r o m cutting wood, not the t h e r m o s t a t ; food c o m e s f r o m the grou nd , not the s u p e r ­ m a r k e t . A d m itted ly not e v e r y o n e c an live in the c o u n t r y , want to , o r even should. But I c h o o s e to, and it is a valid a l t e r n a t i v e fo r th ose who do. F o r s o m e of us i t ' s the only sen s ib le a n s w e r to the d e c a y of our c i v i l i z a t i o n . We need to c a r r y on the s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y of our f o r e ­ b ears.

It is not n e c e s s a r i l y p o l i t i c a l l y safe e i t h e r . Our home has been w atch ed by th ose that do that s o r t of thing. It i s n 't just b e c a u s e w e ' r e gay, involved with R F D , and a bit u nu su al; i t 's that we a r e a t h r e a t . A bsu rd but r e a l .

So life in the c o u n t r y is f a r f r o m id eal. But it is v e r y , v e r y i m p o r t a n t . R F D is a l s o i m ­ p o rta n t. Not only can we s u r v i v e , but we can e s t a b l i s h c o n t a c t with o t h e r s of like mind, be they f r o m c ity o r c o u n t r y , to s t re n g t h e n that s u r v i v a l . It is p o s s i b l e , and it is u rg e n t .

T o m , I 'm s u r e your w ork in the c ity is m eaningful to you. But p l e a s e r e a l i z e that it is not the only w ay. If you'd e v e r c a r e to d i s c o v e r what c o u n tr y life is like, t h e re a r e many folks to c o n t a c t . R F D j s a way.

Ollie R R 1, B ox 51 Solon, Iowa 52 3 3 3

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M u lb e r ry House is home fo r a c o l l e c t i v e of five a n g r y faggots still burning with the r a g e of our o p p r e s s i o n in 1976 when B i c e n te n n ia l joy r e i g n s u nab ash ed . We a r e white and c o m e f r o m w ork in g- and m i d d l e - c l a s s b ack g r o u n d s . We live and w ork t o g e t h e r c o l l e c t i v e l y not only for e c o n o m i c r e a s o n s , but in o r d e r to o v e r c o m e ou r h e t e r o s e x u a l conditioning a s m en . Our p o l i ­ t i c s e n ta ils s e p a r a t in g o u r s e l v e s f r o m s t r a i g h t m a l e e n e r g y and living a s ou tfron t fa g g o ts.

We a r e e x p lo rin g our fe m i n i s t n atu re and s tru g g lin g to rid o u r s e l v e s of being o p p r e s s o r s and being o p p r e s s e d , which l im its u s . Our f r e e d o m is our s p i r it u a l i t y . The p a t r i a r c h a l c u l ­ tu re is based on o p p r e s s i o n , e x p l o i t a t i o n , c o m p e t i t i o n , a g g r e s s i o n , and ou r l ife s ty le r e f l e c t s our d e t e r m i n a t i o n to s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t t h e s e d e s t r u c t i v e f o r c e s . We a r e a w a r e of the p ow er and p riv ile g e that c o m e s with m oney and want to be s up po rtiv e of o t h e r p o o r and nonwhite fa g g o ts .

We love the e a r t h . We se e the next step a s s e c u r i n g land fo r a faggot s p a c e - - a fa i r y f a r m - - f r e e fr o m the o p p r e s s i o n s of s t r a i g h t s o c i e t y . In o r d e r to s u r v i v e , fag go ts m u s t have land. Not a s an e s c a p e , but a s a r e t r e a t to a m o r e f r e e s p a c e w h ere we m a y l e a r n to t e a c h e a c h o t h e r , heal e a c h o t h e r , love e a c h o t h e r . We want to s ave the e a r t h . The land is being raped by s p e c u l a t o r s , poisoned by c h e m i c a l s , and c a r v e d up by n u c l e a r fam ily b r e e d e r s . We a s faggots on the land s ee o u r s e l v e s r.s c a r e t a k e r s , not p o s s e s s o r s . We cannot go on eating poisoned foods and supporting the s y s t e m s that a r e d e s t r o y i n g u s . We a r e what we e a t . We c a n 't be s tro n g and pow erful faggots eatin g the M a n 's food. We a r e rem o v in g our bodies and s p i r i t s f r o m d ependence on p r e p a c k a g e d p r o c e s s e d foods. We want to grow o u r own food, r e ­ turning what is given u s , n urturing a s we a r e n u r t u r e d .

The land we e n vision would not be individually owned but held in c o m m o n . We r e a l i z e that people with money in tim idate th ose without, and a r e d e t e r m i n e d that e v e r y o n e who lives on the land will have equal p ow er. D e c is i o n s will be m ad e by c o n s e n s u s .

We a r e all p o litica l fag go ts c o m m i t t e d to the w o r l d - w i d e s t ru g g l e a g a i n s t o p p r e s s i o n . We r e a l i z e that we benefit f r o m ou r b r o t h e r s ' s t r u g g l e s in the c i t i e s , but we feel that m an y c i ty faggots a r e not a w a r e of the benefits that e v e r y o n e c an r e c e i v e f r o m an e n e r g y e x c h a n g e with faggots on faggot land. We s e e k a dialogue on w a y s to s up po rt e a c h o th e r. We se e m an y p o s ­ s i b ilitie s of a c i t y - c o u n t r y e n e r g y e x c h a n g e . We a r e le a rn in g o u r s e l v e s and s e e k to e x c h a n g e s u r v i v a l skills such a s grow ing and p r e s e r v i n g food, building s t r u c t u r e s , making c l o t h e s , ra is in g c o n s c i o u s n e s s , r e c l a i m i n g our fa g go t h i s t o r y and m a g ic k .

To s e c u r e land we need m oney f r o m th o s e who have it. But you don't need to have m o ney to c o m e h e r e . We a l s o need t im e and e n e r g y and s u p p o rt to c r e a t e the r e a l i t y of our vision .

It's n e c e s s a r y for p oor fa g go ts to have t i m e and s p a c e w h ich have alw ays been denied t h e m , the fr e e d o m to develop without in tim id atio n . We know that w o rd s c o m e e a s y . We e x p e c t our a c ­ tions to speak fo r u s.

T i m e is s h o r t . Land in the O z a rk s is s t i l l r e l a t i v e l y cheap ( $ 2 0 0 - 5 0 0 an a c r e ) , but i t ' s being gobbled up fa s t and p r i c e s a r e r i s i n g . G row ing s e a s o n is long ( M a r c h - N o v e m b e r ) . P o p ulatio n is s p a r s e and w i l d e r n e s s is o l a t i o n is s t il l p o s s i b l e . P e o p l e h e r e a r e fighting to keep the a i r and w a t e r c l e a n . T h e s e hills a r e the old e s t on the planet and a r e v e r y beautiful to u s.

We said we wanted a d ialo g u e. So w r i t e .

C h a r l i e , D ean, D ennis, J a c k , M i c h a e l M u l b e r r y H ou se, 4 3 8 W . L a w so n , F a y e t t e v i l l e , A r k . 72701 F i r s t of a ll R F D is not a p o l i t i c a l pam phlet and, I b e lie v e , w as not intended to be one. It is a gay orie n ta te d (o r ie n te d ) b a c k - t o - t h e - l a n d m a g a z i n e for th ose who a r e t h e r e , hope to be, o r ju st want to keep a fin g e r on w h a t 's happening. It should be involved with helping people c o n t a c t oth er people and with providing i n fo r m a t i o n about a r e a s of the c o u n t r y , both good and bad, about m ethods and aids fo r th ose who a r e s t a r t i n g , and about th o s e of us who a r e s e r v i n g a s e x a m p l e s fo r those c o m in g . It should be a p l a c e f o r us to e x p r e s s and s h a r e our thoughts and fe e l i n g s .

Country living is an a l t e r n a t i v e life s t y l e . We do not e s c a p e f r o m being gay o r f r o m the p r o b ­ le m s con nected with try in g to find ou r p lace in a s t r a i g h t or ie n te d s o c i e t y . If anything we a u g ­ ment s o m e of the s o c i a l p r o b l e m s . T h e r e is an an on ym o u s q uality to the c i t y that the c o u n tr y d o e s n 't have. In the c o u n t r y people know who you a r e , w h e re you live, and u su a lly know m o r e of what y o u 'r e up to than you do. But they have a r e s p e c t f o r the individual and fo r his p r o d u c ­ tion! On one hand they know what y o u 'r e doing, and on the o t h e r they give you enough r o o m to sink o r sw im on y o u r own. But, while they m a y doubt w h e t h e r the "new fo lk s " will e v e r get t h e i r c r o p in and if, when they do t h e y 'l l e v e r fig u re out how to h a r v e s t i t, they give a grudging r e s p e c t to p rod u ctio n.

M o r e o v e r , in the big c i t i e s you c a n pick y o u r s o c i e t y . You c an live in a gay gh etto, go to gay b a r s , and r e s t a u r a n t s , and p r e t t y m u c h keep y o u r c o n t a c t with s t r a i g h t s down to a m in im u m .

Yes you do have to w o rk and live in the w orld of the s t r a i g h t m a j o r i t y , but i t ' s one thing to live an honest open life a s a gay being and a n o t h e r to flaunt y o u r s e x u a l o r i e n t a t i o n . The s t r a i g h t w o r ld , fo r the m o s t p a r t , d o e s n 't w e a r its p r e f e r r e d p ositio n on its s l e e v e .

In the c o u n try , the gay p e r s o n , c o u p le , o r co m m u n e m u s t m i x with and g e t along with the

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s t r a i g h t s o c i e t y . It has to be a c o m p r o m i s e of t o l e r a n c e and mutual r e s p e c t . H a r a s s m e n t of all kinds in a s m a l l town can be m o r e total and t h e r e f o r e , a m a j o r p ro b l e m . You need the t o w n s ­ people fo r in f o r m a t i o n , supplies and s e r v i c e s .

I'll 8 i ve e x a m p l e of a p ro b le m in a s m a l l town. A couple 1 know bought an old V i c t o r i a n house in a s m a l l town. They m ake t h e i r living buying and sellin g an tiq u e s. While they don't walk down the s t r e e t holding h ands, t h e r e is no q uestion of what the rela tio n s h ip i s . R e c e n tly an i m p e r s o n a t o r who w as p e r f o r m in g in a n e a r b y l a r g e r town went on a shopping t ri p in the s m a l l e r town. Not having to live t h e r e he w as u n c o n c e r n e d about the i m p r e s s i o n he m a d e . T h e r e is a kind of g l o r y in s h o ck valu e. The w ord of c o u r s e went out that it had been one of the couple living t h e r e .

The m ain g o s s i p w as a s t o r e ow ner who had n e v e r m et the cou ple. It was n e c e s s a r y to stop in, d raw h e r out about the s t o r y , and c o n fro n t h e r . T h e r e is a l s o the usual d rivin g by and n am e callin g when c u s t o m e r s a r e with th e m . This type of thing c an be m o r e d e v a s ta tin g in a s m a l l town b e c a u s e t h e r e is no s t re n g t h in n u m b e r s to b o l s t e r you.

We who a r e cho osing a c o u n tr y lifes ty le a r e doing so b e c a u s e we re c o g n i z e that we can handle our life plans and ou r r e l a tio n s h ip to o t h e r people gay and s t r a i g h t best on a one to one b asis w h e re we have a c h a n c e to p rov e our w o r th as a p e r s o n r a t h e r than a s a s e x u a l p r e f e r e n c e .

So, T o m Kennedy, while I c a n u n d ers tan d y o u r c o n c e r n and a n g e r , we a r e doing our p art on a daily b a s i s . We have not e s c a p e d into a h eaven ly bubble, we w e r e not whisked out of the big c ity by a divine hand and nobody sent us a bus t i c k e t . I c o n s i d e r your p o litica l p h r a s e s a s w o r d s . If you think R F D n eeds m o r e a r t i c l e s on " S o c i a l i s t F e m i n i s t Revolution" m ay be you'd like to w r i t e a t r e a t i s e ?

Bob W alc h , 1048 L im e Kiln Rd. , G r e e n B a y , W is e .

54301

M o re than a c e n t u r y ag o , a f t e r the W a r betw een the S t a t e s , the f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t p r o m i s e d to a l l " f r e e d m e n " fo rty a c r e s and a m u le , with the b elief that this a c t - - f o r a r e t u r n to the l a n d - w as the b e st w ay p o s sib le to s up po rt a l a r g e n u m b e r of people. In many w ays this idea still holds t ru e and I c o m m e n d R F D in helping us gay f r e e d m e n and gay fr e e d w o m e n to move back to the land, to find a way to s up po rt o u r s e l v e s outside of l a r g e population c e n t e r s - - i f that is what we want.

But, I would like to o ffer a n o t h e r idea fo r c o n s i d e r a t i o n to R F D r e a d e r s s in c e it a p p e a r s that s o m e g ay s like m e ( 4 0 , open Q u ak er gay m a l e involved in educating s ch o o l t e a c h e r s a s to a s e n ­ s i ti v i t y c o n c e r n i n g gay students and fellow t e a c h e r s ) have m a d e a c o m m i t m e n t to stay within the c i t i e s to fight the b a t t le s that need to be fought t h e r e - - i n l e g i s l a t i v e and ju d ic ial c h a m b e r s , in c h u r c h o f f i c e s , in e d u c a tio n a l b oard r o o m s , e t c . , e t c . , ad n au s eu m .

Yet even with this c o m m i t m e n t and c h allen g e we re c o g n i z e that t h e re a r e t i m e s when we need r u r a l p l a c e s to go to ( r e t r e a t t o ? ) for p e r s o n a l re n e w a l . And that b e c o m e s the tim e when we look with both envy and longing a t our gay b r o t h e r s and s i s t e r s who have made the m o ve to the land e a r l i e r , and p e r m a n e n t l y . Is t h e r e not s o m e way that we could w ork out a r e c i p r o c a l / c o o p e r a t i v e w ay to s h a r e m u tu ally the r e s o u r c e s and i d e a s that we both h a v e ? Then, when r u r a l R F D m e m b e r s have to c o m e to the l a r g e c i ty o r a r e t r a v e l i n g th ey could e x p e c t to find a bed and a m e a l fo r a day or two and when we who w o r k in the c ity need to join the e a r t h ' s c y c l e of r e g e n ­ e r a t i o n fo r i n c o r p o r a t i o n in our own fr a g m e n t e d e x i s t e n c e s we could a s k f o r a bed and a m e a l f r o m our r u r a l b r o t h e r s and s i s t e r s this would be p o s s i b l e . O r, m aybe t h e r e is a need for s e v e r a l c ity g ay s to p u r c h a s e c o o p e r a t i v e l y t h e i r own 4 0 a c r e s and a w e ll in a r u r a l a r e a to s h a r e during the y e a r , w h e n e v e r t h e r e w as a need to get aw ay.

It is m y feeling that at this point in h i s t o r y we u rb an gay s would like to a t l e a s t a t t a c h o u r ­ s e l v e s 'r o m a n t i c a l l y ' to the idea of a r e t u r n to the land, which m ight in a c t u a l i t y c o m e about in t i m e , if we l e a r n that we have r e l a t i v e l y little to f e a r b e c a u s e of what a p p e a r s to be a big o b s t a ­ cle to o v e r c o m e - - o u r d ependence upon s o c i a l i z a t i o n p a t t e r n s that include the b a r s , the b aths, the feeling of being p a r t of a group when we c an identify the d e p a r t m e n t s t o r e c l e r k o r the c o l ­ lege t e a c h e r a s being one of " u s " . P a t t e r n s change only when t h e r e is a g r e a t d eal of p u s h i n g - e i t h e r f r o m outside o r f r o m w i t h i n - - a n d so I would hope that som ehow e a c h of us could w o rk tow ard an a c c o m m o d a t i o n which m ight even include a p r o g r a m of r u r a l - u r b a n c o o p e r a t i o n .

C an 't you p i c t u r e the l o c a l p a p e r ' s f e a t u r e a r t i c l e on the f a r m - c i t y w eek gay e x c h a n g e ?

L o v e , Ron M attso n , 3 2 0 8 P o rtla n d A ve. S . ,

M in n eap o lis , MN 5 5 4 0 7

N ice to s ee T o m 's l e t t e r in R F D ; I'v e been wanting g r e a t e r dialogue on s om e of the points you r a i s e d . U n f o rtu n a te ly , the tone in s o m e w ays i m p lie s a b a s i c p o litica l s u p e r i o r i t y to u r b o - p o l i t i c o - e x i s t e n c e . I'd r a t h e r a p p r o a c h the dialogue knowing we're b a s i c a l l y on a continuum , and one point on tnat continuum r e p r e s e n t s the u rb an p o litico who is too busy and involved in M a r x i s t s o c i a l i s t f e m i n i s t m e e t i n g s to have tim e to w ork with the a l t e r n a t i v e food chain ( c o - o p s , e t c . ) and so runs into Safew ay fo r p r e - p a c k a g e d e a s y - t o - f i x m e a l s .

I don't w ish to a p p e a r h o l i e r - t h a n - t h o u but s im p ly to s t a te that we A L L have s o m e c o n t r a d i c ­ tions in ou r l i v e s . C e r t a i n l y yo ur points about the c o u n t e r - c u l t u r e c o n s c i o u s n e s s of running

9

aw ay fr o m the c ity to e s c a p e r e a l i t y (and the c o n c o m i t a n t c l a s s a n a l y s i s ) a r e w e l l - t a k e n . 1 ■wish that m o r e people in the c o u n tr y did have a g r e a t e r i n t e r e s t in the l a r g e r p o l i t i c a l s c e n e and a g r e a t e r in v o lv em en t in c r e a t i n g s o c i a l c h an g e.

I a l s o wish I had the " a n s w e r " , but a l l I have to o ffer is s o m e o b s e r v a t i o n s . We a t E lw ha w e re not allowed the p ri v i l e g e of avoiding r e a l i t y - - a 3 A . M . f i r e bomb following a p o s i t iv e , p ag e-o n e a r t i c l e about us in the l o c a l p ap er is r e a l i t y enough. The r e a l i t y of t ry in g to m ak e the c om m un ity a c c e p t ou r p r e s e n c e without having to give up too m u ch of the open g a y n e s s we fought for in the c i t i e s . The r e a l i t y of e s tab lis h in g a gay group a t the l o c a l c o m m u n ity c o l l e g e and a c ­ tually making c o n t a c t with a few o t h e r gay s tud ents. The r e a l i t y of working p o li t i c a l l y with the n e w l y - e l e c t e d w om an c h ie f of the t r i b e whose r e s e r v a t i o n s u r ro u n d s E lw h a, even if that w o rk was in the c o n t e x t of the County D e m o c r a t i c o r g a n i z a t i o n . The r e a l i t y of fighting a s e x i s t and c o m p l a c e n t student body g o v e r n m e n t fo r funding fo r day c a r e (we won!). The r e a l i t y of doing a s e m i n a r with l o c a l junior high s ch o o l t e a c h e r s , in the hopes of making it e a s i e r f o r s o m e c o m i n g - o u t student (we didn't a ll s p r in g , fu ll-blow n, f r o m the lam p p o s t in S h e r id a n S q u a re ) .

A no ther r e a l i t y is that m o s t of us have to pay fo r our living s p a c e , w h e t h e r it is a L o w e r E a s t Side t e n e m e n t, a Nob Hill show place o r a 1 0 - a c r e s p r e a d . I don't p a r t i c u l a r l y c a r e w n ere people c h o o s e to live, but I r e s e n t seeing friend s pour e n e rg y into supporting a lan d lo rd .

This is not a s p e c i f i c a l l y c i t y / c o u n t r y i s s u e , although I notice that r u r a l faggots I know a r e , in h igh er p ro p o r tio n than ou r c i ty c o m r a d e s , buying r a t h e r than renting. And often that buying is being done c o l l e c t i v e l y , s in c e m an y of us don't have u nlim ited bank a c c o u n t s with m o ney to send off fo r your bus t i ck e t (I u su a lly hitch , m y s e l f ) .

Not to be ign ored is the opportunity for grow th in the c o u n t r y - - o p p o r t u n i t i e s that a r e not a s e a s i ly or n e c e s s a r i l y developed in the c ity . P ro d u cin g food, learn in g skills su c h a s auto r e ­ p a i r s , c a r p e n t r y , v eh icle m a in te n a n c e a ll a r e i n t e g ra t e d into daily e x i s t e n c e . Having to d eal with a w id er c r o s s - s e c t i o n of the populace than a group of s e x - s e e k i n g C a s t r o S t r e e t queens m e a n s getting friendly and in terd ep en d en t with the l o c a l m e c h a n i c w h o's teac h in g us how to w ork on our t r a c t o r - - o r learn in g f a r m i n g skills f r o m our down-the - ro ad n e ig h b o rs .

Y e s , we in the c ou n try a l s o have m u ch w o rk a h e a d - - m o r e a l l i a n c e s to be fo rg e d , m o r e skills to be a c q u i r e d , g r e a t e r in te rd e p e n d e n c y on e a c h oth e r (and that a i n 't an e a s y t a s k , but we c a n 't sw itch frien d s sim p ly by finding a n o th e r l o c a l b ar to hang out i n - - w e HAVE to l e a r n to live and w ork t o g e t h e r ) .

RED has not dealt with v e r y m an y " p o l i t i c a l " i s s u e s , but for the many i s o la te d fag go ts for whom we (RE D ) r e p r e s e n t a f i r s t link, a beginning c o n s c i o u s n e s s of s om eth in g beyond, I 'm glad we e x i s t . And T o m , I'd be p e r f e c t l y happy to let you o r g a n iz e the thousands of a n t i - and a - p o lit i c a l queens in S E without . c r i t i c i s m f r o m m e - - I did my stint in the c i ty , and c h o o s e , with my u p p e r - c r u s t in co m e of $31. 6 0 / m o n t h , to do my w ork in the c o u n tr y . And when that d r e a m e d - o f Revolution does o c c u r , I w on't be like the L i ttle Red Hen, but w ill gladly s h a r e our w h eat with those of you who have c h o se n to lab or in the c i t i e s . I a s k all faggots to w o rk to develop a viable a l l - e n c o m p a s s i n g milieu in which it i s n 't n e c e s s a r y to fling r u r a l / u r b a n o r c l a s s e p ith ets back and forth fr o m L o w e r Wolf C r e e k Rd. to C a s t r o St. A fte r a l l , S ts. K a r l and V l a d i m i r c e r t a i n l y didn't leave us a w e ll - d e v e l o p e d a n a l y s i s that i n t e g r a t e s the p e a s a n t r y into the Revolution.

G aily, F a y g e l e ben M i r i a m Rt. 1, Box 9 2 E , E flan d , NC

27243

We RF D r e a d e r s w e r e so lucky to have T o m K en n ed y's w a r m , p e r s o n a l and a f f e c tio n a te l e t t e r ( S u m m e r 1976 i s s u e ) . How fo rtu nate for us that T o m took the tro u b le to in fo r m us about the s o c i a l i s t f e m in is t revolution that is taking p lace in San F r a n c i s c o , and, L o rd know s, p e r ­ haps e l s e w h e r e . I e s p e c i a l l y liked the p a rt w h ere T o m d e s c r i b e d his a t t e m p t " t o m ain tain s om e i n t e g r i t y " . It's t r u e , we h e r e in the c o u n tr y a r e a ll so c o r r u p t ! And T o m 's use of that p h rase " s t r a i g h t , white c a p i t a l i s t p i g s " - - w h a t a f r e s h , new c r e a t i v e use of language! None of us h ere in the c o u n tr y knew anything about this s o c i a l i s t f e m in is t rev olu tion , which m u s t be an excitin g new d evelop m en t. I u rg e all R F D r e a d e r s to m e e t me and T o m b ack in the c i ty . I'll be t h e re just a s soon as 1 c an s e ll my s p o r t s c a r , t o s s my house plants and th e i r o r g a n i c m a c ra m e h an g ers in the c o m p o s t heap, and lock up my p ala ce so the r i f f - r a f f d o e s n 't s t e a l my t r e a s u r e s . Now that I know w h ere the r e a l s t ru g g l e is taking p l a c e , I w on 't have to w o r r y a n y ­ m o r e about such i r r e l e v a n t m a t t e r s a s r e p a i ri n g the roof, grow ing food to e a t , o r cutting up firew ood to keep w a r m in the w i n te r . I hope I have t im e to s ay good -bye to a ll the m i l l i o n a i r e s down at the food c o o p e r a t i v e .

Y o u rs s i n c e r e l y ( Allen Young R FD 2 B u tterw orth F a r m O ra n g e , MA 01364

I leave R F D lying around on m y d esk in a pile of p a p e r s and e v e r y once in a while I t r i p upon it ag a in and when I do i t ' s like finding a hundred d o l l a r bill in an old p a i r of blue j e a n s . 1 g u e s s in the h e a r t s of a ll city fied g a y s like m y s e l f t h e r e is a longing for the abandonm ent of the o u t - o f - d o o r s , its d e d ic a tio n to s e l f - r e l i a n c e and the s h e e r quiet; and it is a p l e a s u r e to have those of you who c a n m ak e that w o rk s h a r e y o u r e x p e r i e n c e s . I noted in the l a s t i s s u e a b r o t h e r f r o m San F r a n c i s c o who chided you f o r the l a c k of a c t i v i s m i m p l i c i t in what you do. W e l l , I 'm an a c t i v i s t . I 'm an o f f i c e r in Ston ew all D e m o c r a t i c Club, C a l i f o r n i a 's l a r g e s t o r g a n i z a t i o n of D e m o c r a t s c o n c e r n e d with gay rig h ts i s s u e s , and a m in the p r o c e s s of org an izin g the f i r s t Gay Rights C h a p t e r of the A CLU and I d on 't r e g a r d what you a r e doing a s copping out, nor do I se e it in the n egative t e r m s that ' s o c i e t a l r e j e c t i o n " i m p l i e s . I s e e what you a r e doing, living, a s a p ositiv e a f f i r m a t i o n of the d i v e r s i t y p o s sib le in A m e r i c a and a s an a f f i r m a t i o n of the individu­ a l i s m that has been hom o gen ized out of the A m e r i c a n w ay. T o r e j e c t the t r a d i t i o n a l value s y s ­ t e m that is m a l e , w h ite, h e t e r o and e r o s i v e l y m i d d l e - c l a s s is no l e s s a r a d i c a l s t a t e m e n t than a r e th ose who s e e violent d isru p tio n of the p o l i t i c a l p r o c e s s a s a p r e r e q u i s i t e to s o c i a l r e f o r m .

I w ill not, c an n o t, c h o o s e not, to join you, b r o t h e r s , but I love you f o r what you do and would be delighted to o f fe r all R F D people a ro of and a m e a l w'hen c i r c u m s t a n c e s bring you to the E v i l M e c c a , Hollywood. P l e a s e w ri t e or c a l l f i r s t .

C lark Polak 7 0 0 7 L os T i l o s Rd. L . A . , CA 90068 213-876-7617

ANOTHER R E C IP E FO R FA IR IES F r u i t Soup

1 / 2 lb. m ixed d ried fr u i t s (p r u n e s , fig s, raisin s, c u r ra n ts, ap rico ts, peaches, a p p l e s , p in eap p les , p e a r s ) 3 q u a r t s w a t e r o r apple c i d e r

2 lb s. m ixed f r e s h fr uit (diced or s l ic e d a p ­ p l e s , p e a r s , p lu m s, p e a c h e s , s t r a w ­ b erries, rasp b erries, gooseberries, b l u e b e r r i e s , honeydew m elo n and on thru the fr uit w orld) Honey a s needed J u i c e of two lem o n s 1 tab lesp oo n thinly s l ic e d o r a n g e peel 1 tab lesp oo n thinly s l ic e d lem on peel Y o g u rt

Combine w a t e r o r ju ice and d ried fru its in a l a r g e k e ttle . Boil one minute and then s i m ­ m e r o v e r low heat fo r about 30 m in u tes or until the fru its a r e soft. Add f r e s h fr uit and continue s i m m e r i n g . R em o v e kettle fr o m heat and add fru it p eels and lemon j u i c e , if soup n eeds sw eeten in g add honey. If a l e s s sw eet soup is d e s i r e d add m o r e lem on ju i c e .

S e r v e hot o r c h illed . A spoonful of yo gu rt on top of e a c h s e r v i n g looks nice and adds a bit of t a r t n e s s . WARNING: Many c o n s i d e r this soup to be an a p h r o d i s i a c .

Chuck B ec k w ith , Sunny V alley F a r m R F D 2, Box 101, Mt. H o r e b , WI 3 3 5 7 2 P . S . 1 s u r e would like to m e e t fellow r e a d e r s in W i s c o n s i n . It gets r e a l l y not knowing any o th e r gay men in the who a r e i n t e r e s t e d in c o u n t r y living.

RFD lonely area K iss.

Chasin g M agic s h e lls and b utterfly w ings, O ch re sidew alk s lead m e to the la ir of love so faintly p r o m i s e d .

Running through the b r e e z e s of b e d s h e e ts p ast g a r r u l o u s m a s k s of lo n e lin e ss s t a r i n g c o l d - e y e d f r o m m i r r o r s upon y o u r w a l l s .

I tu rn the o t h e r way and pretend I've n e v e r s e e n th e m b e fo r e , th e se w alls of s e l f i s h n e s s and pain.

I'm running f a s t e r now q u i c k e r than the t i m e s before hoping to c a t c h up to you who fl e e s s o sw iftly.

I w as born with i t " , you s a id , a s you poked m e in the side and 1 c h a s e d you th rough t h e s e s t r e e t s of d e a f, dumb d o o r w a y s , o f a s t e r and f a s t e r I run e y e s on yo ur heels 't i l you stop on a dim e but my feet go ro lling on and I find m y s e l f c h a s in g my tail l a r m a , I c a l l it, ch as in g me for a ll the t i m e s I've led that r a c e b e fo r e .

"D o n 't touch m e " , I would shout.

"I'm sacred and w aiting . " F o r what ?

Tor that m a n who would run f a s t e r than m e and me with only b utterfly wings and m a g i c sh e lls of rainbow c o l o r s to w eigh me down.

Ollie

F ea r.

Out s id e , the t r e e s t h r a s h n o i s e l e s s l y in the wind, a s if t h e re is no lon ger sound to h e a r .

A c e r t a i n num bness r e a l i z e s it s e l f .

E m p t y s k i e s , e m p ty r o o m s .

V acuum City.

E m p ty s t r e e t s , e m p ty buildings.

"T h e Day the E a r t h Stood S till" I_ a m h e re .

Though 1 a m a lo n e , 1 a m h e r e .

T o m o r r o w t h e re will be o t h e r s , I guess.

But how quiet and e m p ty it a ll is now.

The t e l e v i s i o n 's off.

The books, unopened.

The rad io and r e c o r d s , unplayed.

A t a r s t a r t s outside C 01 ng som ew he r e ?

We have pushed e a c h o th e r held looked the o t h e r w ay moved fo rw a rd turned back c on fro nted and faced o u r s e l v e s we have lashed e a c h oth er asshole leave fag no we have bandaged e a c h o t h e r w'ith ha rd flesh and yes bill t a o r m i n o

Melvin

12

How can you buy o r s e l l the sky —the w a r m t h of the l a n d ? The idea is s t r a n g e to u s .

Yet we do not own the f r e s h n e s s of the a i r o r the s p a r k l e of the w a t e r .

How can you buy t h e m f r o m us ? We w ill d ecid e in o u r t i m e . E v e r y p a r t of this e a r t h is s a b r e d to m y people.

E v e r y shining pine n e e d l e , e v e r y s an d y s h o r e , e v e r y m i s t in the d a r k w o o d s , e v e r y c l e a r i n g and hum ming i n s e c t is holy in the m e m o r y and e x p e r i e n c e of my people.

We know that the white m an d oes not u n d e rs ta n d ou r w a y s . One p ortio n of the land is the s a m e to him a s the n e x t , f o r he is a s t r a n g e r who c o m e s in the night and t ak es f r o m the land w h a t e v e r he n eed s .

The e a r t h is not his b r o t h e r , but his e n e ­ m y , and when he has c o n q u ered i t, he m o v e s on.

He l e a v e s his f a t h e r s ' g r a v e s , and his c h i l d r e n 's b i r t h r i g h t is fo r g o t t e n . The sight of yo ur c i t i e s pains the e y e s of the r e d m a n . But p e rh a p s it is b e c a u s e the re d m a n is a s a v a g e and d oes not u n d e r ­ stand . . . .

If I d ecid e to a c c e p t , I will m ak e one condition. The white m an m u s t t r e a t the b e a s t s of this land a s his b r o t h e r s .

I a m a s a v a g e and 1 do not u n d ers tan d any oth e r way.

I have s een a thousand rotting buffaloes on the p r a i r i e s left by the white m an who shot th e m f r o m a p ass in g t r a i n .

I a m a s a v a g e and I do not u n d erstan d how the smoking iro n h o r s e c an be m o r e i m p o r t a n t than the buffalo that we kill only to s tay a l i v e . What is man without the b e a s t s ? If a l l the b e a s t s w e re gone, men would die f r o m g r e a t lo n e l i n e s s of s p i r i t , f o r w h a t e v e r happens to the b east a l s o happens to man . All things a r e c o n n e c te d . W h a t e v e r b efalls the e a r t h b efalls the sons of the earth . . . .

To h a r m the e a r t h is to heap c o n te m p t on its c r e a t o r . The w h i te s , too, s h a ll p a ss - - p e r h a p s s o o n e r than o th e r t r i b e s .

Continue to c o n t a m i n a te y o u r bed, and you will one night s u ffo c ate in your own w a s t e .

When the buffalo a r e all s l a u g h t e r e d , the wild h o r s e s a l l t a m e d , the s e c r e t c o r n e r s of the f o r e s t heavy with the s c e n t ol many m e n , and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking w i r e s , w h e re is tint h i c k e t ? Gone.

W h e re is the e a g l e ? G one.

And what is it to s ay goodby to the sw’ift and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning of s u r v i v a l .

We m ight unde r s ta n d if we knew what it w as that the white m a n d r e a m s , what hopes he d e s c r i b e s to his c h i l d r e n on long w i n te r n igh ts, what vision s he burns into t h e i r m i n d s, so they will w ish for t o m o r r o w .

But we a r e s a v a g e s .

The white m a n 's d r e a m s a r e hidden f r o m u s. And b e c a u s e they a r e hidden, we will ^ o our own way.

If we a g r e e , it will be to s e c u r e yo ur r e s e r v a t i o n you have p r o m i s e d . T h e r e p e r ­ haps we m a y live out our b r i e f d ays a s we w ish . W h e n t h e l a s t re d m an has vanished f r o m the e a r t h , and the m e m o r y is only the shadow of a cloud moving a c r o s s the p r a i r i e s , t h e s e s h o r e s and f o r e s t will s t il l hold the s p i r i t s of my people, t o r they love this e a r t h a s t h e newborn loves its m o t h e r ' s h e a r t b e a t . If we sell you our land, love it a s we've loved it. C a r e for it, a s we've c a r e d fo r it. Hold in your mind the m e m o r y of the land, a s it is when you take it. And with all your s t r e n g t h , with all your m ig h t, and with all your h e a r t - - p r e s e r v e it for your c h ild re n , and love it a s God lov es us a l l . One thing we k n o w - - o u r God is the s a m e . This e a r t h is p r e c i o u s to him. E v e n the white man cannot be e x e m p t fr o m the c o m m o n d estin y.

F r o m Chief S eattle of the D uwamish t rib e to p r e s i d e n t F i e r c e about t r i b a l lands which the L. S. g o v e r n m e n t wished to p u r c h a s e . 1855. R ep rin ted fr o m M orning Due

Lette r s i ron) the F o r e s t d e s c rib e s a s tru g g le to s a v e the land s p e a r h e a d e d by a group of c o u n ­ t ry fag go ts, lesb ian s and f r e a k s a g a i n s t the m a c h i n e r y of c o r p o r a t e - g o v e r n m e n t - b u r e a u c r a c y .

1 he battle began t h r e e y e a r s ag o and con tinu es to this m o m e n t . The s t o r y that unfolds is c o m pelling in itse lf . In addition, we feel that it i l l u s t r a t e s the kind of p o litica l s t r u g g l e , c o n s c i o u s ­ n e s s ra i s i n g , o rg an izin g and c o n fro n ta tio n that b e c o m e s p ossib le and even n e c e s s a r y living in the c ou n try. We invite o t h e r s to w rite us of t h e ir e x p e r i e n c e s .

RF D

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olden, S e p t e m b e r 73 D e a r Ron, . . . . e a r l i e r th is s u m m e r we got w ord that the g o v e r n m e n t is p la n ­ ning to s e l l off the t i m b e r on a hill ju st above the o r c h a r d , a l l the way back the can y on beyond w h ere the w om en a r e building. E v e r y o n e is u n settled by this n ew s; nobody, of c o u r s e , wants to have a bunch of butch l o g g e r s raping the h il ls i d e , leaving nothing but p iles of s l a s h and gouges in the e a r t h , a p r o ­ c e s s w hich could go on f o r y e a r s . The w om en p a r t i c u l a r l y t r e a s u r e t h e i r p r i v a c y and a r e w ondering if this indeed is the right p la ce fo r t h e m . And it s p a r k e d off a n o t h e r hurtful s e r i e s of e x c h a n g e s between m e and A llan: a s h e 's lived h e r e only a few months and i s n 't involved in any w o r k h e r e , he felt th at chain saw s and logging t r u c k s would be too m u c h to b e a r , he'd want to l e a v e ; I was th re a t e n e d by th a t, d e s p e r a t e l y wanting him to s t a y ; and loathe to l e a v e , being so involved h e r e , what w'ith building Aunt B e t t y 's h o u se , the o r c h a r d and a ll. Difficult t i m e s an yw ay, and a ll we needed w as an e x t e r n a l c a t a s t r o p h e . . .

I spen t a day running aro und Eugene try in g to find s o m e leg al a d v i c e . T h e r e have been s o m e a p p e a l s of d e c i s i o n s by the f o r e s t s e r v i c e to log n e a r p e o p l e 's h o m e s , and of c o u r s e a p p eals ab out w i l d e r n e s s a r e a s . It s e e m s that the e a r l i e r we m ak e th e se a p p e a l s , the m o r e c h a n c e t h e r e i s . A p p a r e n t l y , we have to "h a v e s t a n d i n g ", which m e a n s that we have to be aff e cte d a d ­ v e r s e l y by the d e c i s i o n in o r d e r to a p p e a l; and they don't m e a n a e s t h e t i c a l l y , they m e a n $ $ $ $ .

A l s o , we would be appealing a d e c i s i o n of the B u r e a u of Land M a n a g e m e n t ( B L M ) , r a t h e r than the F o r e s t S e r v i c e . What with a l l this b u r e a u c r a t i c n o n sen se and the u su al c o n d e s c e n s i o n and r u d e n e s s f r o m le g a l p eop le, I w as half r e a d y to chuck the whole thing. L a w y e r s a r e m o n e y m a d , it s e e m s by definition; they get an inflated idea that t h e i r t i m e is r e a l l y w orth m o r e than y o u r s o r m i n e , and g e t s e c r e t a r i e s and plush o ffic es and t e l l you they will c h a r g e you the m i n ­ i m u m f e e - - s i n c e you a r e Doing Good T h in g s , - - w h i c h t u rn s out to be m o r e m oney for a tw'o hour s e s s i o n than any of us spends a l t o g e t h e r in a whole month. . . an 74 D e a r R o n ..............w ell, we w e r e none too soon in looking f o r a way to stop the B L M ' s plans to denude our v a l l e y ; it t u r n s out it is p a r t of t h e i r plan for F i s ­ c a l 7 3 , which m e a n s th ey want to s t a r t this w i n t e r / s p r i n g . Somebody gav e us a x e r o x of s o m e o b s c u r e f e d e r a l r e g u la tio n s c o n c e r n i n g a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a p ­ p eals (that i s , appealing d i r e c t l y to the g o v e r n m e n t a l a g e n c y c o n c e r n e d , which you have to do b efo re you e v e r bring anything into c o u r t ) . They a r e vag u e, and and don't s e e m at a ll to be w r i t t e n with us in mind; p rob ab ly they w e r e w r i t t e n f o r s o m e s itu ation w h e re one logging c o m p an y is p r o t e s t i n g the aw ard in g of the bid to a n o t h e r one. In any c a s e , I s a t down and w ro te out a p r o t e s t l e t t e r outlining a l l the d iffe r e n t r e a s o n s th ey shouldn't log it.

And r e a s o n s t h e r e a r e l Two w eek s a g o , a f t e r a long cold s p ell w hich f r o z e the ground h a rd , we had a s u p e r - h e a v y ra i n f a l l ; som eth in g like 9 in ch e s c a m e down in a few d a y s . A t o r r e n t of w a t e r c a m e down the c an y o n , t e a r i n g out the 4' d i a m e t e r c u l v e r t u nd er Coyote C r e e k R o ad, and leaving it p e rc h e d 15 feet into the a i r . A mu d slid e (ju st below a n ew ly -lo g g ed a r e a ) 20 m i l e s aw ay b uried o r drowned 8 people w orking a t a n e a rb y telephone r e l a y s ta tio n . And c l o s e s t to h o m e , the w om en at Cabbage L ane went to bed the l a s t night of the s t o r m , f a i r l y s a t is fi e d that the flood w as ebbing. The next m o rn in g they woke up to find a d itch 5 feet deep and 150 feet long rig ht down the middle of t h e i r a c c e s s ro ad . I've a lw a y s been r a t h e r e x c i t e d by n a t u r a l c a t a s t r o p h e s , like h u r r i c a n e s w h e re w e'd have to get out c a n d l e s , ice s t o r m s that m ade the b i r c h t r e e s shed h eaps of g e m s . . . but the awful e m p ty pain of s eein g what little you have d e s ­ t ro y e d n e v e r had gotten th rou gh to m e b e f o r e . P a t t i and E l le n wept, t h e i r e n e r g y sapped and t h e ir f i n a n cia l w oes q u ad ru p led , t h e i r v e r y p r e s e n c e on t h e i r land t h r e a t e n e d . I felt wholly diffe r e n t.

T h e s e floods c a u s e d a m a g e b e c a u s e , fo r d e c a d e s , t h e p r o t e c t i v e f o r e s t s have been strip p ed by logging on p r i v a t e lan d s, and b e c a u s e of e x t e n s i v e gold s t r i p mining. And the one s iz a b le p ortio n of the canyon which is untouched is the Ro binson G ulch t r a c t , the t i m b e r sa le we a r e try in g to stop. . . a y ...........D e a r Ron. . . It s e e m s that a l l ou r b u r e a u c r a t i c w oes a r e not f o r naught.

It's like a g a m e of c h e c k e r s - - w e m ak e a m o v e , and e v e r y b o d y w aits and w a t ­ c h e s for 30 days (exp andable fo r 30 m o r e d a y s ) ; then they make a m ove (they being the B L M , which is both the defendant and the j u d g e ! ) , and t h a t 's two m o r e months gone. Two months valuable to u s, b e c a u s e we have s o m e time to b o l s t e r our a r g u m e n t s and think up s o m e new a n g l e s .

The w om en a r e a l s o doing an a p p e a l, and raisirtg q u es tio n s about d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a g a i n s t w om en in the a g e n c y , and the s p i r it u a l r e s o u r c e of the virgin woods a s a refuge for hu­ m an s and o t h e r a n i m a l s . Allan and E l e a n o r and Boyd a r e doing a bird c e n s u s up t h e r e , try in g to find e n d an g ered s p e c i e s and nesting p l a c e s . S o m e t i m e s it fe e ls p o i n t l e s s , with th em having all the pow er and us ju st s ta llin g . We a c t

15

oat oi' s o m e naive faith tnat if we put e n e r g y into the situ atio n , s om eth in g b e n e f i c i a l w ill c o m e back to u s. But what r e a l l y i m p r e s s e s m e is how any individual fa c e d by the g o v e r n m e n t can just get ground u nd er; t h e i r m a c h i n e r y ju st k eeps churning out d e s t r u c t i o n , m i n d l e s s l y , and without som ething to ren ew your faith you ju s t get t i r e d . We have s o m e s t r e n g t h s , though, that make it som eth in g s h o rt of h o p e le ss - - t h e r e a r e enough of u s - - P a t t i , F r a n n i e , m e , A llan , B e t ­ t y - - w h o 'l l take up the sh itw ork when one of us t i r e s . And am o ng us is quite a r e s e r v o i r of e x ­ p e r i e n c e in fighting b u r e a u c r a c y , o r g a n iz in g p r o t e s t s , doing c r e a t i v e r e s e a r c h . And u l t im a t e l y we have to live next to t h e i r p rop osed d e s e c r a t i o n , and that is a c o n sta n t in ce n tiv e - - e v e r y tim e we look at the ridge they r e c k l e s s l y s c a r r e d a c r o s s the va lle y 10 y e a r s ago . ugust 74. . . The land, Ron, is enough to m ake you give up. E v e r y s p rin g is so g r e e n , s o lush, s o p r o m i s i n g ; and by m i d s u m m e r it i s s o hot, so d r y , th at I lose hope in the g a r d e n , the o r c h a r d . G r a s s h o p p e r s have strip p e d the l e a v e s , and m u c h of the b a rk , off the fru it t r e e s , and t h e r e is n e v e r enough w a t e r !

This sp rin g I e x p l o r e d an old i r r i g a t i o n d itch that u se d to c a r r y w a t e r f r o m the c r e e k a half m ile up the canyon down to the o r c h a r d . I c le a n e d it out, and got the w a t e r moving m o s t of the w ay. . . b u t by m i d s u m m e r , when our o t h e r w-ater runs out, the c r e e k has gone d r y too. It is h ard to b elieve that it w as a lw a y s this w a y - - o n l y a fool would have dug a half m ile d itch by hand to d raw w a t e r which only flowed in the rain y s e a s o n ; and old M r . B ro w n w as a s s u r e d ­ ly no fool. I p r e s u m e that a ll the mining and logging has quickened the w in te r runoff, leaving l e s s in the ground to feed s p r i n g s , w ells and c r e e k s in the s u m m e r . The g o v ­ e rn m e n t h y d r o l o g i s t s a l l s w e a r that p a r t i a l cutting w ill i n c r e a s e the w a t e r supply, but the e v i ­ dence on the ground is m o r e p e r s u a s i v e : a l l of which m a k e s us a w a r e of the li m i t a t i o n s of our p r o t e s t a g a i n s t the B L M ; we do it b e c a u s e i t 's a to e-h o ld onto l a r g e p r o b l e m s , but what we r e a l l y need to do is c o n s i d e r the cany on , and the whole Coyote C r e e k / W o l f C r e e k d r a i n a g e . In a v ac u u m it might be t ru e that a p a r t i a l cut i s n 't t e r r i b l y h a rm f u l ; but in the c o n t e x t of the o v e r - e x p l o i t a t i o n and d isr u p tio n of the whole v a lle y , i t 's a n o t h e r step t o w a r d s to t a l d e s t r u c t i o n .

All we a r e doing is t ry in g to find a loophole in the b u r e a u c r a t i c re g u l a t i o n s . . . the su b stan tive q uestion s a r e n e v e r d e a lt with d i r e c t l y . ept 74. . . D e a r Ron, thanks f o r yo ur note of e n c o u r a g e m e n t ; I n e v e r know if what s e e m s so r e a l to us s e e m s to tally m e a n i n g l e s s to o u t s i d e r s . And i n ­ d eed, things have gotten b r i g h t e r . No, the g r a s s h o p p e r s and d rou gh t a r e s t il l h e r e , but we have c o m e a c r o s s s o m e a l l i e s - - a group of people south of the county s e a t who have been fighting a s i m i l a r b attle f o r y e a r s . I went to visit P au la and A r t and t h e y 'v e c o m e up to v is it u s . A r t spouts t e c h n i c a l i n ­ f o r m a ti o n s o fa s t you c a n h a rd ly have t i m e to a b s o r b it; it is a g r e a t r e l i e f to have s o m e e x p e r t i s e on our sid e, fo r a ch an g e. And P aula, s e e m i n g l y the h ip ­ pie housewife with d a u g h te r and a p ro n , con tinu ally a s k s the rig h t q u es tio n s to m ak e things fall into p l a c e , make s e n s e . M eeting t h e m has given us s o m e new s e n s e of what we have to c o n t ri b u t e , too. . . t h e r e is a gay s e n s i b i l i t y in what we a r e d o i n g - - o r p e rh a p s m o r e p r e c i s e l y , a faggot s e n s ib ility and w o m e n / l e s b i a n s e n s i ­ bility. We se e things d iffe r e n tly , a s k d ifferen t q u e s tio n s. It's not ju st a q uestion of d i s c r i m ­ ination a g a in s t women or fa g g o ts. . . although t h e r e is plenty of that; but. . . if w om en, o r faggots, had the power to a d m i n i s t e r the f o r e s t s and the s t r e a m s , what would we d o ? Would we undo in a y e a r what it took 3 0 0 y e a r s to build ? How m u ch of the logging in d u stry is posited on the s t r a i g h t - m a n need to c o n t r o l with m a c h i n e r y ? It's hard to include any of this e x p l i c i t l y in our ap peals and p r o t e s t s , but I need to find w ays to make all of that c l e a r e r , to o u r s e l v e s , to P a u la and A r t , to the B L M .

a n u a r y 75. . . D e a r Ron, w ell, the big day c a m e , with t h r e e c e r t i f i e d l e t t e r s I r o m Washington DC. In a p olite, a l m o s t friend ly l e t t e r , the judge denied our a p p eal, on two t e c h n i c a l gr o u n d s . His re a s o n in g w as that 1) ou r t h r e e d i l t e r e n t a p p e a ls should be joined into one, and 2) the a p p eal w as p r e m a t u r e .

It s e e m s that an ap p eal is too e a r l y until it is p rob ab ly too l a t e ! But a f t e r the in itial shock of a c t u a l l y getting a d e c i s i o n , it s e e m s that we h av en 't r e a l l y lost anything at a l l , and have gained o v e r a y e a r in knowledge and e x p e r i e n c e , and the t r e e s a r e s till standing. So, back to the beginning.

16

a r c h 7 5 . . . w e l l , they took the in itiative aw ay i r o n us this t i m e ; within d a y s of o u r n otice of d en ial f r o m W ashin gto n, the l o c a l B L M office announced a s a le d a t e : s o we had to go into high g e a r ; P a t t i and A llan had done the l a s t round of l e t t e r w r i t i n g , s o F r a n n i e and I d ecid ed to w ri t e the big a p p e a l. It is a ll done now, and quite a lov ely d o c u m e n t it i s . Our f i r s t a p p eal w as only two p ages long, and we ra c k e d ou r b r a i n s to think of som eth in g t o s a y . This t i m e , it ended up 32 p a g e s long. V\ e took out a l l our files and w r i t t e n d o c u m e n t s and r e s o u r c e s and pulled e v e r y t h i n g a p a r t , filing the p a p e r s in big p i l e s : W a t e r , S oil, Wild L ife , Logging P r a c t i c e s , and The Rights of the T r e e s .

We e a c h took a few p i l e s , and wrent hom e and w ro te up those s e c t i o n s , then e xc h an g ed > r r e c t i o n s , and Donna typed the whole thing up ithe r e a l s h itw o r k !) in q u a d ru p ­ l i c a t e . F r a n n i e ' s s e c t i o n on the rig h ts of the f o r e s t is ju st w onderful. The legal g rou n d w ork is laid out in a book by C h r i s t o p h e r Stone ( I .F .S t o n e 's son , a law p r o f e s s o r in C a l i f o rn i a ) c a l le d Should 1 r e e s Have Standing ? and she wove t o g e t h e r his i d e a s with the m any thoughts and f e e l ­ ings we have about the need fo r a n e a rb y refuge f r o m the hand of m en .

A lot of the s e c t i o n I co m p iled on F o r e s t r y P r a c t i c e s w as the w ork of Randy, a f o r e s t e r , and M ik e, a s o i l s c i e n t i s t , who w ork ed with us f o r a few d ays in the F a l l g a th e rin g d a ta . They im p lied a t that t i m e that we had h a rd l y any t e c h n i c a l grou nd s to oppose the B L M . But when t h e i r r e p o r t c a m e l a s t month, it w as filled with f a c t s about f i r e d a n g e r on s o u th e r n s l o p e s , o v e r l y - s t e e p t e r r a i n , d i s e a s e - p r o n e a r e a s and the like.

It is a ll like s o m e m o d e r n day m a g i c : you e a r n e s t l y sit a t a m a c h in e which m a k e s funny m a r k s on p i e c e s of p a p e r , i m p r i n t th em with s p e c i a l s e a l s and give th e m to m e s s e n g e r s to d e ­ l i v e r th em to v a r i o u s m i n o r d e i t ie s who have p o w e r; and m a g i c a l l y , the f o r e s t s t a y s i n t a c t , at l e a s t until the n ext high holy day (in about 60 d a y s ) , when the rite begins ag a in . p ri l 7 5 . . . D e a r Ron; W e 'v e had an e s p e c i a l l y late s p r i n g , with snow on the ground e v e r y few' d a y s , until the sun m e l t s it off. I had thought we w e r e f r e e of the d re a d ta s k of getting in firew ood fo r the s e a s o n , but we ran out. Allan and I have w orked out a method w h ich i s n 't t e r r i b l y painful (no loud n o i s e , no t e m p e r a m e n t a l m a c h i n e r y ) but is s t il l s o slow that I r e s e n t having to spend so m u c h t im e a t it: we cut 8' s e c t i o n s of s m a l l i s h downed logs with a t w o - p e r s o n hand saw and h erd t h e m , end o v e r end, to the t r u c k . Then b ack a t the house we u se the c h a in sa w to cut t h e m into s t o v e - s i z e d p o r t i o n s . The l a s t few days of working t o g e t h e r has been a c t u a l l y n i c e . It's two y e a r s s in c e w e 'v e been t o g e t h e r , and p e rh a p s we a r e beginning to r e s p e c t e a c h o t h e r ' s needs enough to w o r k t o g e t h e r , alb eit o c c a s i o n a l l y .

And a s we d ro v e down the hill to the h o u s e , we w e r e b r a i n s t o r m i n g about the f o r e s t . . . how would it be if w e - - t h e people who lived in the Coyote C r e e k d r a i n a g e - -had to t a l c o n t r o l o v e r the f o r e s t . How m u c h would we c u t ? How m u c h would we be f o r c e d to cut to em p lo y o u r s e l v e s - - o r a r e t h e r e l e s s d e s t r u c t i v e w ays to live off this s e m i - a r i d la n d ? What about the l a r g e p a r t s of the e a r t h that don't have t r e e s , e s p e c i a l l y Douglas f i r , w hich is so well suited to s t r u c t u r a l l u m b e r and plywood p r o d u c t i o n ? Who would be h u rt, a ll of a sudden, if 90% of the v a lle y w e r e d e c l a r e d w i l d e r n e s s a r e a s , and only s m a l l p ockets w e r e cut o c c a s i o n a l l y f o r our own u se and s m a l l - s c a l e b a r t e r ? What would a l l the l o g g e r s and m i l l - h a n d s d o ? As a l w a y s , e v e r y t h i n g is c o n n ec ted to e v e r y t h i n g , and to change even one little c o r n e r of s o u t h w e s t e rn O reg o n , you have to chan ge c a p i t a l i s m and p a t r i a r c h y . But t h e s e utopian c o n v e r s a t i o n s a r e e x h i l a r a t i n g , fo r they have the p ow er to m ak e the d r e a m v isib le in our im a g i n a t i o n s . An end to w h o l e s a le d e ­ s t r u c t i o n of the f o r e s t i s n 't to t a l l y i m p o s s i b l e , p e r h a p s ; the Indians h e r e c e r t a i n l y lived in c o n ­ c e r t with the t r e e s and the n a t u r a l a n i m a l s . But. . . . e p t e m b e r 75. . . E l i z a b e t h and Allan c a m e back f r o m M edford y e s t e r d a y with r e p o r t s f r o m P a u l a and A r t ' s h e a r i n g . The ap p e a ls b oard in W ashington sent a judge out to h e a r v e r b a l a r g u m e n t s . The g o v e r n m e n t s aved its a s s at the l a s t m o m e n t by doing an in te n s iv e study of the f o r e s t in q uestion ; o t h e rw i s e the judge would have decid ed in P a u l a and A r t ' s f a v o r . As it w a s , the s c i e n ­ t i s t s on e i t h e r side p r e s e n t e d c o n t r a d i c t o r y e v i d e n c e , and it a b s u rd l y s e e m e d to c o m e down to w h eth er this one 3" t r e e was counted in s o m e s a m p l e o r a n ­ o t h e r . E l i z a b e t h 's a c c o u n t of the c o u r t r o o m i m a g e s w as wonderful: a row of 8 g o v e r n m e n t s c i e n t i s t s on a c o u r t r o o m bench, sitting s t r a i g h t up at 9 a . m . ; a s they w e a r i e d during the day they slum ped f u r t h e r into t h e i r s e a t s , so that by 4 p .m . you could only s e e t h e i r c r e w c u t s and white s h i r t c o l l a r s f r o m the back. While on the o t h e r side of the c o u r t r o o m , a whole m a s s of g a r l i c - s m e l l i n g hippies and c ry i n g babies and m o d - i s h c o n s u l t a n t s . W on't know the o u tc o m e fo r quite a while.

e c c m b e r 75, . . W e ll, Ron, it s e e m s like the g o v e r n m e n t w as bowled o v e r by our 32 page a p p e a l; a f t e r a few months of leg al d e l a y s , the M ed ford office of the B L M wants the c a s e b a ck for re v ie w and r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n . We held out f o r a d e c i s i o n , but the judge said they could re s t u d y i t, a s long a s it w ouldn't be put up for bid without at l e a s t notifying u s . The upp er l e v e l b u r e a u c r a t s h a v e , in t h e i r m o r e c o n s c i e n t i o u s m o m e n t s , s o m e a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r what we a r e s ayin g; they know, f o r i n s t a n c e , that the g o v e r n m e n t is logging off the N o rth w es t a t a r a t e f a r e x c e e d i n g s u s tain ed yield . (Sustained yield is a ra t e which i n s u r e s a s m u c h r e g r o w t h as is r e m o v e d . ) T h ey a l s o know, I think, th at p r e s e n t logging p r a c t i c e s a r e i r r e v o c a b l y h a rm i n g the e c o n o m i c p o te n ­ tial of the a r e a , not to speak of l e s s c r a s s f a c t o r s like w a t e r quality and w ildlife. ( T h e i r n o ­ tion of wildlife s e e m s to be how m an y d e e r to s l a u g h t e r e v e r y hunting s e a s o n . ) W h e r e a s the low er level b u r e a u c r a t s a r e too i n s e c u r e to think a t a l l , and a r e m e r e l y t h r e a t e n e d . The f o r ­ e s t e r who is re s p o n s i b l e for our p a r t of the county - the a r e a m a n a g e r - h as been changed twice s in c e we f i r s t b egan ou r a p p e a l . The f i r s t one w as a n e r v o u s , pitiful fellow who ju st could not b elieve that we w e r e s e r i o u s l y opposed to his p la n s . The n e w e s t one is a r e a l r i g h t wing, h a rd - h e a d e d type, who thinks the p r o b l e m with this c o u n t r y is " c r e e p i n g s o c i a l i s m " ; that i s , people getting som eth in g fo r nothing. And the l o g g e r s - I w a v e r betw een seein g t h e m as the en em y - s t r a i g h t m an with en sla v e d w om an b e a rin g c h i l d r e n to p ro v e his m a s c u l i n i t y , and b earin g c h ain saw to r e a f f i r m his p ow er t r i p ; or a r e they the lo n g - s u f f e r i n g p r o l e t a r i a t , having to take even the w o r s t of jobs in o r d e r to pay the m o r t g a g e , kept ig n o ra n t by t h e i r s ch o o lin g , the n e w s p a p e r s , the p o l i t i c i a n s ? Both , of c o u r s e .

So h e r e we have it: the g o v e r n m e n t b u r e a u c r a t s , the invisib le m o n e y - m a k i n g logging b a r ­ ons, the w o r k e r s in the m ills and the f o r e s t s , and u s. The p o litic a l a l g e b r a s e e m s beyond u s , but a s a l w a y s , we have to p r o c e e d , f o r the p r e s e n t situ ation is i m p o s s ib l e too. e b r u a r y 7 6 . . . T h is has been a big month in t e r m s of our B L M s t r u g g l e . A r t and the l a w y e r s in P o r t l a n d developed a suit to stop the l o c a l B L M m a n a g e r f r o m c a r r y i n g out t h e i r annual plan, until the question of o v e r - c u t t i n g could be s e t t l e d . The judge denied the m o tion f o r a p r e l i m i n a r y injunction (which would have stopped cutting in the whole d i s t r i c t i m m e d i a t e l y ) , but in the few days p re v i o u s to his ru lin g, the l o c a l n e w s p a p e r s had s c r e a m i n g headlin es about e c o n o m i c c a t a s t r o p h e . T h r e e n a m e s (and a d d r e s s e s , fo r the c o n v e n ie n c e of any l y n c h e r s , I p r e s u m e ) w e r e liste d in the p a p e r , including A r t ' s and A l l a n 's . F o r days we w on d ered who might c o m e up the d r i v e w a y to off t h e s e t r o u b l e - m a k i n g e c o l o g y ty p e s . And in the h e a r i n g in P o r t l a n d , the Medford t e s tif ie d that th ey indeed w e r e cutting a t l e a s t 27% too m u c h , p e rh a p s a s m u ch a s 45%. F o r which he i m m e d i a t e l y was r e t i r e d , and r e p l a c e d by a y o u n g e r, s l i c k e r and m u ch tou gh er m an . E v e ry t h i n g s e e m s to be in ch ao s - we have the t i g e r by the t a i l , but then what do you do ?

L a t e r that w eek. . . w e l l , ev en ts s e e m to be happening even f a s t e r . We vis ited with the s oon t o - r e t i r e d i s t r i c t m a n a g e r , the one I w r o t e you about l a s t w eek who t e s tif ie d so u n e x p e c te d ly at the h earin g in P o r t l a n d . He is t i r e d , and of c o u r s e so m e w h a t d efen siv e about his a g e n c y ; but he does know we a r e right about the o v e r a l l situ ation . He d o e s n 't u n d e rs ta n d why we r e s i s t s o hard with our ap p eal of the woods n ext to us - until we told him quite bluntly that it w as our only way of dealing with the l a r g e r s itu ation without getting s p r e a d too thin. We talked f o r a few h o u rs , and it slowly b e c a m e c l e a r that th e se b u r e a u c r a t s f o r d e c a d e s saw t h e m s e l v e s a s p r o ­ t e c t o r s of the f o r e s t s , a g a i n s t the r a p a c i t y of the l o g g e r s and l a t e r the big l u m b e r c o m p a n i e s .

And they a r e confounded when we c o m e along seeing th em a s the e n e m y . A s is so often the c a s e , when you get right down to the d e t a i ls and the p e r s o n a l i t i e s , t h e re is r e a l l y s o little ev il. N e a r ­ ly e v e r y o n e 's position s e e m s plausible f r o m th e i r own p ositio n; and yet the r e s u l t is t o ta lly w ro ng . It is the s y s t e m that is w ro n g , not the individuals who m ak e it up; but the s y s t e m c o n ­ s i s t s of those people, and only th rough ra i s i n g t h e i r c o n s c i o u s n e s s is t h e r e any c h a n c e of m a k ­ ing a chan ge. I dunno, it s e e m s like that p r o t o t y p i c a l i m a g e of the snake eatin g its own ta i l , maddeningly c i r c u l a r .

The best p art of o u r vis it at the B L M was watching P a u l a . In the two y e a r s w e 'v e w orked t o g e t h e r , she has slowly e m e r g e d in our e y e s a s in c r e d i b l y w ise and adept. She knows t h e i r otfice inside and out, and in the m o s t d i s a r m i n g m a n n e r , gets w h a t e v e r she wants f r o m th em by knowing th e i r own g a m e b e t t e r than they do. They a r e ju st flo ored by this hippie w om an with 6 month old baby in a r m s with m o r e knowledge about f o r e s t m a n a g e m e n t than they.

P aula: "I'd like to see the a e r i a l map of S ec. 4 4 . " B u r e a u c r a t : 'W e 11. . . I111 be rig ht back. " A few minute s late r: P aula: \'o, 1 m ean the one with the P X R ' s and the L F N ' s on i t . " 18

B u r e a u c r a t : "O n , w e ll, th at one i s being u sed u p s t a i r s . " P a u l a : " O h , John S u m n e r . , . w e l l , he w on 't mind if we i n t e r r u p t h i m . " B u r e a u c r a t : " W e l l , a l l ri g h t .

And once s h e 's gotten down the m y s t e r i o u s in f o r m a t i o n off this m a p , P a u l a : "N o w , about th at Intensive In ven tory of the. . . " They a r e t e r r i f i e d of u s , I think and a r e e x c e e d i n g l y r e l i e v e d when our en to u ra g e of fa g g o t s , l e s b i a n s , and h ip p ie -m a d o n n a fin ally p a s s out of t h e i r p o r t a l s a t the end of the day.

The m a j o r thing we found out at the M edford office w a s that a r e c e n t e n v i r o n m e n t a l suit in W ashington DC h as f o r c e d the B L M to do a c o u n ty -w id e e n v i r o n m e n t a l i m p a c t s t a t e m e n t ( E IS ), beginning with our county (d o u b tle s sly b e c a u s e of s o m an y s u its in this co u n ty ). That study will take 2 y e a r s , and in the m e a n t i m e the s t a te B L M d i r e c t o r has o r d e r e d that our ap p eal be tab led .

So we have until A p r il 78 to do o t h e r w o r k , m o r e studying, e t c .

And, in c a s e we have go tten too c a r r i e d aw ay w-ith the i n t e l l e c t u a l side of t h is, A llan and I c e l e b r a t e d my b irth d ay with a long w alk in the w oo d s. It is s o e a s y to f o r g e t , running f r o m the h ou se to the b a rn to the n eigh b o rs and b a ck and fo rt h f r o m town, that the w i l d e r n e s s is ju s t up the h ill; to w e r in g t r e e s that i n s p i r e such a w e . W o r d s r e a l l y do fail, Ron, but you know the feelin g . The f o r e s t h as the s t r e n g t h to renew' the r e s o u r c e s w h ich g e t spent at the t y p e w r i t e r and a t m e e t i n g s . The f o r e s t defends i t s e l f with th at s t r e n g t h shaping ou r m o s t i n n er d r e a m s and fe e l i n g s , out of w hich we s t r u g g l e to keep the f o r e s t i n t a c t . And the c a l m n e s s and w on d er we two feel when we a r e t h e r e , it re n e w s our c o m m i t m e n t to e a c h o t h e r , too. a r c h 7 6 . . . This new f r e e d o m f r o m m o n t h - t o - m o n t h d ead lin es has p e r m i t t e d us to stand b ack and think about what n ext. A f t e r m uch d i s c u s s i o n , w'e have a ll a g r e e d that we feel m o s t c o m f o r t a b l e , m o s t s u r e of o u r s e l v e s , when we a r e c l o s e s t to our land b a s e - - o u r h o m e s , the f o r e s t n e a r u s . And we feel m o r e u n s u r e , m o r e vag u e, m o r e d ra in e d a s we take on l a r g e r i s s u e s - - n a t i o n a l logging p o l i c i e s , big s u its in c o u r t , pub licity . But a t the s a m e tim e s o m e r e c o g n i t i o n that we have to r e a c h out s o m e in o r d e r to a f f e c t c h a n g e s a t hom e - - e d u c a t e the public about the big i s s u e s , and a t l e a s t get involved in the d e v ­ elo p m e n t of the E n v i r o n m e n t a l Im p a c t S t a t e m e n t.

The f i r s t step in the d ev elo p m en t of the co u n ty -w id e plan w as a s e r i e s of pub•r i n g s . t h e y held the one in ou r a r e a in the town with the logging m i l l , to i n s u r e lots of l o g g e r s and m i l l - h a n d s and m a n a g e r s would be t h e r e . It w as a f r e a k y m e e t i n g . We had p r e ­ p a r e d s o m e b a s i c f a c t s h e e t s about the h i s t o r y and the c u r r e n t r e a l i t i e s of the logging in d u stry in the n o r t h w e s t, but didn't get to p a s s t h e m out until a f t e r the m e e t i n g .

The p o l i t i c s of the whole logging i s s u e b e c a m e a lot c l e a r e r by the end of the m e e t i n g . The g o v e r n m e n t w ants to s i d e s t e p the b a s i c i s s u e s of s u s ta in e d yield and e n v i r o n m e n t a l d a m a g e , b e ­ c a u s e it is c o m m i t t e d to providing l u m b e r fo r i n d u s t r y ( p ro f it). The l o c a l m ill o w n ers want to avoid th ose i s s u e s , too, b e c a u s e they a r e exp loiting both the e a r t h and the w o r k e r s for a tidy s u m while it l a s t s , and then they c a n m o ve on. The m i l l ( p r e d i c t a b l y n am ed R o b e r t D o l l a r , Inc), is p a r t of a c o n g l o m e r a t e i n t e r n a ti o n a l f i r m , but c o n v en ien tly g e t s b a rg a in op p ortu n ities f r o m the B L M b e c a u s e they keep the w o r k f o r c e in the m i l l ju st u n d e r 5 0 0 , thus qualifying a s a " s m a l l b u s i n e s s " . The m i l l w o r k e r s want to i n s u r e t h e i r jobs and thus oppose any red u ctio n of a l l o w ­ ab le c u t, and s e e t h e i r i n t e r e s t s coin cid ing with t h e i r b o s s e s , fighting off "th e S i e r r a C lu b ", an i m a g e w h ich c o n j u r e s up l i b e r a l r i c h i e s sitting o v e r t h e i r c o c k t a i l s b e r e a v e d o v e r the l o s s of redw oods.

The o t h e r thing which we l e a rn e d that even ing is that am ong o u r s e l v e s t h e r e w as a wide ran ge of r e s p o n s e s to the m e e t i n g . F r a n n i e and G e o r g e , who both c o m e f r o m w orking c l a s s b a c k g r o u n d s , w e r e able to get up and a r g u e with w o r k e r s , and at t i m e s able to t r a n s c e n d s e x i s m and homophobia and get th rou gh to p eop le. F r a n n i e said l a t e r "I felt like I w as arg u in g with m y b r o t h e r s at h o m e " . W h e r e a s I, t o r e x a m p l e , grow in g up in a p r o f e s s i o n a l / b u r e a u c r a t i c fa m i l y , w as a f r a i d of the w o r k e r s t h e r e , and unable to open any d ialogu e. What I concluded f r o m our d i s c u s s i o n s a f t e r w a r d s w as that we do a ll bring d i ffe r e n t skills to this b a t t le , and we m u s t t u rn that to ou r a d v a n ta g e . It is an e x c i ti n g idea to me that b e c a u s e of our d i v e r s e o r i g i n s , a united gay p r e s e n c e has s kills and im a g in a tio n which give us g r e a t pow er in such a c o m p l e x s itu ation .

T h o s e of us planning the p am p hlet for this m eetin g had planned a c a r t o o n which would liave i l l u s t r a t e d the v a r i o u s f o r c e s in this c o n f l i c t . But Allan thought it was a bad idea. He said that when he w as doing c o m m u n ity o r g a n i z i n g , he r e m e m b e r e d such p rop agan d a a s only m aking the s itu ation w o r s e - - " o u r s i d e " feeling sm ug and s e l f - c o n g r a t u l a t o r y , and e v e r y o n e e l s e being put off by it. So what he did was d ra w in g s of the f o r e s t and the p la n ts .

T h e y 'r e i m a g e s w hich I think u l t i m a t e l y have a healing and unifying p o w e r. That d i s c u s s i o n , too, w a s an e y e - o p e n e r f o r m e.

19

ay 76. . . D e a r Ron, l a s t w eek five of us ( m e , P a u l a , F r a n , D eb o rah and E li z a b e t h ) spent two d ays in P o r t l a n d v isitin g l a w y e r s , g o v e r n m e n t offic es and fo undations. T h e r e w e r e s o m e p a r t i c u l a r things we wanted to r e s e a r c h , » -<4 but a lot of it w a s open ended. We tu rn ed up s o m e loo se e n d s - - m o r e u n d e r ­ standing of how the EIS will be w ri t t e n , and how f a r f r o m "t h e p eop le" th is p r o c e s s i s , u n l e s s we wade in e a r l y ; the ro ad c o n s t r u c t i o n in d u s t r y is a s i m ­ p o rtan t a s the l o c a l logging i n t e r e s t s in m ain tainin g a high l e v e l of cutting; try in g t o r a i s e s o m e m o n ey to pay s o m e of us to do badly needed r e s e a r c h without having to hustle fo r p e r s o n a l m o n e y . E v e r y hour of r e s e a r c h we e v e r put into a i l t h i s , we c o m e out m o r e k n o w l e d g e a b l e - - a n i n v e s t m e n t in the fut u r e . And f c o m e aw ay having s u c h r e s p e c t fo r the w om en 1 w as with; it s e e m s like one a r e n a w h e re we and the w om en c a n w o r k t o g e t h e r w ell and p ro d u c t i v e l y , c o m in g aw ay with an h on est s e n s e of s i s t e r h o o d - b r o t h e r h o o d . une 76. . . On the s o l s t i c e m o s t of the faggot c o m m u n i t y ended up going on a long walk up into the B L M f o r e s t ; it w as the f i r s t ti m e that m an y of t h e m had been up t h e r e , and e v e r y o n e w as o v e rw h e lm e d by this w on d erfu l p l a c e , so n e a r and yet s o u n v isite d . At one point we stopped at a c l e a r i n g and w e r e quiet t o g e t h e r , and it p le a se d me so m u ch th at the deep m ean in g of the B L M s t r u g g l e w as being s h a r e d by the o t h e r m en , w ho'v e m o s t l y not been involved b e fo r e . The r e s t of the a ft e r n o o n we w an d ered along d e e r p a th s , s o m e t i m e s walking alone in quiet thought, o t h e r t i m e s laughing with a l a r g e r gro u p , then talking e a r n e s t l y writh one o r two o t h e r s . As we stum bled down the s t e e p edge • ’ of the f o r e s t into the cany on , we h e a rd the w om en at t h e i r s o l s t i c e c e l e b r a t i o n , whoop! hg and laughing. We went home to a big m e a l and playful talk , and p a rte d quite e xh au s ted and full of hope. T i m e s like that m ak e up for the months and months of s h itw o r k , confusion about p o litica l s t r a t e g y , and f e a r th at it is a h o p e le ss s t r u g g l e .

C a r l W ittm a n , O reg on ”

■

, V v'

(Just r i e s , re p lan tin g and e r o s i o n c on trol,] fuel, c o o p e r a t i v e s .

T o have an a p p e a l you need to show good r e a s o n to question the B L M d e c i s i o n . T h e r e a r e m an y a s p e c t s about the land and p r o ­ posed c u ts that should be ch e c k e d : 1) How will the cut a f f e c t y o u r w a t e r s y s ­ t e m s ? H e a d w a te r s of c r e e k s and s t r e a m s ? How is the w a t e r u sed by you and y o u r n e i g h b o r s ? W ill yo ur p r e s e n t w a t e r n eeds be j e o p a r d i z e d ? What is the o v e r a l l view of the d ra i n a g e a ff e c te d by the c u t ?

2) How is the f o r e s t used by wild l i f e ? Is it a r e f u g e ? Does the spotted owl o r ot h e r p r o t e c t e d o r e n d an g ered s p e c i e s live the re ?

3) How is the f o r e s t u se d by the p u b l i c ? Is it an i m p o r t a n t r e c r e a t i o n a l o r refuge a r e a fo r s o m e people ?

4) How w e ll will the f o r e s t r e g e n e r a t e ?

How steep is i t ? How l o o se is the s o i l ?

W ill building ro a d s and logging c a u s e i n ­ c r e a s e d e r o s i o n o r w i n te r ru n off?

Many of th e se q u estion s need to be probed by e x p e r t s - - B L M 1s and o t h e r s - - b u t you can begin the w o rk . Tak e one a s p e c t and begin to look into it. Get a friend to study a n o ­ t h e r . Soon you will have g a t h e r e d s o m e f a c t s and many m o r e q u e s t i o n s . T h e s e f a c t s and q u es tio n s can be put t o g e t h e r to f o r m yo ur a p p eal. O ther people have w r i t ­ ten a p p eals and stopped the B L M fo r y e a r s .

It is not e a s y w ork but it can be d o n e . Do not be a f r a i d to plow a h e a d - - i t ' s the only way. O th ers who have w orked on a p p e a l s will h elp_you.

HOW TO A P P E A L A B LM DECISION The m o s t i m p o r t a n t job to do is to begin p ro te c tin g the f o r e s t land n e a r you. This p r o t e c t i o n is needed i m m e d i a t e l y while th ese i s s u e s a r e being d i s c u s s e d . H e r e is a guide to p ro t e c t i n g B L M land n e a r you: 1) Using w h a t e v e r in fo r m a tio n you h a v e - - a m ap , a d e s c r i p t i o n - - find out what the B L M t r a c t n um b er is fo r the land n e a r you.

2) W rite o r v is it the B L M office n e a r you, asking th em what t h e i r plans a r e . You have a right to se e any files the B L M has developed for the land n e a r you.

3) If your neighborhood t r a c t is up fo r bid, you m ay w ri t e a l e t t e r to the B L M office asking that the bid be d elayed until an E n v i r o n m e n t a l Im p act Study fo r the a r e a is c o m p le te d . You will m o s t likely r e ­ ceiv e a n egative a n s w e r . You c a n then ap peal that d e c i s i o n .

4) If your neighboring t r a c t is not up for bid this y e a r , you can begin to study the s a m e q uestion s y o u r s e l f and se e how the BLM. is dealing with yo ur q u estion s in the EIS. 5) Be in c o m m u n i c a ti o n with your n eigh bo rs adjoining the B L M land. Support e a c h oth er in not grantin g right of way to B L M .

Much land cannot be cut u n le s s p riv a te individuals g r a n t a r i g h t - o f - w a y through t h e i r land.

0 ) S ta rt thinking of new ways the f o r e s t s can be used to provide jobs b e s id e s c u t t m g t i m b e r - - r e c r e a t i o n , oth er wood in20

n a m e s - - K en n y , C a n d o r , S m o o t h s t o n e , N a r ­ c i s s u s . I sing ou r n a m e s t o g e t h e r .

5.

The Song of I n n o c e n c e - - Innocent joy in b eauty . I long to touch that beauty. The beauty of the land like the beauty of a n o t h e r being. I long to touch it.

6.

The Song of F e a r and S o r r o w - - A song of o b s t a c l e s . I a m s c a r e d of my own f e a r .

F e a r b locks m e , stop s m e . I cannot go on.

I a m s m a l l , w eak , h e l p l e s s . I a m not good enough to s h a r e in that b eauty . I cann ot love.

All is l o s t . Life c h a n g e s . T h e r e is nothing to hold onto. A ll is l o s t . S o r r o w .

7.

The F i r e of T h in g s P a s t - - H o l d i n g onto r e l i c s of things now l o s t , I a m l e s s in the p r e s e n t . Into the f i r e g o es m y p a s t - - l o v e l e t t e r s , p o e t r y , p h o to g rap h s . I s t o i c a l l y stoke the f i r e , then put it out. With the f i r e out, m y pain b u r s t s fo rth . I a m f r e e , but not without m u c h pain and r e m e m b e r ­ ing. I c r y . Squeezing the pain out th rou gh m y t e a r s and how ls. I think I will n e v e r stop.

Since I had m o ved to the c o u n t r y one of m y p r e p o s s e s s i n g f a n t a s ie s w as to build my own c abin on the land. I g u e s s I 'm ju st not one to c h a r g e up the hill with t o o ls in hand and slap t o g e t h e r a cab in . I m o ve s l o w l y - take m y t i m e in c r e a t i n g a p l a c e w h e r e I w ill spend s o m an y h o u r s . I know I need s p a c e aw ay f r o m o u r c o l l e c t i v e life. I need s h e l t e r f r o m the d am p and co ld . 1 a l s o need a s e n s e of s e c u r i t y - - a s e n s e of belonging.

It i s th is l a t t e r need th at led m e to do a r i t ­ u a l at m y cab in s i t e .

My e x p e r i e n c e with ri t u a l had c o m e f r o m doing s o l s t i c e and equinox c e l e b r a t i o n s with f r i e n d s . T h o s e t i m e s w e r e t i m e s of s h a r i n g and c e l e b r a t i n g o u r lives t o g e t h e r ; building s t r e n g t h , and b e c o m in g m o r e in tune with the s e a s o n a l flow of ou r l i v e s . I felt th is s a m e mode could put m e in h a r m o n y with the p l a c e w h e r e I c h o s e to build.

So one day a f t e r b r e a k f a s t I m ade m y way up the m o un tain c a r r y i n g m y p a c k and sleep in g bag. It w as to be a s p e c i a l d ay b e ­ tween m y s e l f and the land. The f i r s t few h ou rs w e r e spent e x p lo rin g m o r e fully the a r e a s u rro u n d in g the s i t e . C r a s h i n g th rou gh t h i c k e t s and falling down h i l l s i d e s , I d i s c o v ­ e r e d that I would indeed be building within the b ou n d a rie s of our land. Coming b ack f r o m that t r e k , I b egan to p r e p a r e fo r m y r i tu a l.

S om e p a r t s of the c e r e m o n y I had put thought into and had m ad e p r e p a r a t i o n s fo r (mak ing the c i r c l e , the a l t a r , and the f i r e ) .

I a l s o m e a n t to f a s t that day and spend the night, but m o s t l y I only had a s e n s e of what I would do. I s a t down with m y j o u rn a l and began the p r o c e s s of s ettin g the f o r m . H e re is what I did: 1.

M aking the C i r c l e - - S t o n e s . s h e l l s , one of m y t e e th , o b je c ts of m y p e r s o n a l pow er th rou gh t h e i r con n ec tion with m e . I p la ce t h e s e in a c i r c l e aro u n d the land, moving to the left, m aking the rin g. Me e n c i r c l e d by m yself.

2.

At R e s t - - A tim e of quiet. L e t the p lace fill m e .

3.

Making the A l t a r - - A t r e e stum p and five s p e c i a l s ton es m ak e the a l t a r . A candle and s t ic k of i n c e n s e a r e lit. The a l t a r is m a d e .

A ttend, atten d .

4.

The N am in g Song - - The wind c o m e s and the n am e blows with it. Wind in the T r e e s .

I sing the n am e like a holy c han t. I sing my

8.

The Song of G r o w t h - - 1 m o ve on f r o m

m y s o r r o w . In chan ge t h e r e is hope, l e a r n ­ ing a s I g r o w . Moving in and out. G ro w ing up f r o m down. Life will triu m p h h e r e .

Life will triu m p h h e r e .

9.

The Song of My Life - - A song of e c s t a t i c c o n s c i o u s n e s s . I know b e c a u s e I feel. 1 feel b e c a u s e I a m . I a m . I a m . I know.

10. The Sp illing of S e e d - -Spilling my life's seed on the land. May we m ak e a fe r t i l e co n n e c tio n . (continued on page 29) 21

Beet T reats If y o u 'r e thinning th ose beets you planted too th ick , DON'T th row aw ay the s m a l l p lants you pull out! G a t h e r up a bunch of t h e m (tops and all) and w a s h t h e m th oro ug hly . P ut about an inch of w a t e r into a l a r g e k e t t le , add s o m e s a l t , and bring the w a t e r to a boil. Pop in the w ashed m i n i ­ b e e t s , c o v e r the kettle and s i m m e r th em 't i l the b eets a r e t e n d e r and the tops limp (how long this tak es will depend on how big the b eets a r e when you finally get around to thinning t h e m ) .

While the beets a r e s i m m e r i n g , m ake a s w e e t - s o u r s a u c e by com b in ing equal p a r t s of white s u g ­ a r * and c i d e r v i n e g a r in a s m a l l s a u c e p a n . S t i r o v e r low heat 't i l the s u g a r d i s s o l v e s . When the b eets a r e done, d ra in t h e m w ell. Dip your fi n g e r s in cold w a t e r , then g r a b a b eet and slip off the skin. Repeat with all the b e e t s . Put the b e e ts and g r e e n s into a s e r v i n g d ish , dab on s o m e f r e s h b u tte r , and pour the s w e e t - s o u r s a u c e o v e r t h e m ( o r pour just p a r t o v e r t h e m and p ass the r e s t a t the t a b le ). A s m a l l dish m a k e s eatin g b eets m o r e fun - u n l e s s you p a r t i c u l a r l y like beet ju ice in your m a s h e d p o ta to e s ! (Note: a s y o u r b eets get o l d e r and you pull t h e m to can or f r e e z e , continue to fix ju s t the tops using the ab ove method - good and good f o r you!)

Canning The next re c i p e is intended to be can n ed . If you don't feel up to it, m ak e half the r e c i p e and keep it in your r e f r i g e r a t o r . Canning is r e a l l y quite s i m p le , and I m a in ta in that anyone who can re a d , can p r e s e r v e food p r o p e r l y - e s p e c i a l l y the following i t e m s in c e it d oes not r e q u i r e a p i e s s u r e c a n n e r . But, F O R GOD'S S A K E (not to m en tion yo ur own), F O L L O W T H E R E C O M M E N D ­ ED P R O C E D U R E S ; ;: P eo p le will tell you th e y 'v e "d one it that w ay for y e a r s " - don't l i ste n to th em ! P eop le a l s o "to ok s i c k and died" m y s t e r i o u s l y f o r y e a r s ! The USDA puts out a bunch of e x c e l l e n t , e a s y to follow, and u p - t o - d a t e p am p hlets on home p r e s e r v a t i o n of food. And, b e st of a ll, t h e y 'r e F R E E ! Y ou r cou nty agent should have th e m (he u su ally hangs out in the county c o u r t h ou se), or w r i t e to the Office of C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , U . S . D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e , W ashin gton, D . C . 2 0 2 5 0 . "H o m e Canning of F r u i t s and V e g e t a b l e s " (G8), and "How to Make J e l l i e s , J a m s , and P r e s e r v e s at H om e" (G36) a r e two good ones to s t a r t with.

T om ato C atsu p If y o u 're like m o s t people, you planted way too many t o m a t o e s (I have 18 plants fo r one p e r s o n ) .

Tak e s o m e of your su rp lu s and i m p r e s s your frien d s with a batch of c a t s u p . H o m em ad e c a tsu p b eats the hell out of Heinz! The t a s te is so d iffe r e n t, once you've t r i e d i t, y o u ' r e h ooked-----10 pounds fully ripe t o m a t o e s Wash t o m a t o e s and s cald b riefly (by dipping a few t o m a t o e s at a t i m e into boiling w a t e r ) and dunk quickly into cold w a t e r . Slip off the loosened s k in s. Chop the t o m a t o e s and put th em into a l a r g e , heavy k ettle.

Add:

3 l a r g e onions, peeled and c o a r s e l y chopped 2 sw eet red p e p p e r s , seed ed and chopped 1/2 clove g a r l i c (optional - add it if you go for g a r l i c )

Hut the kettle o v e r low heat and cook slowly until ev e r y th in g g ets soft. Put the m i x t u r e th rough a fine s i e v e . (A food m i l l w o r k s g r e a t h e r e , but if you don't have one, f o r c e the m i x t u r e th rou gh a fine s t r a i n e r with the back of a l a r g e spoon. ) W as h out the k e ttle . Put the s t r a i n e d pulp back into it, heat it up and s i m m e r until i t 's red u ced to 1 /2 of what you s t a r t e d with (about 30 minutes).

22

Add:

3 / 4 cup brown s u g a r * 1 cup mild v i n e g a r (dilute y o u r v i n e g a r with w a t e r if i t 's s tro n g ) 1 tab lesp o o n s a l t 2 t e a s p o o n s p ap rik a 1 / 4 te a s p o o n ca y e n n e ( re d ) p epp er

T ie the following s p i c e s into a cloth bag and d rop into the k ettle: 2 1 1 1 1

in ch e s s t i c k cinn am o n te a s p o o n p e p p e r c o r n s te a s p o o n whole c l o v e s te a s p o o n a l l s p i c e b e r r i e s t e a s p o o n c e l e r y seed

Cook the whole m e s s s l o w l y, s t i r r i n g freq u en tly ( s c o r c h e d c a t s u p is nasty!), until it g ets v e r y th ick . R e m o v e the s p i c e bag.

L adle the hot c a t s u p into hot, s t e r i l i z e d j a r s , leaving 1/2 inch h e a d r o o m . Top w-ith j a r lids and tigh ten down s c r e w b an d s. P r o c e s s 5 m in u tes in a boiling w a t e r bath.

Cooked Salad D r e s s i n g If, like m e , yo u've got lots of eg g s at hand (or want to u s e up s o m e l e f t o v e r y o lk s ), this salad d r e s s i n g is quick to m ak e and good to e a t . Thinned with a little c r e a m o r m ilk , i t ' s g r e a t on f r e s h g r e e n s . And, in p otato o r m a c a r o n i s a l a d s it r e a l l y b e a ts M i r a c l e Whip! K eep a j a r in the " i c e b o x" a l l the t i m e .

5 o r 6 l a r g e egg s (o r use 6 o r 7 egg yolks) 1 - 1 / 4 cups white s u g a r * 1 cup m ilk 1 cup v i n e g a r 2 ta b le s p o o n s flo ur 1 - 1 /2 t e a s p o o n s d r y m u s t a r d 1 teaspoon salt B e a t eg g s w ell with r o t a r y b e a t e r . P ut into top of double b o i l e r . With b e a t e r , beat in s u g a r and then the re m a i n i n g i n g r e d i e n t s . Put top of b o i l e r o v e r s i m m e r i n g w a t e r . L e t the d r e s s i n g cook - beating often with the r o t a r y b e a t e r - until th ick and s m o o th (like pudding). R em o v e f r o m h eat, pour into j a r and s t o r e in the r e f r i g e r a t o r , i i e l d : about 1 q u a r t (depending on how m an y eg g s you u s e ) .

E g g s a la S u is se H e r e ' s a n o t h e r g r e a t w ay to u se s o m e of those e g g s . S e r v e this f o r b r e a k f a s t - along with hot muffins - the next t i m e fr ie n d s c o m e to v i s i t , and l is te n to the c o m m e n t s ! U s e only the f r e s h e s t egg s fo r th is.

1 cup g r a t e d s h a r p c h e d d a r c h e e s e 6 l a r g e , f r e s h eggs s a l t and p ep p er 1/2 cup light c r e a m ( h a l f - a n d - h a l f o r top milk) P r e h e a t oven to 3 5 0 ° . Sprinkle half the c h e e s e in a g r e a s e d shallow baking dish (I u se an 8 o r 9 pie tin). With the back of a tab le sp o o n , m ak e s i x dents in the c h e e s e . B r e a k e a c h egg into a s m a l l dish and slid e one into e a c h dent. Don't b r e a k the yolks! S e a so n the egg s with s a l t and p e p p e r. C a r e f u l l y p ou r the c r e a m o v e r the e g g s .

15 m in u tes at 3 5 0 ° .

Yield.

Sprinkle with the re m a in in g c h e e s e

Bake

3 to 6 s e r v i n g s - depending on how hungry e v e r y o n e is!

T ips

1.

2.

When b eating an egg w hite, add a tab lesp oo n of cold w a t e r - the volum e will a l m o s t double.

F o r fluffy, li g h t e r m a s h e d p o t a t o e s , add a pinch of baking pow der to th em when y o u 'r e m a s h in g .

Note, You c an s u b stitu te 5 / 8 cup of honey fo r 1 cup of s u g a r Dave Knutson, W ise.

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WARM

W ITH

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E N D S ___________

I found m y s e l f last fall fa ced with the p r o s p e c t of spending the w in ter in the M o r ­ eno V alley in N o r th e r n New M e x i c o in a som ew h at f lim sy cabin which had o r ig in a lly been built for s u m m e r t o u r i s t s . W in ter t e m p e r a t u r e s in the v alley , which is a huge b o w l-sh ap ed d e p r e s s i o n having an altitude of about 8 , 0 0 0 feet at its low est p a rt and of w hich the mountain r i m r i s e s to o v e r 13, 0 0 0 feet at its h igh est, have been a s low a s fifty d e g r e e s below z e r o , although l a s t w in ter it n e v e r , a s f a r a s I know, went lo w er than t h irty below. The thought of su c h t e m p e r a ­ t u r e s coupled with the r e m o r s e l e s s winds of n o r t h e r n New M e x i c o p rom pted me to look fo r e x t r a m e a s u r e s once 1 had caulked the d r a f t y windows and c o v e r e d th em with p l a s ­ t i c , b earin g in mind that my h and iness with a saw , h a m m e r and n ails is little b e t t e r than m a r g i n a l .

The flo o r of the cabin w as of planks a about t h r e e q u a r t e r s of an inch th ick with no subfloor and plenty of gaps between the planks and this gave me the idea of t r e a t i n g the flo or a s a sub floor and adding a second flo o r c o n ­ s istin g of t w o - b y - s i x m ill ends laid down on top of, and a t right an g les to, the planks of the e x is tin g flo o r .

This p roved to be an e a s y job and the r e s u l t w as v e r y e f f e c t i v e . It m ad e the cabin s e e m m u ch m o r e solid and c e r t a i n l y kept the d ra ft s out. I lived t h e r e until the end of the y e a r and the w o r s t p ro b l e m I had s o m e nights in the c o l d e s t w e a t h e r w as n e a r l y r o a stin g to death in my bunk a few t i m e s when I had o v e r z e a l o u s l y stoked up the stove b efore cra w lin g into the s a c k . The new th ick flo o r w as a g r e a t help a l s o on b e l o w - z e r o m o rn in g s when the d r e a d m o m e n t of getting out of bed a r ­ rived .

The m i l l ends w e r e a v a i l a b l e at the n e a r ­ by s a w m i l l f o r four d o l l a r s the pickup load although I got mine f r e e in e x c h a n g e fo r v a r ­ ious s e r v i c e s p e r f o r m e d fo r frien d s who worked a t the m i l l . I used about a pickup load. The s lab s 1 used va rie d in length b e ­ tween about two feet and t h re e feet and this enabled me to s t a g g e r the joints without any sawing. In fa c t by s o r t i n g out the s lab s that had s q u a re cut ends I w as able to avoid a l ­ m o s t a ll sawing e x c e p t w h ere the s la b s butted a g a i n s t the north w all of the cabin s in c e I s t a r t e d the job at the south wall and p r o c e e d ­ ed north. I finished the job with a b a se b o a r d c o n s i s t i n g of a double l a y e r of one by four m ill ends and by this method w as able to c o v e r the slight gap along the e a s t wall w h ere the long e d g e s of the l a s t line of s labs didn't quite m e e t the w all. No ripsawing (cutting the s lab s lengthw ise) w as n e c e s s a r y .

I b o rr o w e d an e l e c t r i c saw fo r just one p a rt of the job, i. e. s licin g off a couple of

28

in ch es f r o m ihe bottom of the cabin d oor so that it would tit o v e r the new and high er flo or but a handsaw would have done just as w ell. 1 used a m in im u m of nails fo r the job a s the tlu or w as kept in p la ce m o s t l y by wedging the s l a b s t o g e t h e r and by g r a v i t y .

The flo or could have been sanded but 1 n e v e r got around to b o rro w in g a s a n d e r but the p i e c e s 1 used w e r e s m o o th iim shed anyway.

1 intended to s e a l the flo or and stain it but by the time I had added a c o n c r e t e and stone slab for the heat stove the w in ter w a s upon me and it was tim e to batten down the h atch es and w e a t h e r the s t o r m s .

T h e r e w e r e holes in the i n t e r i o r p a n e l ­ ling on one wall of the cabin s o 1 panelled this wall with o n e - b y - f o u r m i l l ends w'ith the b ark side showing and backed by s h e e ts of c a r d b o a r d f r o m g r o c e r y b o x e s . The r e ­ sult w as p i c t u r e s q u e and kept the cold out.

F i n a l l y I nailed t w o - b y - f o u r s lab s (b ark side showing) o v e r the outside of the r a t h e r f l i m ­ sy d oor thus mak ing it m u ch m o r e solid and r u s t ic looking and nailed a l a y e r of the s a m e o v e r the s m a l l wooden stoop making the l a t ­ t e r m o r e solid and l e s s s l ip p e r y for snowy b o o ts . The s la b s used fo r th e se jobs w e r e r e j e c t s f r o m the flo or.

E a r l y in J a n u a r y I m oved into a m u ch l a r g e r and m o r e convincing old log cabin in a r e m o t e cany on w h e re 1 now live. T h e r e w as little 1 could do outside in the depths of w i n te r but by next w in te r I will have r e ­ chinked the logs with adobe and c e m e n t . The floor of this cabin is m u ch m o r e solid a l ­ though with plenty of gaps between the planks.

T h e s e I stuffed with s t r i p s of old c a r p e t and u n d e rf e l t , then laid a c a r p e t o v e r the top, a ll c o u r t e s y of a village dump in the M o r e n o V alley .

I will put down a new flo o r a s b efo re but due to the c o m p a r a t i v e s o l i d n e s s of the floor in this cabin I will u se one by fo u rs in stead of two by s i x e s . The s a m e m a t e r i a l m a y be used to c r e a t e a fals e ceilin g nailed up to the roof b e a m s and backed by p l a s t i c o r c a r d b o a r d . T h is should enable me to p e r ­ f o r m the s h o rt walk f r o m the stove to my t y p e w r i t e r without f r e e z i n g to death on the way.

A p r e d e c e s s o r has a l r e a d y panelled the i n t e r i o r w alls with v e r t i c a l ro ughsaw n two by six planks and v e r y nice they look. I think I will take them down, at l e a s t along the n orth w all, put m o r e insulation behind th em , then nail them up again .

T h e r e is one oth e r ad van tage to c r a m ­ ming quite a few m illends into o n e 's m o u n ­ tain h o m e. I a lw a y s feel that if I b e c a m e ill o r injured in s e v e r e w e a t h e r , and I a m a long way fr o m help, I could alw ay s t e a r up the flo or and panelling and w h a t e v e r and burn it in the s to v e .

J ohn U pson , N . M .

3 7 2 S T A T E ST.

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(Ritual: continued f r o m page 21) 11.

D r o n e , Q u ie t, S l e e p- - When I had finished I was quiet, em p ty . 1 looked a t Wind in the T r e e s with new e y e s . It w as not the s a m e .

I w as t h e r e . My t e a r s w ashed it. My s p e r m wet it. The a s h e s of my p ast m ingled with the e a r t h . It had echoed my s c r e a m s . I made m a g i c that day.

Notes on the Ritual The r i t u a l w as a v e r y p e r s o n a l m a n i fe s t a t i o n of m e . The song f o r m w as b o rr o w e d f r o m the peyote r itu a l. A song is singing o r chanting. Something that r i s e s f r o m in sid e.

Im p ro m p tu . C r e a t i v e . The f i r e w as s y m ­ bolic to me in t e r m s of me en te rin g my Saturn c y c l e . A fte r 28 y e a r s I a m r e b o r n .

P a s s i n g through f l a m e s .

I would like to h e a r f r o m o th e r faggots who a r e into evolving t h e i r own ritu a l m a g i c .

W rite m e c a r e of RE D .

C an d or

29

All W ho E n te r H e re

And the sign said: " L e a v e yo ur d r e a m s upon the hook, And hang y o u r hopes on the ru s ty nail, Ch eek the h e a r t th at you m i s t o o k , And t o s s y o u r soul a c r o s s the r a i l " .

the f a t a l g l a s s of b e e r

And I went in, " H i , s t r a n g e r , w h a t 'l l it be to T i t s and a s s , c o c k and b a l l s , S om e d i r t y talk , o r m u s i c by Have a drink - and d ro p y o u r

a f t e r we didn't s a y goodbye i drove a l l b lin k e rs flashin g in the blinding ra i n took a n e v e r gonna get me p is s in the m illio n d o l l a r c a m p g round then swooped d iz z y down into e a g l e n e st in b ri l l i a n t sun felt fine but fo r old t i m e s ' sake had a couple of r e m i n i s c e n t b e e r s at the laguna ba r and the old g e r m a n guy talked m y e a r off about m u llein and sassafras no p lace to be sad in e v e n h e re so i went b ack to the cabin and opened up the c an of b eets you tu rn ed yo ur ( p r e t t y ? ) nose up at the only v e n g e a n c e trip i' 11 e v e r do cou ld n 't find the o p e n e r and the m auled up lid m ad e a s t a r m a y it shine on you living with you o r without you is the s a m e i not one nor other if i b elieve this e v e r i will be sane but who n e e d s 't h a t d e a r lover ?

get you off? or d ance?

R a c h m a n in o f f ? pants".

And 1 s a t down. " F i f t y c e n t s a bottle o' b e e r , An e x t r a buck and you c a n go in the b ack , Spin the w h eel, get yo ur m e m b e r s h i p s h e r e .

No talking p l e a s e , ju s t sit on that r a c k . " And I went in.

And I sat down.

And 1 s ta y e d too long.

C h a r l e s B . Caleb au gh

john upson

30

D IS TA N C E r e q u i r e s m e to w r i t e ( fe ebly ) b e c a u s e essentially I am oral and would r o l l my tongue ove r you and sp eak w e r e we t o g e t h e r

" S P R IN G F IE L D , M O" The o t h e r night I stood on the p o r c h And w a tch e d the r a in W hich w as a b s e n t f o r s o long.

D ISTA N CE also cann ot e x i s t in Zen ju st 1 and this pen and this p a p e r and the fleeting s c e n t of you on my skin

And in spite of a l l th o s e t i m e s In the p a s t when ra i n had s e e m e d ugly, I w as o v e r w h e l m e d by the beauty Of the d ro p s in fr o n t of m y e y e s , Of the m y s t e r i o u s g r e y s k i e s , Of the f r ie n d ly d o w n s t a i r s n e ig h b o r, So often i g n o r e d , Who c a m e out to s m i l e and ta lk to m e .

Sandy Lowe

L yle

At the p o e t r y read in g How d a r e you be s o p r e t t y and w i s e .

Standing t h e r e like a c o m e d i a n peeking aro un d the m a s k of t r a g e d y .

Y o u r r ig h t hand patting e a c h w ord g o o d -b y e a s you send it on its way to w a r d m e .

Puffing n e r v o u s l y on y o u r c i g a r e t t e like s o m e d a r k skinned Lenny B r u c e with e y e lid s heavy with the t ru th .

T ellin g me s t o r i e s about y o u r s e l f with w o r d s that weep and c r y and w o r d s that s n i c k e r .

Glowing like the s a c r e d sh r in e you a r e .

I want to g r a b you and hug you and thank you but s o m e th in g s to p s m e .

1 w a tch you.

1 think ab out having b eaten oft this a ft e r n o o n .

I w'atch you.

You a r e happy.

You a r e p r e t t y and w i s e .

M elvin

31

b e c a u s e of the moon i c an s e e one of yo ur e y e s

b roken wingbones on the s a c r e d a l t a r , who s tole the p l u m a g e ? wolf snouts up f r o m the c r e e k , d r i p s fangs like a c r o c o d i l e ,

it is m ad e of g l a s s and w h i s p e r s m ak e it m o ve bill t a o r m i n o

"M y d e a r , you a r e s o e g o testicle. " the s a m e d ru g , the s a m e mud in the veins sifting to w a r d s old a c h e of s e x u a l i t y .

We pine in the s t r e e t s , s t r u t lonely a m o n g the p in es.

i

B i t t e r he c l a w s a t what n e g l e c t s him .

Vain he finds a hole of g l a s s to hide in.

W e a r y he c r a w l s down, o t h e r s will do his bidding.

Sullen the s h a m e he f e e l s , p o n d e r s , s e e s nothing. d ry t o a s t / the e a r t h , d ry skin / the fles h .

O s o c l e a r , so c l e a r the w a t e r but cann ot yet s e e b ottom .

A a r o n Shurin

r a ttin g n e c t a r i n e s standing a t the ed ge of the field a t the edge of the w orld and h e a r i n g billie and l a u r a and feelin g the m ad m a g i c the in sa n e lurid wanton of a w om an in h eat feelin g the long hot s u m m e r and how it c an r e d u c e us to c rin g in g claw in g b itch es but we a r e w r e t c h e s only a s long a s we c a n ' t s e e p a st the r o s e ' s th orn w h e re m i r r o r s d on 't c r a s h to the flo o r and love r e p l a c e s lu st s ilv an a

. 32

B e r d e c h e ' s Song

f o r A. K.

A night without a wind on ce left Behind a windful au tu m n day A night blue clear A lion w alk s and L e t s the s m a l l g a m e slip T h is once Away The thin new f a c e of w i n te r r e s t s Its f i r s t i c e quick A c r o s s the lake The lake and the s ile n t lion stop Cau ght p a s t t i m e to hunt In a sing le g a z e B ro ther!

L isten How the m o o n 's light g l i s t e n s Soft On y o u r s t r o n g tau t skin In the w a t e r deep The lights of the c i t y slip And w h i s p e r s on gs th rou gh it s slid in g, restless slow ly fading slow ly falling w a lls "O w ls Owls O w ls" I c r y "W h y d oes the moon have h o r n s ? " "W h y d oes the moon have h o r n s ? " is a l l I s a y David Pini

U p N orth The i m p r i n t of dead l e a v e s on the d i r t road could not be d istin g u ish ed f r o m the l e a v e s ' own shadow S om eth in g I might f o r g e t or not t e l l you to s e e : T h ey w e r e u n c o l o r e d n e g a t i v e s of a u tu m n a l lov e, F e l l f r o m the t r e e of one y e a r .

C ad ieu x M a r i e V indish

33

"YO U W E R E T H E S T R A IG H T E S T ONE IN THE CLASS" T h is s u m m e r I atten ded my ten y e a r high s c h o o l c l a s s reunion, an ev e n t I had been looking f o r w a r d to fo r quite s o m e ti m e .

Since g r a d u a t i o n , I had b a s i c a l l y r e tu rn e d only fo r v e r y s h o r t s t a y s during c o l l e g e v a ­ c a tio n s and l a t e r only fo r f u n e r a l s . Though I don't r e m e m b e r life t h e r e a s p a r t i c u l a r l y a g r e a t d eal of fun, t h e r e w a s , and i s , a c e r ­ tain c u r i o s i t y and e v e n fo nd n ess f o r the p la ce w h ere I spen t m y f i r s t e ig h te e n y e a r s . The r e a s o n s f o r going back w e r e twofold. One was the d e s i r e to p r e s e n t to m y old fr ie n d s m e a s I a m now, a b e a rd e d and e a r r i n g e d c o u n tr y fa ggot. A n o t h e r was to d i s c o v e r who e l s e had gone t h ro u g h the t u r m o i l of the late S ixties and how they had grow n a s a r e s u l t of th ose e x p e r i e n c e s . N e v e r having been to a reunion b e f o r e , l had no idea of what to e x ­ p ect and did not know who w a s going to show up e x c e p t fo r a m an 1 did not know in s ch o o l, but who is now a n o t h e r RE D s u b s c r i b e r .

T h e r e w e r e a few o t h e r s who, in one way o r a n o t h e r , w e r e d i ffe r e n t back then, and 1 hoped that a t l e a s t s o m e of th em would c o m e .

I had been thinking about w ritin g a p iece about the reunion, and when 1 r e c e i v e d a r e ­ q uest for an a r t i c l e f r o m R F D , I d ecid ed to do t h is. I began by m aking notes in one of my cool and c a l c u l a t e d m o o d s , a tte m p t i n g to c a p ­ t u re tiie feeling of the e a r l y and m i d - s i x t i e s m a w o rk in g - and m i d d l e - c l a s s town on the ed ge oi what the C h ica g o T rib u n e r e f e r s to as C h ic a c o l a n d . I a n aly zed the v a r i o u s p o s sib le m eth od s of s u r v i v a l within the n a r r o w l y - d e fined p a t t e r n s of s o c i a l l y - a c c e p t a b l e b e h a v io r and the a l t e r n a t i v e s a v a i l a b l e fo r th ose who felt in s o m e way d i ffe r e n t f r o m the r e s t of our c l a s s m a t e s . One e i t h e r played the G am e

(as I c h o s e ) , w ithd rew f r o m an a c t i v e s o c i a l life, o r s tepp ed o u tside the b o u n d a rie s and s u f fe re d w h a t e v e r c o n s e q u e n c e s t h e r e w e r e .

But r e a l l y , the p l a c e w as not v e r y d i ffe r e n t f r o m any o t h e r b a s i c a l l y w h ite, C h r i s t i a n , R ep u blican su b u rb an c o m m u n i t y . We led a r a t h e r s i m p le and c a r e f r e e life then, r e l a ­ t i v e l y untouched by r a c i a l s t r i f e , d r u g s , and the V i e t n a m W a r . The n otes that I m ad e b e ­ f o r e w e r e s t r a i g h t j o u r n a l i s m , a s I hoped the a r t i c l e would be.

The r e a l i t y of the reu n ion , h o w e v e r , w a s quite a d i f f e r e n t s t o r y full of s u r p r i s e s .

Puttin g on m y b e s t p a i r of P o lk S t r e e t p a n ts , a n ice w e s t e r n s h i r t and m y d ancing c l o g s , I sm o k ed a joint while d rivin g the pickup t h e r e .

The f i r s t thing I n oticed in the p ark in g lot w as th a t the w o m e n w e r e w e a r i n g evening gowns and the m e n c o a t s and t i e s . F r e a k out. I knew I w a s going to stand out, an d, suddenly, l e f t - o v e r f e a r s of s o c i a l o s t r a c i s m s u r f a c e d .

Stoned and n e r v o u s I w a s losin g c o n t r o l . In the e n t r a n c e w ay, taking t i c k e t s , w e r e two f r i e n d s I had c o m p l e t e l y fo r g o t t e n about ( " m a r r i e d . . . 2 c h i l d r e n . . . h o m e m a k e r " ) and ( " m a r r i e d . . . 2 c h i l d r e n . . . Indiana U n i v e r s i t y . . . m a n a g e m e n t dept, at T h r i f t i - M a r t . . . p r e s , of P o r t a g e J a y c e e s " ) . I fumbled in m y bag t h ro u g h c o p i e s of R F D , j o i n t s , photos of h o m e, to find the t i c k e t a f t e r what s e e m e d like m in u tes of d i s c o n n e c t e d n e s s . A f t e r r e ­ ceiv in g my t i c k e t s t u b - - " Y o u m ig h t win a d o o r p r i z e , Stew , " - - I tu rn ed to s e e S h i r l e y ( " m a r r i e d . . . 2 children. . . p r a c tic e s T . M. . . d o m e s t i c e n g i n e e r " ) , my eigh th g r a d e s w e e t ­ h e a r t , c o m in g fo r w a r d to g r e e t m e , g e n u i n e ­ ly glad to s e e m e . A n o th e r s u r p r i s e : s o m e ­ one glad to s e e m e and m e glad to se e s o m e ­ one. We hugged, and 1 b egan to r e g a i n s o m e s e m b l a n c e of c o n t r o l . As S h i r l e y and I made ou r w ay to the punch bow ls, we p a s s e d Dolly ( " m a r ried . . . 2 c h i l d r e n . . . holds ran k in U . S. Judo A s s ' n . . . w o rk ed a s d e p a r t m e n t s t o r e m o d e l , s e c r e t a r y , c l a i m s re p . fo r i n s u r a n c e co . " ) who looked stunning in p u r p le , d rin k in one hand, c i g a r e t t e in the o t h e r . E m p h a t i c ­ a lly I s a id , "D o lly! I wan t to s ee you l a t e r . " She g a v e m e a quick up and down, s m ile d and said " Y e s l " And 1 knew e v e r y t h i n g w a s g o ­ ing to be a l l rig h t.

At the b ack of the hall, by the punch, the p a t t e r n l o r the evening unfolded a s Ivor ( " m a r r i e d . . . 2 c h i l d r e n . . . attended P u r d u e , s e r v e d with Navy. . . c a r s a l e s m a n " ) c a m e up to me ( " s i n g l e . . . G r i n n e l l C o l l e g e . . . c o r n t e c h n i c i a n , cook , t o m a t o g r o w e r , a s t r o l o g e r , c o m m u n a r d . . . while w orking in Hollywood, s e r v e d coffee to Judy G a r l a n d " ) and said in a tru ly in c r e d u l o u s v o i c e , "1 don't b elieve it.

It's Stew S co fie ld .

You w e r e the s t r a i g h t e s t one in the c l a s s .

I re p lie d , "I s u r e w a s . I played the g a m e re a l l y w e l l . " And s o it went oil and on all night, people a p p e a r i n g in fr ont ol m e , sayin g the s a m e tiring in the s a m e un34

b elievin g v o i c e , and m e m ak in g the s a m e re p l y .

So t h e r e I w a s , standing with a stoned g r i n on m y l a c e while a n o t h e r s u r p r i s e o c c u r ­ red . I n oticed that a l l the people in that p a r t of the r o o m w e r e the "u n a tt a c h e d ' m e n .

S om e w e r e gay , s o m e w e r e s t r a i g h t , and s o m e w e r e c l o s e t c a s e s ; but they w e r e a l l t h e r e . The o t h e r R F D s u b s c r i b e r ( " s i n g l e . . . atten ded P u r d u e . . . a c c o u n t a n t " ) found m e , we i n t ro d u c e d o u r s e l v e s , and c h a tte d on and off th rou gh the ev en in g . A m a n 1 w a s only a c ­ quainted with in s c h o o l ( " s i n g l e . . . r e s t a u r a n t m a n a g e r " ) c a m e up and s a i d , "I m e t s o m e ­ one in San F r a n c i s c o who knows you.

Dead g i v e - a w a y . " W e l l , h o n , who w a s i t ? " He co u ld n 't r e m e m b e r the n a m e , 'though l a t e r on we fig u red out that it w a s a f o r m e r r o o m m a t e .

Dolly then r e a p p e a r e d and s a i d , "I thought you wanted to s e e m e . " " W e l l , y e s , but I got tra p p e d b a c k h e r e . " She s m i l e d , " W e l l , what a r e you on, and do you h ave any m o r e ? " We b e c a m e i m m e d i a t e c o m r a d e s and b egan to d i s c o v e r w'hat we had been up to t h e s e m an y y e a r s . Sue ( " m a r r i e d . . . M B A , M ic h ig a n S t a t e " ) who, a s w a s D olly, w a s one of the people I r e a l l y wanted to s e e (in s c h o o l she w a s R o ck y and I w a s Bullw’inkle) c a m e up d r e s s e d in p a n t s , and we hugged and hugged.

We talked of O reg o n w h e r e she had j u s t m o v e d , and she confided that she had d i s c o v e r e d the w on d rou s m y s t e r i e s of d eb its and c r e d i t s .

It w a s t i m e f o r d in n er to begin and we a l l s a t down. Bob ( " s i n g l e . . . V a l p a r a i s o and W ashin gto n Unive r s i ti e s . . . k i t c h e n d e s i g n e r " ) joined u s . Bob w a s a big s u r p r i s e , a s in high s c h o o l he w as a v e r y s t r a i g h t , c o n s e r v a ­ t i v e , r e l i g i o u s B o y S co u t type who w as now m o d is h ly d r e s s e d and w as one of the u n a t t a c h ­ ed m en hanging out by the punch. When he s a t down and pulled out a c i g a r e t t e , I knew C h a n ­

th o s e I w a c a c q u a in te d with, and s o m e I d idn 't know, a s the even in g p r o g r e s s e d , and m o r e and m o r e s u r p r i s e s o c c u r r e d . F o r o n e , I w a s having a m a r v e l o u s l y good t i m e . It w a s a p a r t y , and 1 b e c a m e involved in p a r t y i n g .

It w a s no l o n g e r a s o c i o l o g i c a l o r a n t h r o p o ­ l o g i c a l phenom enon f o r m e . 1 r e a l i z e d that I could not p o s s i b l y w r i t e the c o o l , d e t a c h e d a r ­ t i c l e I had p r e v i o u s l y e n v i s i o n e d . I w a s n 't s u r e I could w r i t e anything at a l l that would ad eq u a te ly d e s c r i b e what w a s tu rn in g out to be an i n te n s e ly p e r s o n a l and e m o t i o n a l h o m e ­ c o m i n g . F o r the f i r s t ti m e in m y life with this p a r t i c u l a r s e t of p eop le, s o m e of w h o m I had known s in c e f i r s t g r a d e , I w as p r e s e n t i n g the r e a l and h on est m e , not p reten d in g to be s o m e o n e I w a s n 't a s I had done a l l th rou gh high s c h o o l . And t h a t , no m a t t e r w h e r e it h a p p en s, is a l w a y s a r u s h . I did n o tic e p e o ­ ple gettin g off on m e , and I c e r t a i n l y w as g e t ­ ting off on m an y of th e m . Although t h e r e w as a lot of h i - h o w - a re - y o u - s e e - y o u - l a t e r , t h e r e w e r e t i m e s of in tense s h a r i n g of l i v e s .

There w a s the friend who told m e of h e r two d i s a s ­ t r o u s m a r r i a g e s and d i v o r c e s , but she did not r e g r e t t h e m a s she had grow n f r o m th ose e x p e r i e n c e s into a t r u l y b eautiful, in d e p e n ­ dent w o m a n . T h e r e w a s a n o t h e r frien d who w as v e r y u p s e t b e c a u s e his wife (they a r e s e p a r a t e d ) c a m e to the reu n ion with h e r c u r ­ r e n t l o v e r . At one point I thought he m ig h t a c t u a l l y b r e a k down and c r y on m y s h o u l d e r .

T h e r e w a s Dawn ( " m a r r i e d . . . 2 c h i l d r e n . . .

B . S. , P u r d u e . . . home m ak e r and Middle E a s t ­ e r n D an ce i n s t r u c t o r " ) and h e r husband who invited me out to t h e i r c o u n tr y home fo r d i n ­ n e r the n ext evening when we ju st talk ed and talked into the night about ou r v a r i o u s hopes ( continued on page 44 )

g e s Had H appened, and it a l l c l ic k e d t o g e t h e r when I r e a l i z e d that he w a s g a y . L a t e r , a f t e r d i n n e r , I a s k e d him if he w as g a y . He w a s a bit t ak en a b a c k a t m y f o r w a r d n e s s , but he did s a y y e s . B ob , Dolly and I w ent out and s m ok ed a n u m b e r . We a l l r e l a x e d and Bob and I talked a lot. The n ext day we would spend an i n te n s e a f t e r n o o n t o g e t h e r and ta lk about our re sp e ctiv e lives.

A f t e r d i n n e r , d u rin g w h ich my v e g e t a r ­ i a n i s m w as a s o u r c e of p u z z l e m e n t , the c l a s s photo w as tak en, and then the band b egan to play its a s s o r t m e n t of " s l o w o n e s " , 5 0 ' s r o c k ' n ' r o l l , and 7 0 ' s d i s c o . That w as a n o ­ t h e r s u r p r i s e . A f t e r y e a r s of dancing in gay b a r s and d i s c o p a l a c e s , I had c o m e to a s s u m e th at e v e r y o n e is a r e l a t i v e l y loo se and fluid d a n c e r . X o t s o . Th ough I a m not s u r e that Dolly had e v e r d an ced b e fo r e with s o m e o n e doing a gay b oog ie, she did get into it, and, quite m o d e s t l y , we w e r e the d ancing s e n s a ­ tion of the even in g.

I continued to talk with people 1 knew,

H

U

35

G r e e n f r o m the c i t y , I once lived on a mining c l a i m in s o u t h e r n O re g o n . It w a s 20 m i l e s down a g r a v e l r o a d , then a 7 - m i l e hike b a c k to about an a c r e of c l e a r e d land. A v e r y r u s t i c c e ­ d a r log cab in had a fr o n t d o o r and a b a c k d o o r , th rou gh w hich the l o c a l p ack m u le o c c a s i o n a l l y ran in one w ay and out the o t h e r , until we put d o o r s up. It w as v e r y p i c t u r e s q u e .

T h e r e w a s no running w a t e r , but lu ckily a s p r i n g ju s t up on the h ill. So we built a d a m and put s e v e r a l ru b b e r h o s e s t o g e t h e r , and the p r e s s u r e downhill f r o m the d a m ( g r a v i t y flow) gave us running w a t e r . We w e r e lucky to h ave the s p r i n g .

We had a wood cook s t o v e , but didn't know about ra n g e b o i l e r s o r s o l a r h eat c o i l s - - w e ju s t heated w a t e r on the s t o v e . It w a s the b i g g e s t h a s s l e living t h e r e - - j u s t think how m an y t i m e s a day you u se hot w a t e r , o r could u se i t, and r e a l l y how i m p o r t a n t it is to being h e a l t h ­ fully t o g e t h e r in the c o u n t r y o r the c i ty .

W ell, I h a v e n 't been back to that p la ce in a c o o n 's a g e , but I l e a r n e d an awful lot t h e r e a bout m i s s i n g hot running w a t e r , and of c o u r s e o t h e r stuff. The Illinois V a l l e y w as a v e r y m e a n ­ ingful e x p e r i e n c e in my life.

Now I live 25 m i l e s f r o m C o os B a y , O re g o n and have a ra n g e b o i l e r and soon a s o l a r s u m ­ m e r thing. Many folks aro u n d h e r e have v e r y s i m i l a r hot w a t e r s y s t e m s , s o I could s a y they w ork v e r y w ell.

In the s u m m e r when i t ' s hot enough to fr y an egg on y o u r f o r e h e a d o r f o r e s k i n , who w ants to build f i r e s inside fo r hot w a t e r ? L e t the sun do it! T h e r e ' s an e a s y and c h e a p w ay. J u s t take good old b lack p l a s t i c pipe (of drinking quality) in 3 0 0 foot r o l l s and c o n n e c t it to an output of y o u r w a t e r s y s t e m and lay it in the sun. Put a spigot a t the o t h e r end and y o u 'll have m u c h o hot w ate r a i l day.

But in the w i n t e r ? W ell, a gas o r e l e c t r i c hot w a t e r h e a t e r , of c o u r s e ! T h a t 's if you don't mind paying th o s e guys e v e r y month. We p r e f e r to get o u rs f o r the p r i c e of a little wood chopp in'. W h e n e v e r we cook on the s t o v e , t h e r e ' s hot w a t e r being m a d e - - h o w l u x u r i o u s , how c o n v e n ie n t, how s e x y ! E v e n Sun set M a g a z in e would love it.

So now you have i t , a l l the l u x u r i e s of h o m e , what a t u r n - o n ! T h e r e a r e v a r i o u s o t h e r w ays to a r r a n g e s t o v e s and tanks a c c o r d i n g to y o u r s itu ation a t h o m e , but this is the b a s i c stuff. Some of the s e t - u p s people aro un d h e r e have look like s u b m a r i n e c o n t r o l s , so think it out.

If y o u 'r e lucky, yo u 'll find a book on ran ge b o i l e r s (as t h e y ' r e c a l le d ) at y o u r l o c a l l i ­ b r a r y . If t h e y 'r e anything like the l i b r a r i e s aro u n d h e r e (lots of old b ook s), I w as lucky to find an e n t i re book on range b o i l e r s a t the l o c a l c o m m u n i t y c o l l e g e in C o os B a y , by a m an nam ed S tarb u c k . W hat a useful book to the r u r a l wood heat gang. I t 's c h e a p hot w a t e r , fo lk s , and hot w a t e r is w h e re i t 's a t . If you have any q u e s t i o n s , w r i t e m e . I 'll t r y to a n s w e r .

Box 8 o a , M cK in ley Kte. M y r t l e Poin t, Oil 9 7 4 5 8

Good luck, P eter

36

A)

B)

C)

D)

E) F)

G)

H)

I)

J)

A shutoff valve l e t s you i s o l a t e the s y s ­ t e m f o r any r e p a i r s o r a l t e r a t i o n s . T h is is w h e re the w a t e r e n t e r s the s y s t e m .

A c h e c k v alv e o r o n e - w a y valve l e t s w a ­ t e r in the s y s t e m but not out; s o if a n y ­ thing i n t e r r u p t s the flow of w a t e r into the s y s t e m , the tank w ill s t a y full and the heating c o i l s w on 't burn up if the f ir e is going when the w a t e r s t o p s .

O T h e s e b o x e s a r e u n i o n s , a coupling that c o m e s a p a r t to d i s m a n t l e c o n n e c ­ tion s e a s i l y .

The s t o r a g e tank c an be m o s t any hot w a t e r h e a t e r , a s they a l l have s i m i l a r op en in g s. You should i n su la te the s t o r ­ a g e tank by w rap p ing it with f i b e r g l a s s o r s o m e t h i n g . Its p u r p o s e is to s t o r e hot w a t e r , and the b e t t e r i n s u la te d it i s , the l o n g e r the w 'ater s t a y s hot. We have hot w 'ater the n ext d ay , a f t e r d in n e r the night b e f o r e .

A c l e a n - o u t v alv e (a s c r e w - i n spig ot) l e t s you c l e a n out s e d i m e n t in the tan k.

The cold w a t e r n e a r the b o tto m of the s t o r a g e tank l e a v e s h e r e to flow' to the h eatin g c o i l s . The opening should be s lig h tly above the b ottom of the s t o r a g e tank, s o the s e d i m e n t in the tank w on't e n t e r the r e s t of the s y s t e m , but s e t tl e in the t a n k 's b o t t o m , to be c l e a n e d out with v alv e a t ( E ) .

At the lo w e s t point in the s y s t e m a union should be p la c e d to d r a i n the s y s t e m when n eeded . R e p a i r s c a n then be done without soak ing the h o u s e . A shutoff v alv e would be handy h e r e b e f o r e the union to keep w a t e r in the tank when the r e s t of the s y s t e m is d r y .

The w a t e r then flows into e i t h e r a h eat s to v e o r a cook s to v e to be h e a te d . F o r a h eat s t o v e , lay c o i l s of c o p p e r pipe on top of the s tove and c o v e r w ith a h eat r e ­ f l e c t o r (tin o r s h e e t m e t a l ) to hold the h eat in fo r q u i c k e r h e a tin g . M o s t cook s t o v e s have two h o les in the b ack of the f i r e b o x - - o n e c a n be f o r the cold w a t e r input, the o t h e r fo r hot w a t e r output.

C o m m o n ly the h eating c o i l s a r e ju st a round the f i r e b o x , but they can wind o v e r the o v e n - - t h e m o r e c o i l s e x p o s e d to h e a t, the q u i c k e r you g e t m o r e hot w a t e r . C o p p er tubing is the m o s t e f f i ­ c ie n t c o n d u c t o r of h eat I know of. It can be p ie ce d t o g e t h e r , s i n c e s o l d e r w on 't m e l t a s long a s w a t e r is in the p ipes; and if s o f t e r c o p p e r is u s e d , you c an bend it y o u r s e l f with an i n e x p e n siv e c o p ­ p e r b e n d e r.

The hot w a t e r r e t u r n pipe should be in a s d i r e c t a line a s p o s s i b l e to the s t o r a g e tank.

Kt

L)

M)

T h e r e should be an opening a t the v e r y top of the tank that should be u sed a s the hot w a t e r ou tp u t, supplying the pipe to the k itch en sink. The h o tte s t w a t e r will be a t the v e r y top of the tank and should be used f i r s t . If t h e r e i s n ' t an opening at the v e r y top, ( J ) , (K) and ( L) c a n be connected together.

(Note: don't c o n n e c t t o g e t h e r ( B ) , (C) and ( F ) , b e c a u s e the cold w a t e r input would b y p a ss the tank on the way to the heating c o i l s and e l i m i n a t e c i r c u l a t i o n in the tan k. ) B e f o r e the union at (K) t h e r e should be a p r e s s u r e r e l i e f v a l v e . If a l l the hot w a t e r y o u ' r e m aking i s n ' t being u s e d , it exp and s and c a u s e s p r e s s u r e and enough p r e s s u r e could blow up the s y s t e m . A p r e s s u r e r e l i e f v alv e opens a u t o m a t i c ­ a l l y to r e l i e v e p r e s s u r e and then c l o s e s .

S o l a r h eat hook -u p fo r s u m m e r is b lack p l a s t i c pipe with shutoffs a t (M) s o you c a n d r a i n it in the w i n t e r , o r t u rn it off a t night.

F o x V a l l e y G ay A s s o c i a t i o n , Box 186, S t r e a m wood, I L 60103 w'ould like to get in to u c h with folks in the C h i c a g o s u b u r b s . . . . A ll g r o u p s a r e r e q u e s t e d to send c o p i e s of t h e i r p u b li­ c a t io n s s o they c a n be included in the next edition of the D i r e c t o r y of H o m o s e x u a l O r ­ ga n i z a t io n s P u b l i c a t i o n s . Send to the H o m o s e x u a l In fo rm a ti o n C e n t e r , 6715 H o l l y ­ wood B lvd . , #210, Hollywood, CA 9 0 0 2 8 . . . .

P e o p l e a r e invited to sub m it m a n u s c r i p t s to gay fic tio n m a ga z i n e , 631 C a s t r o St. , San F r a n c i s c o, CA 94114. . , . Now the r e ' s a new s l e t t e r fo r g a y s in p r i s o n . F r e e to a l l p r i s ­ o n e r s and i n t e r e s t e d folk. W ri t e to Ronald E n d e r s b y , 2 5 6 Wr . 34th St. , N. \ , 10001. . . .

G a y s in c e n t r a l L o u i s i a n a now' have t h e i r f i r s t l o c a l p u b licatio n , the L o u i s i a n a G a y B l a d e , P . O . B o x 1583, A l e x a n d r i a , LA 71301. . . . An a l t e r n a t i v e , new age fi l m p r o ­ duction c o m p a n y , to be r u r a l b a s e d , is f o r m in g .

L ik e -h e a rte d p lease con ta ct H a r ­ vey R o ch m a n F i l m s , 305 W e s t End A v e. , N . Y V 100 2 3 , 2 1 2 - 8 7 4 - 5 0 0 0 . . . .

The hot w ate r input should e n t e r the tank n e a r the top but not a t the v e r y top.

37

LEE L e e , my m other, w ished to s p r e a d h e r legs to the E a r t h to bring the G r e a t M o t h e r on ce a g a i n into h e r .

She knew in s o m e j o y l e s s though c e l l u l a r way that h e r s a v i o r lay within the e a r t h .

So a l l the d r e a m s and futile y e a r n in g talk about a home In the c o u n t r y with a i r and g r e e n and a n i m a l s so a l l the e x o t i c h ealth fo ods, h e r b s , c o n c o c t i o n s , t e a s , vitam ins - cham om ile a l l the w ay f r o m C a l i f o rn i a the m e d i c i n e s of M o t h e r E a r t h brought to the c a n k e r s c a b of c i t y life.

L e e , m y m o t h e r , w as w e ird that way O rg a n ic before h e r t im e and no one, including L ee knew it.

T h at y earn in g and d r e a m 1 took f r o m my m o t h e r and now 1 find m y s e l f a ll th e se y e a r s l a t e r a f t e r a ll those vows of disengagem ent from her p ursuing h e r d e s i r e .

Sobeit.

I concede and r e t u r n to M o th e r E a r t h sm iling.

Sandy Lowe

38

cold m o un tain poet

we live in a c a b in high in the m o u n tain s we a r e a the r m o s t a t when it g e ts cold i shiver i put anothe r log in the s tove it g e t s w a r m you d ra w b ack your c h a ir your s m i l e overrides my con trol sudden ly the s tovep ip e fa lls f r o m the ceilin g s h a t t e r i n g m y mood into fr ig h t then funnines s a s we fix it to g e th e r and fo r a m oment i live happy ever afte r

john upson

39

We a r e a G ay C o m m u n a l " F a m i l y " with a s e c l u ded O z a rk r a n c h and a house in .NY C - - i n t o a l l the u su 4 J al com m unal, n atural, o rgan ic, e c o l o g i c a l i n t e r e s t s and g o a l s - - a l s o into the S e a r c h fo r T r u t h and M eaning of L i fe : p hilosoph y, p s y c h o l o g y , p e d a ­ go gy , the s c i e n c e s , a r t s , c r a f t s , m u s i c , e s o t e r i c re l i g i o n , m y s t i c a l philosophy, m e d ita tio n , a s t r o l o g y , T a n t r a y o g a , e t c . and v e r y m u ch into e a c h o t h e r .

If an yone out t h e r e is l i k e -m i n d e d , r e ­ l ia b le , s i n c e r e , yo ung, m a s c u l i n e , h a r d ­ w o rk in g , e t c - - in te re sted in our a l t e r n a t i v e l i f e s t y l e - - p l e a s e send in f o r m a t i o n l e t t e r to: O .N .B .

B ox 89 E a s t R u t h e r f o r d , NJ 0 7 0 7 3

p ears butch it i s n ' t a l l bluff. W hich is not t o s a y I d o n 't find butch m e n - - a n d the butch in m y s e l f - - r a t h e r a t t r a c t i v e . I t 's j u s t that m o r e often than not, butch o r fe m b e a r s no r e l a t i o n to a b ility to do f a r m w o r k . L i ttle shit is sh o veled with bluste r.

T h is e x c h a n g e is r a t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g fo r the i s s u e s it b ri n g s up. W e 'l l p ro b ab ly p rin t it.

I m u s t s a y yo u 've c a l le d fo r t h both m y i r e and m y h u m o r , a t r a d i t i o n a l I r i s h c o m b i ­ nation. I hope you s e r i o u s l y h e a r m y c r i t i ­ c i s m . I f e e l it is a t the r o o t of the w ay we fa g go ts i n t e r n a l i z e our own o p p r e s s i o n , and f o s t e r the o p p r e s s i o n of w o m en .

Chenille f o r R F D

D e a r O. N. B .

We a r e unwilling to p rin t a l e t t e r that in clu d e s s u c h stip u latio n s a s "young and m asculin e. " Indeed, we a l l have o u r s e x u a l f a n t a s i e s and p a r t i c u l a r a t t r a c t i o n s , but we ob je c t to the notion that s o m e o n e m u s t fulfill our s e x u a l fan tas y in o r d e r to be a living m a t e .

S e x i s t is ou r w ord for it; we w on 't p rin t su c h a l e t t e r .

RFD # * #

D ear RFD, It took a y e a r a f t e r leavin g S F and being s tu c k in S a c r a m e n t o and S anta R o s a , s o m e h a s s l e s and f a l s e s t a r t s , but I finally found ou r S h a n g r i - L a in a v a l l e y m id w ay b etw een P l a c e r v i l l e and J a c k s o n , C a l . , about 60 m i l e s e a s t of S a c r a m e n t o in the S i e r r a s .

H e m m e d in by t a ll p i n e s , has a 2 - a c r e lak e, a y e a r - r o u n d c r e e k , s p r i n g s , f e r t i l e s o i l and an apple o r c h a r d . W e 'v e got 25 a c r e s with option on a n o t h e r 4 0 within a y e a r .

Seeking b r o t h e r s to v i s i t fo r a few d ays and people to s h a r e life and lo v e , w o r k and m ello w ing out with u s. A r e a d i v e r s e e nough fo r a couple of c a b i n s , and t h e r e is an old h o m e s t e a d e r cabin that s o m e o n e could m ak e livab le. F o r now we plan to u s e an old t r a i l e r t h e r e and add a t e m p o r a r y 15x20 r o o m to it to live in. Then w i n te r g a r d e n , c h i c k e n s and g o a t s , g r e e n h o u s e , and s t a r t on p e r m a n e n t d w elling. T h e r e is enough a r e a and open ro lling land fo r a v a r i e t y of in terests.

So if anyone out t h e r e wants to ju st p lease w rite .

S irs- W'e had no such intention that the w o r d s "young and m a s c u l i n e " should c a r r y any s e x u a l c o n n o t a t i o n - - t h e y w e r e m e a n t to i n ­ d i c a t e the a b ility fo r f a r m w o r k - -and we a r e r a t h e r s u r p r i s e d that you read it that way.

But th en, you have m o r e e x p e r i e n c e with the p rin ted word than we h av e. P l e a s e om it any w o r d s that offend you.

Sorry, O .N .B . $ $ ❖ * $ Dea r O . N . B .

O. K , W e 111 prin t it.

But, a s a long t i m e q ueen, t r e e th i n ­ n e r , f a r m w o r k e r , d itch d i g g e r , shit s h o v e l e r and fem who is m oving t h ro u g h my t h i r t i e s with p r i d e , I m u s t s a y I find your l e t t e r ' s a s s u m p t i o n that y o u 'v e gotta be young and butch to do f a r m w o r k o p p r e s s i v e and r i ­ d icu lo u s.

Honey, I w on't b ore you with a l l the d e ­ t a i l s of all the fumbling butch s o r t s that I've w orked c i r c l e s a ro u n d . I do t r y to keep an open mind and a s s u m e b e c a u s e s o m e o n e a p -

Love, S te v e G i n s b e rg J i m C larke Omo R an ch Road S t a r Route S o m e r s e t , CA 9 5 6 8 4 P . S . And yes t h a t 's the a d d r e s s fo r r e a l .

P l e a s e no m i s s p e l l i n g s of the ro ad n a m e .

Omo Ran ch w as a l u m b e r town f r o m 1888 to 1973 when a f i r e burned the f o r e s t and the m ill c l o s e d .

40

D ear R F C , We ( P h i l and B r a d ) a r e l o v e r s / f r i e n d s who w ill be m o vin g in e a r l y S e p t e m b e r to a r u r a l m oun tain f a r m n e a r C h a r l o t t e s v i l l e , V i r g i n i a . We a r e e a g e r to m e e t a n d / o r h e a r f r o m folks who live in that a r e a o r who m a y be thinking of moving t h e r e .

A f t e r living t h e r e f o r a couple of m o n t h s , we a r e open to s h a r i n g the f a r m with one o r two o t h e r f o l k s - - w i t h no thought o r e x p e c t a t i o n now of who th ose folks m ight be and how we would r e l a t e e x c e p t we would like and en joy e a c h o t h e r in a p o s itiv e a t ­ m o s p h e r e of s u p p o rt.

A s love r s / f r i e n d s f o r tw o y e a r s , we have ou r s h a r e of d i f f e r e n t n eeds and i n t e r ­ e s t s . But s o m e of the things we s h a r e in c o m m o n a r e an e n j o y m e n t of c l o s e f r i e n d s , the o u td o o r s ( c a n o e i n g , s w i m m i n g , hiking), talk in g , laughing, the a p p r e c i a t i o n of t i m e needed a l o n e , r e a d i n g , q u i e t n e s s , and the joy and high of f r ie n d s gettin g t o g e t h e r .

And throw in the f e a r s , i n s e c u r i t i e s , n e g a ­ tive things about o u r s e l v e s th at we d on 't like and w o r k on chan gin g. P l u s the c h a o s of b u r e a u c r a t i c jobs fo r 6 y e a r s .

P l e a s e w r i t e if it sounds like w e ' r e of kindred h e a r t and let us begin to know e a c h o t h e r b e t t e r . M ail w ill be f o r w a r d e d f r o m the W as h in g to n a d d r e s s .

Many r e g a r d s , B rad Poston 1882 C o lum bia Rd NW Apt. 23 W as h in g to n , DC 20009

D e a r G u ys a t R F D , I'd like to h e a r f r o m s o m e people in Canada who w ant to get out into the c o u n t r y o r who a r e a l r e a d y t h e r e . I'd like to have a s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t s m a l l f a r m , r a i s e a few c r o p s , have a few a n i m a l s , o r g a n i c g a r d e n , and p u r su e m y w eaving and m a c r a m e i n t e r ­ ests.

I ' m 31 with a full b e a r d , d a r k . L ove m u s ic , tra v e lin g , c r a f t s , h ouseplants, n at­ u r a l fo o d s, e c o l o g y , re a d i n g . I 'm g ay and P i s c e s . S tuck in a c i t y b etw een H a m ilto n and N i a g a r a F a l l s . Would love to v is it f a r m s in the p r o v i n c e . Should be r e a d y to m o ve by 1977 o r ' 7 8 . Will a n s w e r a l l .

Sunshine and w a r m n igh ts, P a u l M . Mann P . O. B o x 971 St. C a t h e r i n e s , Ont, C an ad a L 2 R 6 Z 4 D ear RFD, I a m looking fo r a s t a b l e , c r e a t i v e and v e r y s p e c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p with a n o t h e r m a le of s t r o n g i n t e g r i t y , refined and h e a l t h - m i n d ­ ed, loving and p o s i t i v e , and seekin g a m e d i ­ t a tiv e but p ro d u c tiv e l i f e s t y l e re f l e c t i n g joyou s a f f i r m a t i o n s of n a t u r e w ith e m p h a s i s on a e s t h e t i c e x c e l l e n c e , s e l f - i m p r o v e m e n t and s p i r i t u a l m a t u r i t y . I live in the c o u n t r y and have a lot of book s, fine m u s i c and a r t , u nusual p lants and h e r b s , s m a l l g r e e n h o u s e , p o u l t r y , b e e s , and eq u ip m en t f o r w orkin g in wood, s i l k s c r e e n and p h o to g r a p h y , a s w ell a s a v e r i t a b l e g a r d e n of E d e n ( o r g a n i c , of c o u r s e ) th at I would enjoy s h a r i n g . I a m 35, m ig ht c o n s i d e r r e l o c a t i n g , e s p e c i a l l y to a m o r e t r o p i c a l c l i m a t e , and w ill r e p l y to any c o r r e s p o n d e n c e including photo a n d / o r a s t r o l o g i c a l d a t a , with s a m e . '< j A aron Xl \d P . O. B o x 5 2 3 3 T'\\ C a r m e l , CA 9392l\

D e a r G ay B r o t h e r s I hope to le a v e fo r a t r i p a ro u n d the c o u n t r y in s e a r c h of a c o m m u n a l s itu atio n o r p e rh a p s a gay b r o t h e r

^ 1

out t h e r e s o m e w h e r e who would like to have m e stop in f o r a day o r lo n g e r if p o s s i b l e to e x p e r i e n c e If'1 the c o u n t r y t r i p . I would like to c o v e r the c o u n t r y a s a w h ole. A l s o , if t h e r e a r e any gay b r o t h e r s in the N o r t h ­ e a s t who a r e i n t e r e s t e d in t r a v e l i n g with m e , I plan to l e a v e s o m e ti m e in the e a r l y s p rin g ' l l . I would w e l c o m e any and a l l m a i l c o n ­ c e r n i n g e i t h e r a p la ce to s t a y o r p oten tial travel b roth ers.

I a m h ealthy , s t r o n g , e a r l y 3 0 ' s and hope to tak e ro o t with s o m e o n e in a c o m m u ­ nal o r s i n g u l a r c o u n t r y a t m o s p h e r e . 1 have e x p e r i e n c e in p r a c t i c a l l y all m an u al skill a c t i v i t i e s and a m w ell ed u c ated a l s o . P l e a s e w r i t e by M a r c h 1, 1977 at the v e r y l a t e s t .

D ear RFD, I a m living in a c o m m u n a l f a m i l y . We have a n ice g a r d e n , r a i s e g o a t s , c h i c k e n s , and b e e s in N o r t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a . We have a f r o z e n s o y b u r g e r b u s i n e s s to help su p p o rt u s.

I want o t h e r gay m e n t o join our loving, s u p p o rtiv e fa m i l y . I a m one of tw o men h e r e with five w o m e n and two c h i l d r e n .

Our i n t e r e s t s a r e v a r i e d but we could be c a l le d " s p i r i t u a l l y o r i e n t e d , l e ft i s t r e v o ­ l u t i o n a r i e s , who a r e n o n - s e x i s t f e m i n i s t s into p r a c t i c a l h e d o n is m and the e a r t h . " If you a r e i n t e r e s t e d , p l e a s e w r i t e and we c an s h a r e m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n and a r r a n g e a visit.

Love, Howa rd Rt. 1, Box 191 O r o v i l l e , CA 9 5 9 6 5

Love and love a g a i n , C harlie W ayrynen 27 F red e r i c k St. H a r t f o r d , Conn. Uol05 203-232-1825 41

D ear RFD, I hope you s t il l e x i s t !

I will p rob ab ly be buying land up in No. M in n esota this w i n te r and would like to m e e t s o m e people who m ight be i n t e r e s t e d in joining m e building a c o o p e r a t i v e f a r m in the w i l d e r n e s s ( v e r y cold in w i n t e r ) . I have e x p e r i e n c e with c o - o p fa r m i n g situ atio n s and h o m e s t e a d i n g .

I a m v e r y good a t c a r p e n t r y , e l e c t r i c a l s , plum bing, m e c h a n i c s . I've built a wind g e n ­ e r a t o r (1200 w a t t s , 32 vo lts) and I’ ve p r o ­ duced m eth an e fo r cooking and hot w a t e r .

P r e s e n t l y I 'm living in M i n n e a p o lis , w o r k i n g - - s u b - c o n t r a c t i n g w irin g and plum b ­ ing. I've been spending my s p a r e tim e this s u m m e r building a w o o d / c o a l g a s g e n e r a t o r for my old s t r a i g h t eigh t P o n t i a c , and i t 's n e a r c o m p l e t i o n . I b eliev e in b eco m in g e n ­ e r g y and food s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t and not being c o n t r o l l e d by e n e r g y m o n o p o lie s and 1 want to p ro d u ce e n e r g y a s " c l e a n " a s p o s s i b l e .

I 'm a l s o thinking about building t h e s e " g a s o -g e n s " for f a r m e r s .

If you a r e i n t e r e s t e d - - w r i t e - - t e l l me what you want to do. I a m 9 9 . 9% fag go t, 21, L i b r a , 6 ' 4 " , 180 lb s. , brown e y e s , d a r k brown h a i r .

I have not u sed dope and a l c o h o l in 4 y e a r s - - I ' m not a r e l i g i o u s fa n a tic e i t h e r .

I ' m not into d r a g , b a r s and a l l th at. P l e a s e send p h o t o - - I will too.

K im B r e t t n g e n 2416 Humbolt A ve. S. Dear RFD,

M p ls. Minn.

5 d4 0 d

I would like to m ak e c o n t a c t s with people who know of f a r m s o r o u t s i d e - o f - s m a l l - t o w n c ity h o u ses fo r ren t o r maybe even a r o o m o r a p a r t m e n t in su c h a s p a c e , a s I a m l u s t ­ fully looking fo r solitude a g a i n - - a f t e r two y e a r s of v e r y full c i t y living. F o r those c o n c e r n e d with p o s sib le ren tin g, I 'm non­ d o p e r , n o n - a l c o h o l i c , like quiet a c t i v i t i e s , m u s i c , sew in g , re a d i n g , e t c .

T hank you, Rane R i c h a r d s o n 1801 2nd A ve. So. #34A M in n eap o lis , Mn, 5 5 4 0 3 Dear RFD, Gay life in the c o u n t r y is v e r y a t t r a c t i v e to m e. I have a longing fo r a fam ily I n e v e r had, and f o r i n t im a c y that is difficult to e s ­ tab lish with 9 5 , 0 0 0 gay m en . I long fo r

42

p e a c e and c o m p a n io n sh ip . I need to live in the c o u n tr y with a g rou p of m e n wtio have open, h o n est r e l a t i o n s h i p s and who like to w o rk a t th a t. I'd like to s ew , paint, o r do s o m e o t h e r c r a f t with o t h e r s . I need t h i s , but I want to do it c a r e f u l l y s o I ' m s u r e I a m doing the rig ht thing fo r m y s e l f . I a m 3 5 , w e l l - e d u c a t e d , and I like to w o r k . If you think you m a y have s p a c e in y o u r life fo r m e , w r i t e m e and l e t ' s get a c q u a in te d .

S incerely, C h a r l e s B . C aleb au gh P . O. B o x 99618 S tatio n " O " San F r a n c i s c o , CA 94109 D ear RFD, I would like to h e a r f r o m o t h e r g a y s .

My life h e r e is r a t h e r lonely and b o rin g .

M o s t of m y f r i e n d s live out of s t a t e and in n earb y larg e c itie s .

T h e r e a r e two g ay b a r s h e r e (I d rin k v e r y little) but I fe e l I c an n o t be s e e n going in o r c o m in g out of t h e m . I have m an y r e l a ­ t iv e s and s t r a i g h t fr i e n d s living h e r e . They ju s t would not u n d e rs t a n d o r a c c e p t m y g a y ­ n e s s . My i m m e d i a t e f a m i l y knows so I have no p r o b l e m t h e r e .

I a m s u r e if the f a c t s w e r e known a t w o r k I would lo s e m y job.

A m v e r y s i n c e r e , kind and h o n e st. I have found th a t t h e r e s e e m to be v e r y few s i n c e r e , h on est gay p eop le.

I love to t r a v e l , hike, run, d a n c e , c o o k , bowl, tennis and a n t i q u e s . Anyone com in g Ohio way would be w e l c o m e to c a l l and stop by.

I have a v e r y s m a l l g a r d e n .

Life is too s h o r t to be b o red and lon ely.

O n e's looks m e a n nothing to m e . I t 's the p e r s o n that c o u n t s .

C a n 't think of anything e l s e and i t ' s too hot to e v e n think. I would love to h e a r f r o m anyone and p r o m i s e to a n s w e r a ll.

Tak e c a r e and be good to one a n o t h e r .

L o v e you, 128 S. M c D a n i e l , Apt 4 L i m a , Ohio 45801 Dear RFD, I live in the c o u n t r y h e r e in N e b r a s k a and a m looking fo r s o m e o n e to c o m e s tay with m e . Would like to h e a r f r o m anybody i n t e r e s t e d . A lso I'd like to know if t h e r e ' s

anyone that m ight a c c e p t m e (age 341 to t h e i r p l a c e . Would like s o m e p l a c e v e r y r e ­ m o t e . 1 have two d o g s , one c a t and one b ird .

Love, G r e g g Hoove r Box 434 N orth P l a t t e , Neb. 69101 D ear RFD, A frien d in T e x a s sen t m e the w i n te r e dition of R F D and wow! How g r e a t to know t h e r e e x i s t a w a r e g ay s th rou gh ou t the s t a t e s , in r u r a l a r e a s .

I have b e c o m e a w a r e , of l a t e , of the s e x ­ i s t h o r r o r s of c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y , and a m in need of c o m m u n i c a t i o n with any g r o u p , o r individual, e s p e c i a l l y r u r a l c o m m u n e s lo o k ­ ing f o r new' m e m b e r s .

A t t i m e s it is painful, being a w a r e of b a s i c p r o b l e m s with my l i f e s t y l e h e r e in M e t r o New Y o r k C ity . M o s t of m y day is spent in M an h attan , and I c a n ' t take the NYC bar scene much longer.

I live in a s t r a i g h t , c o n s u m e r - p e o p l e sub urb. . . a n d d e s p e r a t e l y need a t l e a s t c o r ­ r e s p o n d e n c e with a w a r e people living with nature.

I t 's d ifficult to m e e t t h e s e people h e r e .

I a m t w e n t y - t h r e e , a b l e - b o d i e d and w illing to w o r k and l e a r n .

P le a se w rite, Bobby C a r m o d y 8610 Kennedy Blvd.

No. B e r g e n , NJ 07047

on the o u ts id e . And m ay b e th rou gh l e t t e r s 1 could get s o m e th in g going with s o m e o n e . I a m locked up h e re in C ellh o u se * 2 0 . 1 a m u nd er lock and key 24 h ou rs a day and i t 's a r e a l b u m m e r . I d o n 't know how long i t ' s been s i n c e I'v e g o tten a l e t t e r . 1 love to w r i t e , t h a t ’ s about all a p e r s o n c an do in a p l a c e like t h i s . S ince I a m a p r i s o n e r , 1 would like t o r you to send m e yo ur m a g a ­ z in e . Would that be p o s s i b l e ? My friend t e i l s m e I c a n get the m ag f r e e if I ' m a p r i s ­ o n e r . A l s o fe e l f r e e to put m y n a m e in i t - I love to get m a i l . I t 's s o lonely in this r a t - h o l e . I think m y t im e would go a lot b e t t e r , and I could have s o m e th in g to look f o r w a r d to ( m a i l ) .

Hoping to h e a r f r o m you, o r s o m e ­ body, r e a l soon.

Y ours tru ly, Clyde D. P o o l e r #400995 Box 316 F o r t M a d i s o n , Iowa D ear RFD, 52627 I a m w ritin g to let you know how m u c h I have a p p r e c i a t e d yo ur Spring '7 6 i s s u e . I found it quite by a c c i d e n t on a v i s i t to New Y o r k s o m e t i m e late in A p r i l , I g u e s s .

S ince then I'v e gone up to v i s i t with the B u t t e r w o r t h F a r m people and have c o m e b ack with a new i n s p i r a t i o n to guide m y f u t u re .

T h e i r a c h i e v e m e n t s and c o n c r e t e r e a l i z a t i o n of m an y g o a l s and i d e a s th at I'v e had o v e r the p a s t few y e a r s w a s a r e v e l a t i o n . I 'm r e a l l y thankful fo r the p r o v i d e n t i a l running a c r o s s of y o u r p ub licatio n.

I a m living in the m iddle of d a i r y c o u n ­ t r y now although I w a s r a i s e d m o r e o r l e s s "down the c i t y " . 1 had spent m u c h t i m e in the c o u n t r y a s a c h ild , h o w e v e r , s i n c e my g r a n d p a r e n t s a l w a y s had a house in e a s t e r n D u t c h e s s Co. A f t e r having lived h e r e s u m ­ m e r s for fo ur y e a r s , and now a f t e r a long w i n te r a s w e ll, I'v e d ecid ed th at w h e r e v e r m y life m a y tak e m e o v e r the n ext few y e a r s I s t il l will ev en tu ally s e t t l e in a r u r a l a r e a .

I'v e been c o n s i d e r i n g the c o a s t of M aine b e ­ c a u s e I fe e l a t home m o s t , I think, on a r o c k y s e a c o a s t with lots of i s l a n d s . The fa c t th at it d o e s n 't get too hot in s u m m e r is i m p o r t a n t too'. If t h e r e a r e any M a i n i a c s out t h e r e who have any s u g g e s t i o n s a n d / o r e x p e r i e n c e s to s h a r e , I'd r e a l l y like to h e a r f r o m t h e m . A l s o , I would like to know if t h e r e a r e any r e a d e r s in my g e n e r a l a r e a w hich is C o lu m b ia C o . , N. Y . It s u r e would be nice to s e e s o m e fe llow ship aro un d h e r e , and anyone in So. B e r k s h i r e Co. , M a. o r No. D u t c h e s s C o . , N . Y , a r e w e l c o m e too.

E v e n a s h o r t note would be g r e a t .

You rs in p e a c e , E r i c K r i s t e n sen HD #1 C o p ak e, N . Y . 12516

D ear RFD, I would like to m e e t , c o r r e s p o n d with s o m e o n e who is i n t e r e s t e d in s h a r i n g , c a r ­ ing, giving w a r m t h and lo v e, who s e e s h u ­ m a n r e l a t i o n s h i p a s an i n t e g r a l p a r t of s e l f g r o w th . I would like to c o r r e s p o n d with s o m e o n e who lo v e s the e a r t h and h i m s e l f , and who would enjoy s h a r i n g it with a n o t h e r .

I a m 2 5 , and have s u r v i v e d in this c i t y , l e a rn in g f r o m it, fo r 3 y e a r s . Now the tim e has c o m e when I need the e a r t h a gain . I know now that I c an s u r v i v e in a c ity but I a m m o r e c o m p l e t e l y hum an c l o s e to the e a r t h .

I a m a v e g e t a r i a n and I p r a c t i c e yoga.

I a m w on d erfu l with p la n ts . I a m a good w o r k e r , and I en joy living. So if you have r o o m and would like s o m e c o m p a n y p le a s e let m e know.

T ony 1540 F e l l St. S. F . , CA 94117 D e a r F r i e n d s of R F D , I got yo ur a d d r e s s f r o m a fr iend of mine in h e r e . A nyw ay, I a m an in m ate h e r e at the Iowa S tate P r i s o n .

Like my fr i e n d , I am gay.

The r e a s o n I a m w ritin g you is b e c a u s e I do not get m a i l o r v i s i t s f r o m an y o n e. I would like v e r y m u ch to s t a r t w ritin g to o t h e r men

43

Dear RFD, I would like v e r y m u c h to e s c a p e the u r ­ ban ra t r a c e and find s o m e c o u n t r y soul who w ill a s s i s t m e .

Okay, v ita ls : I'm 2 9 , 6 - 1 , 150. G rew up in r u r a l Ohio. I 'm a l o n g h a i r , b eard ed m ellow c r e a t u r e . I c an c o o k , plant and build s o m e . I 'm a little out of p r a c t i c e with a g r i c u l t u r e , but I 'm s u r e it w ouldn't be hard to pick up ag a in . I 'm not looking fo r urban l u x u r i e s o r being a couple of m i l e s aw ay fr o m town in a c o u n t r y l o c a t i o n . I 'm not a v e r s e to it to any e x t e n t , but I would p r e f e r not wallowing in an u rb an s p r a w l . I a m a v e g e t a r i a n , into p h o tograp h y , m u s i c , c a m p ­ ing, hiking, m o u n ta in s, o c e a n s . I live s i m ­ ply and d on 't get into h a s s l e s , r o l e - p l a y i n g o r o t h e r s o c i a l i z e d a c t i o n s . I 'v e got my a c t f a i r l y c l e a n e d and s t il l w orking on it ( i t 's a lifetim e p r o j e c t ) .

If you can a s s i s t me in c o n t a c t i n g people who m ay be i n t e r e s t e d in m e , you will have perform ed a gre a t s e rv ic e . * Thank you, Lynne D avis 13011 N orth 15th S t r e e t Tam pa, Fla. 33612

We a l l enjoy read in g R F D , but I have been d isap po inted in the la c k of l e t t e r s f r o m o u r a r e a . I would like to h e a r f r o m a gay m an n e a r h e r e who would en joy spending a weekend o r so in the c o u n t r y and m e e t s o m e i n t e r e s t i n g n e w l y - r u r a l p eop le.

Edd ie Woods Rt. #3 S tam p ing G ro un d , KY 40379 D ear RFD frie n d s R F D is a r e a l p l e a s u r e . I a p p r e c i a t e a l l y o u r c a r i n g , p a r t i c i p a t i o n , and the a c t i v e and p a s s i v e r e a d e r s h i p you c o n t r i ­ bute. T h a n k s . I s t a r t feeling t h e r e is a c o m m u n i t y out t h e r e and would like to be in touch with anyone wanting to w r i t e , e x ­ chan ge r e m e d i e s , pay a v i s i t . . . j u s t pull t o g e t h e r s o m eh o w .

I live on 20 a c r e s in a s m a l l cab in I built (432 sq ft to be e x a c t ) with lots of d eck s p a c e and the c e n t r a l O reg on C a s c a d e p eaks to the w e s t . I g e t l o n e s o m e out here.

I talk to my d o g s , look a t the mountains, re a d a lot, and with the addition of e l e c ­ t r i c i t y , l i s t e n to c l a s s i c a l m u s i c . I love it h e r e , and it n eeds to be s h a r e d . I c a n ' t im a g in e c a r r y i n g out any of the e s c a p e plans th at have m e in San F r a n c i s c o o r W a s h i n g ­ ton. W e ll, p e r h a p s M e x i c o .

Th ank s a g a in , v i s i t o r s w e l c o m e .

D ear RFD, T h is is to an nounce a joyful change of a d d r e s s . We finally bought ou r f a r m ; my p a r t n e r s a r e a s t r a i g h t couple and t h e i r c hild . We have 100 a c r e s of hill c o u n t r y b e ­ tween L exin g to n , Ky. and C in cin n ati c o m ­ plete with f a r m h o u s e , b a rn , p a s t u r e s and f o r e s t . Spring is s o beautiful h e r e . We a r e grow ing a g a r d e n , ren tin g h o r s e and cow p a s t u r e to n e a rb y f a r m e r s , and w orking in town to m e e t p a y m e n t s . E v e n t u a l l y we will do f a r m i n g on a f u l l - t i m e b a s i s .

T o m Duke 64610 Bend Redmond Highway B e n d , OR 97701

including two who a r e making a living a s o r ­ g an ic f a r m e r s . The reunion b e c a m e the c o m ­ pletion of a c y c l e th at had begun in g r a d e s c h o o l , continued t h ro u g h high s c h o o l and i n ­ to our " a d u l t " l iv e s a s we ven tu red beyond the s h e l t e r and s o m e t i m e s the i n n o c e n c e of our youth. Y et, while it w as a c o m p l e t i o n of s o r t s , it f o s t e r e d the b egin nin gs, at l e a s t , of s o m e new and r e - n e w e d fr i e n d s h i p s which m a y grow beyond the o n c e - a - y e a r e x c h a n g e

( S t r a i g h t e s t One: continued f r o m page 3 5 ) and d r e a m s on a v e r y p e r s o n a l l e v e l . T h e i r two sons b e fo r e they w ent to bed gav e m e p i c ­ t u r e s they had d raw n for m e.

It w as during the d r i v e back to Iowa the next day that the e x t r a o r d i n a r i n e s s of what had t r a n s p i r e d s t r u c k m e . F o r one thing, I n e ith e r w as involved in nor o v e r h e a r d a c o n ­ v e r s a t i o n that w as n o s t a l g i c . We talked of the r e c e n t p ast and, m o r e f r e q u e n tly , the p r e s e n t . I w as p l e a s a n t l y s u r p r i s e d to d i s ­ c o v e r that they we re o t h e r people in the c l a s s who had grow n beyond the r a t h e r s t r i c t c o n ­ fines of the s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e we had been r a i s e d in. Our c l a s s had prod u ced s o m e f e m ­ i n i s t s , a few C o n s c ie n t i o u s O b j e c t o r s , people who had lived in c o m m u n a l s i tu a t i o n s , m e d i ­ t a t o r s , and people living out in the c o u n tr y

of g r e e t i n g s a t C h r i s t m a s t i m e . I c e r t a i n l y hope so .

S t e w a r t S c o fie ld , Iowa

44

BUYING LAND IS H A R D E R THAN YOU THINK In yo ur s u m m e r '7 b i s s u e you published an a r t i c l e titled ’’Buying Land Is E a s i e r Than You T hink" w hich I w r o t e in Ju n e 1975.

S ince that ti m e I have grow n and ch a n g e d . I w a s t h e r e f o r e quite s u r p r i s e d and slig h tly a m u s e d to be c o n fro n te d in p rin t with 'old' thinking. While I think the i n f o r m a t i o n in the a r t i c l e i s s t i l l e s s e n t i a l l y c o r r e c t and p e r h a p s u s e f u l to s o m e p e o p l e , I a m in to u c h

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now with an i m p o r t a n t q u e s tio n th at I c o m ­ p le te ly o v e r l o o k e d .

E v e n if t h ro u g h h a rd w o r k at s t r a i g h t jobs in the c i t y a fag go t o r g r o u p of fag go ts

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is ab le to s a v e enough m o n e y to m a k e a down p a y m e n t on c o u n t r y p r o p e r t y , how a re t h e y g oing to su rv iv e once t h e y g et the r e ?

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T h e r e i n l i e s m y b i g g e s t c r i t i c i s m of R E D . While R F D d oes a t r e m e n d o u s job in s h a r i n g a feelin g of c o u n t r y life (and d on 't m i s u n d e r s t a n d m e , I think this a s p e c t ij; i m ­ p o r t a n t ) , R F D d oes not a d e q u a te ly d e a l with the b i g g e s t o b s t a c l e to c o u n t r y living for m o s t f a g g o t s , n a m e l y , m o n e y . It is t r u e th at you o c c a s i o n a l l y publish a r t i c l e s on p r a c t i c a l , e c o n o m i c a l w ay s to build s o m e ­ thing and t h e s e would c e r t a i n l y be helpful to an y c o u n t r y i n i t i a t e , but this is not enough.

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We c i ty fag g o ts and, I s u s p e c t , m a n y c o u n ­ t r y fag g o ts a l s o , need c o n c r e t e i d e a s on how to e a r n an i n c o m e to m ak e m onthly land p a y ­ m e n t s without depending on a c i ty job, so th at e s c a p i n g the a l i e n a ti o n of c i t y life is a r e a l i t y fo r an yon e who w ants it.

B e c a u s e m y f a m i l y has m o n e y , I w as not in to u c h with this s i m p le and obvious l i m ­

(y ffo r n n /n /s

to alienation

BIMONTHLY TABLOID JOURNAL OF HUMAN LIBERATION SELF-ALIENATION AND OVERCOMING IT SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY SOCIAL CHANGE AND POLITICS 12 ISSUES: $4. U S. $4.50

ita tio n to c o u n t r y living. A y e a r a g o I w a s not a w a r e of the p o s s i b i l i t i e s open to me w hich a r e not open to m o s t p eop le. C o n s e ­ quen tly I w r o t e the a r t i c l e to t a l l y oblivious to t h e s e f a c t s .

It is c o m p l e t e l y unjust that a few people have the option fo r c o u n t r y life while the m a ­ j o r i t y a r e t r a p p e d in the c i ty with no p o s s i ­ b ility of e s c a p e . We need to fig u r e out why this is s o and what we c an do to change it.

T h is is what I a m doing now and a m d e fi n ­ i t e l y i n t e r e s t e d in joining with o t h e r s to s h a r e in this w o r k . I a s k that R F D a l s o be m o r e r e a l i s t i c and join th ose of us who a r e w orking on this p r o b l e m .

With love and s u p p o rt, Kent Newby

45

Hey P a n s y : G u e s s w h a t ? You sen t us enough m o ney to pay our d ebts and p rin t this i s s u e ! Thanks v e r y m u ch for yo ur faith in u s. It is c l e a r we a l l want and need R F D .

We have r e c e i v e d $ 2 9 5 8 . 08 s i n c e layout 13 w eek s ago ! An a v e r a g e of $ 2 2 7 . 54 a w eek .

T h a t 's $100 a w eek m o r e than b a r e s u r v i v a l .

Of c o u r s e the c o n t ri b u t i o n s will p ro b ab ly t a ­ p e r off ('though we c e r t a i n l y don't want to e n ­ c o u r a g e that) a s the c r i s i s s u b s i d e s . Our m o m e n t a r y s u c c e s s will be the b a s i s of s o m e s e c u r i t y during the lean m o nth s a h e a d . $1000 c a m e in 19 s e p a r a t e d o n a tio n s. The r e s t of the in co m e c a m e in s u b s c r i p t i o n s , s m a l l d o n a tio n s, and book s t o r e s paying up t h e i r o v e rd u e a c c o u n t s .

We a l s o need m o r e b o o k s t o r e s and ot h e r ou tlets to d i s t r i b u t e R F D . Two of our l a r g e s t book s t o r e d i s t r i b u t o r s w r o t e asking us to i n c r e a s e t h e i r p e r c e n t a g e of the r e t a i l p r i c e . We h ave been giving b o o k s t o r e s 20£ on the d o l l a r r e t a i l p r i c e . T h a t 's r i d i c u ­ lously low! B a s i c a l l y , w e 'v e been rely in g on t h e ir good will to c a r r y u s . But 20% does not pay th e i r o v e r h e a d . We could not r e c e i v e l e s s than 8 0 £ , s o we have d ecid ed to r a i s e the re t a i l p r i c e to $1. 25. B o o k s t o r e s will keep 4 0 f and w e 'l l get 8 5 9 .

Hopefully this s m a l l p r i c e i n c r e a s e will get us into m o r e b o o k s t o r e s and i n c r e a s e c i r c u l a t i o n , but i t 's a solid c o r e of s u b s c r i p ­ tions that will s e c u r e the continued p u b l i c a ­ tion of R F D . U e have a l m o s t 7 0 0 s u b s c r i b ­ e r s now; an i n c r e a s e of 100 s i n c e the l a s t i s s u e . We need 2 0 0 m o r e to give us a sound fin an cial b ase th rou gh r e n e w a l m o n e y . With g r e a t e r s o l v e n c y we hope to be able to i n ­ clude tiie c o s t of lab or in the p r i c e of R F D .

At l i r s t , the r e m u n e r a t i o n we would r e c e i v e would be s m a l l ( v e r y s m a l l ) and p e rh a p s would i n c r e a s e in t i m e . Until now a l l lab or has been f r e e l y given. Sweet a s this m a y be, the a r r a n g e m e n t b e c o m e s i n c r e a s i n g l y p r e ­ c a r i o u s and b u r d e n s o m e f o r the R F D c o l l e c ­ tive who, a f t e r a l l , a r e s i m p l e , h a r d - w o r k i n ' c o u n tr y folk.

In the m e a n t i m e , d e a r f r i e n d s , you c a n still s a v e a buck a y e a r by s u b s c r i b i n g to

R F D . S u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e s w ill s t a y a t $ 4 / y r . a t l e a s t until S p rin g . R F D h as been u n d e r p r i c e d fo r s o long th at i t ' s difficult finding a r e a s o n a b l e and sound p r i c e . We e n c o u r a g e you to s u b s c r i b e o r e xten d y o u r s u b s c r i p t i o n now and take a d v a n ta g e of o u r i n c r e d i b l y low r a t e s . A r e m i n d e r : R F D m a k e s an a b s o ­ lutely m a r v e l o u s gift fo r W i n t e r S o l s t i c e - Saturnalia.

E X T R A IN F O In ad dition to the m o n e y and s u b s c r i p ­ t i o n s , m a n y of you have b een w atch in g R F D a s it g r o p e s its w ay to w a r d D efinition and S o lv e n c y have a l s o c o n trib u te d fun f a n t a s i e s , c r i t i c i s m and c o g e n t b u s i n e s s t i p s . W e'd like to s h a r e s o m e of t h e s e s u g g e s t i o n s with you. F i r s t , the fun: * S om e fr i e n d s in C a l i f o r n i a a r e p l a n ­ ning H allow een P o t l u c k s , d a n c e s , t r i b a l g a t h e r i n g s , T u p p e r w a r e p a r t i e s and the like to r a i s e s u b s c r i p t i o n s and funds f o r R F D .

P l e a s e send us photos if you do! * O th er e n t h u s i a s t s have b e c o m e v o l ­ u n t e e r d i s t r i b u t o r s , in tro d u cin g R F D to l o c a l b o o k s t o r e s , b a r s , h ealth food s t o r e s , c o - o p s and l i b r a r i e s in t h e i r own c i t i e s and towns in C a l i f o r n i a , O reg o n , T e x a s , Ohio and N orth C a r o l i n a . W h e th e r you live in the c o u n t r y or in town you know the b e s t o u tle ts fo r R F D in yo ur a r e a f a r b e t t e r than we. * F r i e n d s in S anta C r u z sen t us a s m a l l en do w m en t p e r m i t t i n g us to a d v e r t i s e in M o t h e r E a r t h N ew s. O ther s u c h r e c o m ­ m en d atio n s and c o n trib u tio n s a r e c e r t a i n l y w elcom e. * A n o t h e r fa n t a s y in v o lv es the u se of R F D b u m p e r s t i c k e r s , window d e c a l s and T - s h i r t s . Anyone who is i n t e r e s t e d and can help us with t h e s e p r o j e c t s p l e a s e let us know. * F i n a l l y , we r e c e i v e d a n u m b e r of h a r d - c o r e c r i t i c i s m s involving layout and o r g a n i z a t i o n w hich we a r e taking to h e a r t ; and s o m e i m p e r a t i v e b u s i n e s s s u g g e s t i o n s w hich we a r e i m p l e m e n tin g with th is i s s u e .

Hopefully t h e s e in novation s and c h a n g e s will m e e t m an y of y o u r needs and m o ve us tow ard g r e a t e r solvency.

4t>

P R IC E The r e t a i l p r i c e of R F D w ill be i n c r e a s e d to $ 1 . 2 5 , beginning with this i s s u e . r a t e w ill continue a t $4 f o r fo u r i s s u e s . S u b s c r i b e now and s a v e !

The s u b s c r i p t i o n

D ISTRIBU TIO N B o o k s t o r e d i s t r i b u t o r s w ill keep 4 0 ? out of the $ 1 . 2 5 they r e c e i v e f o r e a c h copy (a 3 2 i d i s c o u n t ) and m a y o r d e r d i r e c t l y f r o m R F D . V o l u n t e e r s who w ish to in tro d u c e R F D to lo c a l b o o k s t o r e s o r ou tle ts m a y a l s o o r d e r d i r e c t l y f r o m u s . All d i s t r i b u t o r s get full c r e d i t fo r r e t u r n e d c o p i e s .

ADVERTISING We s o l i c i t and w e l c o m e a d v e r t i s i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y f r o m gay owned and o r i e n t e d b u s i n e s s e s and g r o u p s . The r a t e s a r e : $5 p e r c o l u m n in ch ( l " x 3 " ) , c a m e r a r e a d y , b l a c k and white c o p y .

EXCHANGE A new R F D E x c h a n g e c o lu m n w ill be in t ro d u c e d beginning with our W i n t e r i s s u e . T h is will e n 足 ab le r e a d e r s to t r a d e , buy, s e l l , b a r t e r , swap o r s o l i c i t c o m m e r c i a l p r o d u c t s , h a n d - m a d e g o o d s , s e e d s , p l a n t s , h e r b s , s k i l l s , i n t e r e s t s , l a b o r , j o b s , i d e a s , book s, t o o l s , c o u n t r y funk o r w h a t e v e r . Our s p a c e will be l i m i t e d , s o t r y to be b r i e f (3 0 w o r d s o r s o ) . be g r a t e f u l l y r e c e i v e d .

C o n tr ib u tio n s will

CONTACT L E T T E R S We a r e running into s p a c e p r o b l e m s , so we a r e as k in g that c o n t a c t l e t t e r s be no lo n g e r than 100 w o r d s in length. If you a r e c o n c i s e we w-on't have to edit y o u r l e t t e r s to m a k e th em fit. A l s o , we a r e a s k in g f o r a d onation to help d e f r a y p o s t a l , r e f e r r a l and l a b o r c o s t s .

NEW C O N T A C T LIST E v e r y o n e who would like to r e c e i v e a new list of o t h e r c o u n t r y folk (and c i t y - d w e l l i n g c o u n t r y f r i e n d s ) send $1 (to c o v e r la b o r and the c o s t of prin tin g ) t o g e t h e r with a sta m p e d s e l f - a d d r e s s e d e n 足 velope to: C o n t a c t c/o R F D . You w ill a u t o m a t i c a l l y be included on this l i s t . It w ill be m a i l e d to you aro u n d the t i m e of the W i n t e r S o l s t i c e . Only th o s e who w r i t e in will be included on th is l i s t .

F U T U R E THEM ES We a r e s o l i c i t i n g m a t e r i a l aro un d th e following t h e m e s f o r i n c lu s io n in fu tu re i s s u e s . We hope that t h e s e t h e m e s w ill help us fo cu s o u r thoughts on the s p e c i f i c i s s u e s which s e e m to be r e c u r 足 ring c o n c e r n s for c o u n t r y f a g g o t s .

C o u n t r y S u r v i v a l : how c o u n t r y fa g g o ts s u p p o rt t h e m s e l v e s , s u c c e s s f u l e f f o r t s tow ard s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y ; notable f a i l u r e s - - W i n t e r i s s u e M a c h i n e r y : d ealing with c a r s , t r u c k s , f a r m eq u ip m en t, m o t o r s , m a i n t e n a n c e and butch m e c h a n i c s - - S pring i s s u e G ro w ing Old in the C o u n t r y: living long with fr ie n d s and living on a l o n e ; land and legacy M en tal and P h y s i c a l Health C a r e fo r C o u n t r y F a g g o t s : a c c e s s to m e d i c a l f a c i l i t i e s .

D ealing with h om ophobic p h y s i c i a n s and h o s p i t a l s . W h o lis tic h ealin g ; h e r b a l and s p i r i t u a l t e c h n i q u e s , m a s s a g e and body w o r k . H om e and f a r m c u r e s and r e m e d i e s .

C o u n try VD. Sp i r i t u a l i t y: f a i r y l o r e . T a r o t and a s t r o l o g y in daily life. L u n a r and s e a s o n a l s e n s i 足 b i l i t i e s . f e s t i v a l s and r i t u a l s . Gay s p i r i t and c o u n t r y living.

D E A D L IN E S F o r a l l w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l , g r a p h i c s , a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , c o n t a c t s and e x c h a n g e s the d eadlin e fo r: W i n t e r R F D (#10) is N o v e m b e r 1 S pring R F D (#11) is F e b r u a r y 1 We p rin t a l l n a m e s and a d d r e s s e s u n l e s s re q u e s t e d not to.

BACK ISSUES The following b ack i s s u e s of R F D a r e a v a i l a b l e in lim ited quantity and m ay be o r d e r e d at a c o s t of $ 1 . 2 5 p e r cop y: i s s u e s #3 - 8.________________________________________________ _______ A L L C O R R E S P O N D E N C E SHOU LD B E M A IL E D TO: RFD 4 5 2 5 L o w e r Wolf C r e e k Road _____________ Wolf C r e e k , OR 9 7 4 9 7 ____________________ 47

I w a s v e r y p le a s e d to get i s s u e #8 in the m a i l . T o know that R F D w as s t i l l in e x i s t e n c e and m o r e , that new and d i ffe r e n t fa g g o ts w e r e c a r r y i n g on the e f f o r t w a s good news indeed.

As a m e m b e r of the Iowa c o l l e c t i v e , 1 have a lot of e m o t i o n a l and s p i r i t u a l in v o l v e m e n t with the m a g a z i n e . in the S pring 1976 i s s u e , t h e r e w as a s t a t e m e n t (fr o n t in sid e c o v e r ) that the " t r a n s i t i o n f r o m Iowa to O re g o n h as not been happening g r a c e f u l l y ' . T h is left a q u es tion in m a n y p e o p l e 's m in d s a s to ju st what w as going on. I would like to c l e a r up s o m e points about th at t r a n s f e r .

For h i s t o r i c a l b ack grou n d : The f i r s t s ix i s s u e s of R F D w e r e p ri n t e d , c o l l a t e d and published in low'a, printin g done b y th e Iowa City W o m e n 1s P r e s s . In ad dition to c o lla tin g t h o s e s i x , we did lay out on t h r e e of t h e m . The N o r th w e s t c o l l e c t i v e laid out t h r e e with the help of o t h e r s , and have published the two m o s t r e c e n t c o p i e s . T h e y a l s o p ro v id ed s u p p o rt both a r t i s t i c a l l y and fi n a n c i a l l y .

F o r p e r s o n a l opinion, they w e r e o u r s e v e r e s t c r i t i c s . Many i s s u e s w e r e l a t e , m an y had m i s t a k e s , the s u b s t a n c e of m an y w e r e q u es tio n ed . T h e r e w e r e d i f f e r e n c e s of p o l i t i c s and op in ­ ion. We in Iowa felt a c e r t a i n W e s t c o a s t e l i t i s m a s r e g a r d s us ( i s n 't that w h e re they g r o w p o ­ t a t o e s ? ) , T h e r e w e r e a l s o s o c i a l c l a s s d i f f e r e n c e s betw een s o m e of us th at we felt w e r e not taken into a c c o u n t . We did not own any land and w e r e a ll w orkin g s t r a i g h t jobs to s u p p o rt o u r ­ s e l v e s . We did not a l w a y s have ti m e fo r R F D . We c a m e off a s p o l i t i c a l l y u n t o g e t h e r , p a r t i c u ­ l a r l y in o u r d e a lin g s with the W o m e n 's P r e s s . T h e r e w e r e often v e r y h a rd f e e lin g s betw een the two g r o u p s .

I do not bring a ll this up fo r g o s s i p p u r p o s e s o r to k ick dead c a t s . I think t h e r e a r e l e s s o n s f o r a l l of us to l e a r n . The fu n d am en tal r e a s o n f o r t h e s e p r o b l e m s w a s th at t h e r e w as a l a c k of e f f e c t i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a c r o s s two thousand m i l e s .

R F D w as sup po sed to be two c o l l e c t i v e s working hand in hand f r o m a c r o s s the c o u n t r y . In r e a l i t y , it w as not. T h e r e w e r e s u s p i c i o n s f r o m both s i d e s which d ra in e d v i t a l e n e r g y f r o m R F D . We fo rg o t th at we w e r e doing som eth in g ■ that none of us had done b e f o r e . We f o r g o t that R F D w as e v o lvin g, chan gin g. M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y we fo rg o t that R F D w as a p p r e c i a t e d by s o m an y people.

How m an y men has R F D b rou gh t t o g e t h e r ? How m a n y long l e t t e r s , s m i l e s of g r e e t i n g , lo v e s with s t r a n g e r s has R F D b een r e s p o n s i b l e f o r ? We f o r g o t th at a c r o s s th o s e 2 0 0 0 m i l e s .

So we t i r e d of the monotonous h o u rs and d ays of c o l l a t i n g ; of the b u r e a u c r a c y of the post o ffice. F o r t u n a t e l y t h e r e w e r e people willing to take o v e r . And b etw een G e o r g e and m e (w e'v e n e v e r m e t ) , I would s a y that the t r a n s i t i o n w as handled f a i r l y g r a c e f u l l y .

F r o m a l l this we need to r e m e m b e r that R F D is only peop le. I t 's only t h e r e if you w r i t e the a r t i c l e s , send the c o n t r i b u t i o n s , su p p o rt th ose who do the p a p e r w o r k . R F D n eeds to have one c e n t r a l l o c a tio n . B u t m an y d iffe r e n t g r o u p s c a n take t u rn s on layo ut. R F D is s m a l l . It is p e o ­ ple. As such it i s r e a d i l y ad ap tab le to c h a n g e . T h a t chan ge is n e c e s s a r y to p r o m o t e g ro w th .

T h a t 's why we a l l r o t a t e the v e g e t a b l e s in the g a r d e n f r o m y e a r to y e a r .

O llie, Iowa Since R F D m oved f r o m Iowa in the Spring t h e r e has been a lot of gro w in g . At f i r s t the bulk of the w o rk w a s handled by one p e r s o n .

But in ti m e it has grow n to be a c o l l e c t i v e of s e v e n m e n , m e e t i n g r e g u l a r l y , and le a rn i n g to put out a m a g a z i n e t o g e t h e r . Tw o of u s, G e o r g e and Kenny, a n s w e r m o s t of the m a i l . M i c h a e l is in c h a r g e of g r a p h i c s .

Landon and Sean w o rk with the b o o k s t o r e s and d is t r i b u t i o n . S a m u e l w o r k s with a d s . G e o r g e is s t a r t i n g to w o rk with p o e t r y and a r t i c l e s .

L en w o r k s with the p o s t offic e. G e o r g e handles the bookkeeping.

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