The Early Years

In an old but large house they lived fairly happily. He, she and her three young girls. They were both hard workers and although they were very poor, they somehow got by most of the time. He was some kind of an unemployed, genius artist who was handy with his hands. He spent a lot of time creating psychedelic abstract assemblages. She made some money cleaning rooms and making "trip-clothes" for local heads, but she often found herself keeping house and looking after the children (which was quite a job in itself).

At first they had a lot of fun. There were always friends stopping by--some living there (it was a semi-communal atmosphere). She had quite a green thumb and the garden behind the house started to take shape. There were tangerine trees, flowers, succulents of every type, and plenty of shade. There was a fish-pond with large beautiful Koi; there were peacocks; he kept pigeons. There was a large studio, which he used for various art and home improvement projects; a screened gazebo where she did her sewing. His friend, Tank, built a large tree-house for the kids with a trap-door for an entry. Along the driveway was a long wooden fence upon which he fastened an assemblage of all kinds of strange things: He painted pieces of junk with colorful absract designs and fastened them to the structure in bizarre and absract patterns. There was an old, insulated box-car with "Santa Fe" painted on its side, which had been converted into living quarters. Beneath the box-car was a cement bomb-shelter or basement that stayed very cool, even during the hottest days of the California summer. He would go down there sometimes during his acid trips, and not come out for many hours. "If anybody comes by, tell them I'm not here." he would tell her.

One day he decided he would blindfold himself for a week. He thought that he would learn to "understand color" from experiencing blindness. She patiently led him around the grounds and helped him eat, bath, and dress for three days, before he finally gave up. One morning, she woke up early as usual and started to get the kids ready for school. When she looked out the kitchen window into the back-yard, she was astounded to see him with a shovel—digging madly in an area he had marked out with stakes and string. She went outside to ask what he was doing; without stopping his digging he told her he was building a swimming pool. Amazingly, although he eventually broke down and rented a back-hoe, he actually finished the pool and later built a sauna to go along with it. Friends and family would spend hours this Eden-like sanctuary, smoking grass and hanging around the pool.

It was a happy time and life was simpler then, but things were going to change...

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Comment left by Ladybird:

David you are sharing your early years with us aren't you? That was your hippy father, wasn't it that did all the digging and you are the witness. Bravo for sharing.

meg

ladybird