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Editorial
Everyone can find a groove in Mount Shasta
Old hippies, they say, never die.
All that living forever stuff is groovy, but requires a lot of cosmic energy. Where better to tap the source than the crystal shops of Mount Shasta?
That's right, it's officially (we use that word very casually — recreationally even) the best hippy city in America. This is very scientific, mind you. It was given the honor by a writer for ReverbPress. You know, the ReverbPress? OK, we had to look it up too. It's a blog.
But laugh all you want, we'll take it. The community is a North State treasure, and it's been through a lot lately. While the Great Recession wasn't easy on anyone, the loss of two straight ski seasons hit Mount Shasta just as economies elsewhere were starting to improve. Its neighbor, Weed, suffered the devastation of the Boles Fire in 2014. The mountain itself looked naked and vulnerable by the end of last summer, and glacial melting has triggered mudslides.
The community has found a friend in Deborah Montesano. She's the self-identified Portland, Oregon, progressive who wrote the piece for ReverbPress, and she told our David Benda she picked Mount Shasta for the top of her list of 12 cities in part because it's kind of in the boonies.
"I looked for places that would grab attention and people would say, 'I never knew about this place. Maybe I would like to go,'" she said.
(Perhaps we can add another contender to the long list of would-be slogans for our little part of the world. The North State: It's far out.)
But we digress. Let's be serious. It seems everyone has a recommendation right now for the Bundy brothers and their heavily armed anti-establishment buddies, who are getting a lot of attention for blocking out some good bird watching opportunities in the high desert of Eastern Oregon.
Now, Montesano points out that Mount Shasta's appeal to modern-day progressives (she called them hippies, we didn't) is that it's a great place to go and unwind, de-stress. It's been a tough year, what with The Donald and the NRA and all.
Well, we've always believed that the best outcome for any situation comes when people who don't think they see eye to eye can sit down and talk. So we have a modest proposal for the hungry, stressed-out occupation force at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Guys, come to your senses. Pack it in, negotiate safe passage a few hours southwest, and come enjoy the more hospitable environs of Siskiyou County. Leave the guns in the truck. Everyone can use a little breather now and then.
We've heard old cowboys never die, too.
And we've heard you're looking for snacks. Well, so are the hippies. Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
end quote from:
Everyone can find a groove in Mount Shasta
All that living forever stuff is groovy, but requires a lot of cosmic energy. Where better to tap the source than the crystal shops of Mount Shasta?
That's right, it's officially (we use that word very casually — recreationally even) the best hippy city in America. This is very scientific, mind you. It was given the honor by a writer for ReverbPress. You know, the ReverbPress? OK, we had to look it up too. It's a blog.
But laugh all you want, we'll take it. The community is a North State treasure, and it's been through a lot lately. While the Great Recession wasn't easy on anyone, the loss of two straight ski seasons hit Mount Shasta just as economies elsewhere were starting to improve. Its neighbor, Weed, suffered the devastation of the Boles Fire in 2014. The mountain itself looked naked and vulnerable by the end of last summer, and glacial melting has triggered mudslides.
The community has found a friend in Deborah Montesano. She's the self-identified Portland, Oregon, progressive who wrote the piece for ReverbPress, and she told our David Benda she picked Mount Shasta for the top of her list of 12 cities in part because it's kind of in the boonies.
"I looked for places that would grab attention and people would say, 'I never knew about this place. Maybe I would like to go,'" she said.
(Perhaps we can add another contender to the long list of would-be slogans for our little part of the world. The North State: It's far out.)
But we digress. Let's be serious. It seems everyone has a recommendation right now for the Bundy brothers and their heavily armed anti-establishment buddies, who are getting a lot of attention for blocking out some good bird watching opportunities in the high desert of Eastern Oregon.
Now, Montesano points out that Mount Shasta's appeal to modern-day progressives (she called them hippies, we didn't) is that it's a great place to go and unwind, de-stress. It's been a tough year, what with The Donald and the NRA and all.
Well, we've always believed that the best outcome for any situation comes when people who don't think they see eye to eye can sit down and talk. So we have a modest proposal for the hungry, stressed-out occupation force at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Guys, come to your senses. Pack it in, negotiate safe passage a few hours southwest, and come enjoy the more hospitable environs of Siskiyou County. Leave the guns in the truck. Everyone can use a little breather now and then.
We've heard old cowboys never die, too.
And we've heard you're looking for snacks. Well, so are the hippies. Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
end quote from:
Everyone can find a groove in Mount Shasta
