nurse marries artist: WELCOME HOME: Rainbow Family Gathering 2014

I went to rainbow gathering when I was 8. It was a strange surreal experience. Rainbow Gathering took place in UT this year for the first time in 11 years, so I went to check it out out of curiosity.

This year the Rainbow Gathering was held in the beautiful Uinta mountains just east of Heber. It was a wonderful ride with my sister Sophie up to Heber, where we met up with my Aunt Maria, and my cousins Ali, Lizzy, and Daniel. We met in the Smith's parking lot, (a half hour late, as usual) and Soph and I ran into Smith's to grab some snack bars to eat while we were at the gathering. . Lara bars were on sale for 10/10$ (which is so crazy cheap for Lara bars, plus they had pretty much every flavor.) So I loaded up on Larabars, and we were on our way.

The drive up to the gathering was beautiful and bumpy! But my Caliber took it like a champ, and we arrived to the huge parking area.

We hiked about 3 miles in to get to the gathering. Mostly uphill. There were people saying "Welcome Home" the entire way up. It was such a beautiful hike. The mountains and fields of flowers were incredible.

The trail up to the gathering

The welcome sign when we arrived to the gathering

Rap 151
It is tradition in our family to discourage alcohol use at the gathering. Everyone who attends the gathering needs a safe and healthy environment to celebrate in, especially the children. We respect peoples' desire to drink, as well as those who choose not to. RESPECT GETS RESPECT. The gathering is a prayer and peace sanctuary. This is NOT a festival. Be Whole, Be Healthy, Be True to yourself, and Be Yourself and Rainbow. Too much of anything from ONE affects ALL of us at the gathering. LOVE and Respect your family and they will LOVE and Respect you too.

These little blankets were set up along the trail. Take something, leave something.

Once at the gathering, we explored around. We heard some drums, and my cousins abandoned Sophie and I, so we went looking for them. We figured if followed the sound of the drums we would find our cousins. I had to go to the bathroom on the way there, and successfully peed in the woods. (I feel this is important to mention because A) I didn't get any pee on myself, and B) I don't typically pee in the woods.)

When we arrived to the camp, there were several people playing big tribal drums. There was this blonde woman with a baby strapped to her chest singing about being comfortable in your own skin, and that society doesn't need to define who you were. She was dirty. But then again, so was everyone else.

We continued through the camp, and found one of the cooking camps. They create this large ovens with mud, rocks, and metal barrels(?). They bake fresh rolls for everyone at the gathering. They smelled pretty good, actually. I would have loved to try one. (Stupid gluten.)

Camp oven (Front)

Camp oven (back)

When the beans are burning, High Holies are sniveling. There will come a tribe of pirates,who care....sometimes. They will be known as the Ogres of the Ovens.

Fresh baked rolls

Lovin Ovens (and other signs)

Love-O-Meter

We continued through the camps, and came across a tepee where a man named BalanceToe could give you a rock reading. He was a super tall native american man. (He was seriously 6'9" or something.) The rocks all had different meanings, and the way that they fell had different messages that BalanceToe could explain to you. My reading with BalanceToe was probably my favorite part of the gathering. I wish I would have taken a picture with him....

As we wandered through, we saw a few naked men. That's not an unusual occurrence. But more than men, there were SO many topless woman. Girl, how do you go along without a bra? (I was yelled at for wearing a bra, BTW. Thought I should mention that...) Do you WANT saggy boobs? And more than that, 70% of the rainbow family has dreadlocks, and there are so many wanderers. (Most commonly known as homeless.). Everything there was so freaking dusty and dirty. Everyone had this earthy smell (B.O) and everyone's dreads just looked awful. I'm not saying that all dreads are nasty, but the dreads I saw, looked more like caterpillar cocoons than hairs. I would not want to be naked there. There are some crevices that dirt should never be....just saying.

The other highlight was the trade circle. I had my face painted, and traded a ring for an upper arm
bracelet, and some old earrings for a pretty anklet. Everything was covered in dust. Including the people. Sophie and I were offered weed by probably 10 different people, and I was offered acid. Everything reeked of pot. And everyone was SOOOO freaking high. Hahahaha. Sophie was really uncomfortable, and totally out of her element. Then again, so was I.

Rainbow Gathering is an experience to be had. It's good for people watching, if you're into that kind of thing. Maybe I'll go again in 11 years when they come back to Utah....until then.

Peace and Love,

Alex

XOXO