Monday, January 07, 2008

Quantitative Hippie Analysis

You are 35% hippie.

You're in the middle, leaning towards the non-hippie side of things, but you're not afraid to try out some hippie philosophies. Good going! An open mind is all a person really needs to lead a happy life.

Are you a hippie?

I took the test; I'm about 1/3 hippie. Next time somebody asks, I can give them a quantitative response. Because I moved to Pocahontas County from somewhere else, people here often ask if I'm a hippie. In the 1970's, a back-to-the-land movement drew many people here. Donald McCaig, of neighboring Highland County, VA, was part of this influx. While many people moved on, others are still here, and my questioners want to know if I "belong" to that group. (I don't. I moved here in 1999, long after the "real hippies.")

Besides the individual "hippies," Pocahontas has attracted some groups which could be considered outside the mainstream. A few of these have Web presences. Here are some links to give you a sense of the variety.

Zendik Farm is either an intentional arts community or a cult, depending on whether you're talking to a member or a disgruntled former member. Since they've moved here from Asheville, the group has made a commendable effort to get along with the neighbors.

If I lost control of a bowling ball in my yard, it would roll downhill to the Gesundheit Institute. This has been the future site of Patch Adams' free hospital for over 30 years. After years of apparent inactivity, the group has started to hold workshops and training sessions on the property.

The people behind the Center for Bioregional Living appear much too young to be original hippies, but their Web site suggests they share that outlook.

You could call these folks the Anti-Hippies. The Neo-Nazi group National Alliance mails out its magazines, books, and recordings from my local post office. I'm not aware of any recent activity at their Mill Point compound, but they always did keep a low profile locally.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rebecca- some people live in interesting times, others live in interesting places.... I think I'd be at least 1/3 hippy. I have nominated you for a make my day award.

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

I am 7% hippy.

Angelena said...

Wow I am 53% hippie! Golly I guess I had better go dig out my tie dye t-shirts out of storage!!

Rebecca said...

I imagine you caught it from us "hippie kids" in Elementary school, Angelena. It must have been all that time in Jacox...

Rebecca Clayton said...

This is very interesting. Sherry and Terry are about half-hippie, and mysticalfeet is three-quarters-hippie. We're all over the board. And so many Rebeccas in one place!

Paula--thanks for the award! I'm glad to have discovered your blog too.

Angelena--I'd never have guessed you were more of a hippie than me!

treerosepink said...

Hey, Rebecca!

My family lived in Pocahontas County, WV for several years in the 60's and 70's. God's Country!! My husband worked as superintendent at Denmar when it was a state hospital.

There was at least one "hippie" establishment that I know of at that time, as my husband hired a very nice young man to work at Denmar who was lived in a hippie establishment nearby.

I had no idea that the Gesundhit Institute even existed there. Could you tell me exactly where in the area of Hillsboro it is located? It seems from your post that its somewhere in the Droop Mountain area.

We absolutely love Pocahontas County. We are native hillbillies, now living out of state, but never forgetting our roots in WV.