Broward Community College - Silver Sands Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

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- -1:-,,, - So I decided to hoof it for a while. lVIy head was at the point where if I had to cope with one more bizarre assault, I would undoubtedly be shoved over that fine line of sanity, doomed to spend the rest of my metaphysical existence in never-never land with Alice and Peter Pan and all their nutty friends. But it didn't matter, because I felt great . . . reassured that there were a lot of other human beings around who could also sincerely identify with the concepts of genuine peace and love. Whereas Woodstock was a veritable workshop on human development, alternative lifestyles and putting them together with a spirit of brotherhood, Summer Jam was an escapists' party. Conquering the first mountain was a relief. Not only was my head exhausted, my body was screaming for food and sleep, but the instant peace and if f--'IIAQV V. 1 ,sf ft . ' . 5 I. A A. .j,51'?y3.fJPL'- 1'1- , .fy ja l t., QQQQQ1 I . e I .ein ' -. sf.- R if ' , ':'ift7'i2, 3i.1-fit' . -' iig- 1.1 ,ai ,gli-ggi ' .-54.5. 1 J photo by Craig Trexler photo by Kevin Deland quiet accompanying the back road I had chosen gave me a chance to digest some of the mental input I had been wallowing in for the past sixty-six hours. The first reaction goes something like . . . oh wow, far out, another Woodstock, bigger though, lots of good music, a couple of days in the country, that was O.K., that was pretty neat . . . can't wait to tell my friends back home, . . . shucks, 600,000 freaks, another Woodstock .... But it wasn't another Woodstock. It didn't even come close. When I left Bethel, New York, site of Woodstock, in 1969, less than 160 miles east of Watkins Glen, I was covered with mud, had not eaten anything to speak of in five days, had nearly no sleep, and was facing a 1500 mile non-stop journey back to Florida in an overcrowded '57 V.W. van that probably wouIdn't make it past Virginia. There was plenty of dope at a the festivals, but at least at Woodst the emphasis was on intensifying positive . . . stressing the terrific amo of good vibes already present with the of marijuana and relatively cl psychedelics. On the other hand most popular combination of drugs Watkins Glen was alcohol and barbitu . . . downs. It was like they were af to feel anything. The numbers only m it worse. It was an overwhel majority approving a lifestyle wher drug induced peace was the only kin high worth attaining. Pro dope . thumbs down to significant hu relationships. I guess the difference was sim really. The people at Woodstock America's hope, while Summer Jam a gathering of American's lost child text and color photos by Kevin Del 1

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ln!- I . . . I i P. P . V .. H R . li I i j. X. il Once a long time ago I enjoyed the tranquility of the beaches ofa little island paradise in the Caribbean. I had been there for almost two years and would have gladly stayed another except for one small problem: I was scheduled to be transferred. When I first saw my orders and the part about location, I yelled mistake. I was to report to an island known as Adak and it was in a region of the world commonly called the Aleutians. At first I calmly thought of going A.W.O.L., but this I ruled out as unwise as I only had a year more in the service. Later. about fifteen minutes or so, I resigned myself to living in a place people only hear about and never want to visit. Thinking that I should at least familiarize my brain with Adak, I made a very cautious journey to the library. I started with the encyclopedia, only to find that the information available was some old World War Two accounts and nothing really pertinent to the present. l then found a book entitled The Thousand Mile War, A History of the Aleutians. I enjoyed reading the book until I got to the part about being stationed there. The page read: Quarters and food on the western islands have improved considerably and even recreational facilities are present. Even genuine female nurses are found on Adak, but none of this is compensation enough for service in the Aleutians. That grey place of williwaws fstrong windsj and terrible seas, could never be anything but penal servitude. After reading that. I realiv thought about going A.W.O.L., and I had not left my tropical paradise, y6I. I arrived on Adak on a day that I was later to be told was the best residents of Adak had seen in montl thought the exact opposite. The opened on the aircraft and an icy I came roaring up through the cabin made me very glad l had had the in to wear a sweater. As I walked off the plane I no' happy smiles on most of the peop the waiting room. Not one to b outsider I smiled, also, and walked tc bUS that was waiting to take us tc barracks. The driver routed us arou traffic jam. A car of 54 vintage, new Adak, had collided with a hill. At door step of our new home, I strug off with my suitcase into a sixty milt hour wind and made it inside. So began my year on Adak. land of a girl behind every tree. But t are no trees, only three small pines ba iloaqorjre Pao TIER tall enough to hide some of the tundra. I found out later that the reason people in the waiting room were smiling was that they were leaving Adak. They had already served their year. The terrain on Adak is composed of hills with deep gorges, huge plains and two half-size moutains. You can hike for just so long before you are lowering yourself down one side of a gorge, possibly 300 feet deep and then pulling yourself back up the other side. hand over hand. After three or four such gorges you are physically exhausted and usually you never cross them at the beginning of the hike .hen you are full of vitality. No, they are always right in the middle of the only possible route. Food can play an important part in keeping a person blooming on these hikes. Two months before I left Adak. a friend and I planned to hike to the other side of the island. a journey of more than fifteen miles. We had prepared ourselves for this rigorous trip by progressively lengthening our hikes until we thought we were ready to tackle our cross-island journey. The first mistake we made was HOI bringing enough food. In a climate such as Adak you burn up energy at a very fast rate, especially hiking. Most people never have truly felt hunger, but that day we did. So much so that I never wish to experience it again. We took two apples. three pieces of cake, and a couple of candy bars. Having hiked for some two hours over terrain of the worst sort twe forsook the marked trail to do some exploring and to get back on the trail would have cost us at least another hourj we came to the beach and marshy area. There we devoured half our rations and proceeded to comb the beach for souvenirs. After an hour or so decided to head back but again: in: of hiking on a trail. we chose an alter TOUIG that would lead us over one ot ridges of a mountain. The trip back lengthier yet, and after traveling rw areas for three hours we were exhaustion. Our food had long : been eaten and we were both hungry. With each passing moment stomachs sent hunger pains to our br Both of us had gone through sur training but thought that we would r have to use it. We were sadly mista My friend's second wind had al given out and mine, also, was failir we strived for home. Suddenly my fr jumped down on all fours and b eating a plant that grew beside a str we were passing. After a momen regained his senses and stopped, but sight has still not left me.