142 ... Gabriel Morris“What do you want?” he asked.
“I’m looking for Jeffrey,” I said. “Is he around?”
“Just a second.” He closed the door.
A minute later, the door opened, and there was Jeffrey. I was so
happy to see his smiling face. He looked great. Both his hair and
beard, like mine, had grown out over the past year, so that he looked
more like his familiar, magical, prophetic self.
“Hey, Gabriel!” he said. “What a surprise! What are you up to,
man?”
“Oh, same old...” I said as I gave him a big hug. “Just passing
through town, you know. Hey, can I take you out for lunch?”
“Well, sure, what the hell...I haven’t got any plans. Just let me find
my sandals.”
After lunch, we walked across town together, since he wanted to
stop by a friend’s house. I told him about my plans to check out some
communities, and about getting robbed.
“Hey, it’s just stuff, it comes and goes,” he said. “Let it go.” Good
advice. I did my best. “There’s a regional Rainbow Gathering down
in Northern California, you know. I’m thinking of going down there
for it. It starts in a few days. You should check it out.”
I told him I would think about it, and might see him there. After
saying goodbye, I caught a city bus about an hour east of town and
then hitched the rest of the way up to Cougar hot springs. I spent the
next two days soaking in the springs and trying to make up my mind
where to journey from there.
I concluded that the gathering Jeffrey had mentioned would be
the best place for me to catch a ride out to the big Rainbow Gather-
ing in Missouri. Besides, it would be nice to spend some more time
with Jeffrey. The next morning, after another long soak in the springs,
I hitched back to Eugene and then, not feeling like getting stuck in
town, continued west out to Florence on the coast. I spent the night
on the beach again and headed south the next morning, backtracking
down Highway 101 to Highway 20, not far from my mom’s in Ukiah.
But I didn’t want to slow down the momentum of my summer quest