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c h aP t e r 18

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s usual, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening next in my
life, though I had a few creative options on the table. I con-
sidered flying to Hawaii to work at a communal farm I’d
heard of; getting a seasonal job at Big Bend National Park in Texas,
or else scraping some money together somehow and moving up to
Arcata to get an apartment. Once again, I had applied to Humboldt
State University for the fall semester. Moving to Arcata early to get
established seemed like a good idea, although school was really more
of a last resort at that point. I still didn’t feel quite ready to step into
that reality.
What I really wanted was to find another spiritual community,
along the lines of Ananda Village, where I could get involved with a
group of people, plant gardens, make music, find a life-mate to share
my adventures, raise children, and be involved in something that felt
real and lasting.
Over a few days of pondering the possibilities back at my mom’s
house, I decided to try and find a place in Arcata, where I would at
least be able to get a little more clear and centered as to my future
plans. After scraping up some money, in addition to what was left
over from the previous summer, I borrowed my mom’s car and went
up to Arcata for a weekend, got a motel room, and went all over
town applying for apartments and studios.
When I got back to Ukiah, I was surprised to find that a letter from
Amy was waiting for me. We had been in contact a bit over the past
year and had cleared things up since I’d left Austin in a state of confu-
sion. Upon reading the letter, I was blown away to learn that she had
just moved to, of all possible places, Arcata. I could hardly believe it.