I've told you before about Salvation Mountain.
Salvation Mountain, decorated for decades by an aging hippie name Leonard Knight, is basically my second hometown. But, like, my second, psychedelic, Dr.-Seuss-inspired, acid-dropping, confusing wasteland hometown.
NOT THAT WE KNOW WHAT ACID IS, CATHIE.
But this trip to Slab City was a special one. Cathie recently uncovered a video describing a new corner of the squatter town, a corner called "East Jesus" in which people who have given themselves new names have wandered the area collecting trash for their very confusing art projects.
We showed up and started wandering. And, y'all. This place is crazy. And before visiting East Jesus, I never once said "y'all" in my entire life.
A hippie wandered into the yard area, and I ran to him. Like a whatever to the whatever-it-is-attracted-to.
I asked him how he ended up there. How many people live in the compound they've created at East Jesus. What they do for food/money, etc. He politely responded, using words like "meth" and "pot" only slightly more frequently than I would have expected.
Then he wandered away, probably to come up with a competing theory to the one depicted above about dolphins.
And there I stood, surrounded by garbage, in the middle of a desert, the part of me that thinks I'm a hippie pulling me one way and the part of me that loves bathing pulling me the other way. And, as usual, neither of those parts really gained any ground.
~It Just Gets Stranger
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ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the art project that says 'don't be yourself, be like TV'
ReplyDeleteI liked the two tvs in the bottom corner, one says "Some Things Never Change" and the one right next to it says "Dear God no".
DeleteI have now added East Jesus to my Bucket List. Recently at work, we all had to attend this mandatory meeting full of information and tips that will never ever be retained or used ever. One of the mandatory activities was to stand up and introduce ourselves and tell where you would like to visit on your Bucket List. After reading this Blog post, I wished so hard I had heard of East Jesus before that meeting. I would have loved nothing more than to have stood up and announced it as the top of my Bucket List...
ReplyDeleteOooooh was it a meeting about meetings? Those are the worst.
DeleteMy husband is a machinist...you know, the kind of guy that if you gave him a toothpick and a hammer he could build you a shopping mall? Anyway, he works in a shop. They rarely have meetings. I, on the other hand, push papers (electronically most of the time) all day so I have too many meetings.
DeleteOccasionally, I'll tell hubby about yet another meeting I have to attend and he will text me a clever picture or something to describe just how stupid most meetings are.
The other day, just as I was about to head to the conference room, I lamented the business planning meeting I had to attend. Hubby sent me a list of things one can do in a meeting - plan other meetings, eat doughnuts, and so on..my favorite being "Point at things with a stick". No idea why, but that one tickled me to to no end and I giggled helplessly as I read it.
Lo and behold, when I entered the conference room there stood the speaker, presentation on screen, and a pointer in his hand. It took every ounce of will power I had not to let loose with a hearty guffaw, but I tell you there were LOTS of little coughs to cover up the giggles for the next hour.
awesomesauciness you've got some serious talent if you are able to successfully cover up giggles with coughs and stifle guffaws in a meeting. That is a talent I am trying to master especially after one particularly loud guffaw during the public hearing portion of a city council meeting. Fortunately, I just happened to be sitting next to a very generous classmate who took full responsibility for my outburst as I quickly reached under my seat for a very important item.
DeleteA hippie, Eli? Really?
ReplyDeleteTake it from someone who lived during the hippie years. It wasn't all that glamorous back then, and time hasn't made it more so.
Begging was a way of life before meth and pot (not that we know what those are Cathie!) became viable sources of income.
Bathing was disdained as a way to "stick it to the man"...although the only sticking involved were body parts to clothing, other body parts, the walls, floor... You could smell a hippie from 47 miles away.
Hippie and crazy-as-feck became interchangeable.
Now, 'hippie' means something cool, something/one above it all and oh-so-in-touch with Gaia...in other words a modern-day Druid...except with more bathing.
You, with your perfect hair and germophobia, you'd die in minutes in a real commune. Just trust Granny Awesome on this one.
I just kept thinking all the while I was reading this, that it looks like a place I've seen on CSI or Criminal Minds. I would expect to find bodies among the "art."
ReplyDeleteThere was a hand sticking out of that one animal's mouth...
DeleteI'm beginning to imagine that Neverhood is similar to East Jesus although I suppose Neverwhere could be like East Jesus? I don't know, I never watched that show....maybe it's the Neverwhere of the US
ReplyDeleteIs the American version of London Below? Or maybe it's L.A. Below?
DeleteWell according to Percy Jackson the Underworld is under LA, but they could very well be the same thing!
DeleteAll hail Flipper!
ReplyDeleteI want my license plates to say "Mutagen". Also, anything in California should be WEST Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI think that all depends on where Jesus is. If Jesus is pruning my neighbor's trees, then East Jesus would, in fact, be EAST. I live in LA, and I meet a fair share of Jesuses. Met a fair share while I was growing up in Miami, as well, so your comment would also be correct.
DeleteThe last paragraph is a particularly lovely piece of writing. Excellent work. (Also, what was the word on the game between the West Jesus Panthers and the East Jesus Lions?)
ReplyDeleteIt was a much closer game once coach T got involved.
DeleteDeath Valley?? And no pics of the SUPER BLOOM????
ReplyDeleteI've been to Slab City, but I haven't seen East Jesus. That's amazing!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, sad note in case you never heard, but Leonard Knight passed away about 2 years ago. I'm so glad he lived a long, crazy life so that the rest of us could enjoy his work.
At first I thought the title of the post was "Eat Jesus" and I was very confused 😂
ReplyDelete