Undated, but internal evidence suggests that it was around the same time as Marcy\u2019s July 1970 postcard.<\/p>\r\n
Four pages, hand-written on three-hole-punched lined paper, oddly only on one side of each page.<\/p>\r\n
Content warning for mention of a dog that\u2019s named after a Native American people.<\/p>\r\n
\r\nhi brothers--<\/p>\r\n
o wow--we\u2019ve finished moving! our incredible! accumulation! of household furnishings, \u201cetc.\u201d (o so much \u201cetc.\u201d\u2026)<\/p>\r\n
we stressed parents some the first time they came through--they were in a hurry to leave & said they wouldn\u2019t be back through--were going to reno, las vegas, & gomorrah (?) to \u201cdrop a few nickels\u201d\u2026 well they did come back, we didn\u2019t stress them any (that is, any more than just our being present does), & they sent a card thanking us for \u201csuch a nice<\/u> visit\u201d (\u201cdon\u2019t, please don\u2019t stress us: we don\u2019t want to change: we\u2019re comfortable with the neuroses & ailments that we have now--any change might be for the worse\u2026\u201d)<\/p>\r\n
so many, many changes--for one thing, some alumni of a certain hot-springs resort have seen their way clear to buying
x<\/strike> some just-right land, very choice. it\u2019s in two parcels, in new mexico; the bottom piece is entirely arable, maybe 140-acre; the upper piece is inaccessable by jeep, only horse or backpacking. the same stream runs through both\u2026 only one building on lower, a sawmill able to run by water-power\u2026 no buildings at all on upper 30-acre piece which borders on national forest\u2026 lots of deer, bear\u2026 SO, anyway, we were invited to come & live in paradise if we were ready\u2026 decided yesterday i\u2019m not quite ready\u2026 need to more rigorously train myself (\u201ctrain at home in yr spare time\u201d) for 1\u00bd-2 yrs.: so we\u2019re staying here in married students\u2019 housing & i\u2019ll continue to attend u.c. & learn computer programming in my spare time\u2026<\/p>\r\nSideways in margin:<\/span> about \u201ccolor guitar\u201d: no mistake, yes, the strings are all<\/u> tuned a fourth apart: this means that chords, intervals have same<\/u> fingering anywhere<\/u> on fingerboard\u2026<\/p>\r\n
another big change: while i was on a produce run at s.f. farmers\u2019 market for food conspiracy, i ran into karl y. & helen and their kid (jed\u2019s age) (from n.y.--remember, john?)--they too were on a p.r. for f.c.\u2026 so they\u2019re living in a commune* in berkeley, and are getting filthy rich working together as an environmental design co. named \u201cthe big rock candy mountain\u201d\u2026 doing interiors for computer compan
y<\/strike>ies etc. \u2026 they wanted to know, had we heard of any land for sale around sierras or rockies, bordering on nat. forestland\u2026 well, ho ho ho, it\u2019s a big backyard, neighbors\u2026<\/p>\r\nSideways in margin:<\/span> * 5 couples + 3 kids<\/p>\r\n
speaking of f.c., seven of us were preliminarily interviewed by a life mag. rep. here at our
house<\/strike> apt., to determine if life was interested in doing a spread on the berkeley food conspiracies as one article in a series on alternative life-styles\u2026 the rep. was fairly excited, it may happen\u2026<\/p>\r\nwell, now that i\u2019ve eliminated meat, refined sugar, chicken, & fish from diet, eggs, grains, dairy products (cheese & sour cream, we stopped drinking milk a while ago), & starchy vegies (like brocolli, cauliflower) (in that order) are next to go, so as to attain to a
x<\/strike> fruitarian diet (fresh fruits, nuts, & maybe greenleaf vegies sometimes): maybe we\u2019ll all live to be 170\u2026 or if not, be filled with health & vitality & joy at least\u2026<\/p>\r\njoaquin had his first drink of water today--it was from crystal spring, coming off magic mt. tam near lagunitas, beautiful water\u2026 jed had his first haircut a week or two ago, when marcy asked him if he wanted it cut instead of her fussing with the tangles & he said yes\u2026 i cut it & brushed it & he looks more beautiful than ever\u2026 i had my hair cut by marcy a week ago, early beatle style, feels good\u2026 also shaved beard, left mustache\u2026 father stuffed a $5-bill in my pocket, walked away fast, wouldn\u2019t say what it was for: asked mother, she sed it was for a HAIRCUT!<\/p>\r\n
michael j. came by today, he & sandy & dog shawnee have moved to crockett, nr. vallejo bridge\u2026 he\u2019s looking good\u2026 he borrowed our coleman stove we bought for $1 at berk. flea market, to make candles.<\/p>\r\n
our new apt. (in \u201cu. village\u201d of 1000 familes) is one of 8 in this bldg., it\u2019s in a very nice location bordering strawberry creek, so that our evenings are filled with frog chirps\u2026 it\u2019s 2 bedrms, bathrm w\/ stall shower, a storage closet, living rm., & kitchen. pretty small after 3 bedrm. house we were in, but it\u2019s adequate*\u2026 & the rent is $62\/mo. including<\/u> utilities. (vs. $150\/mo. plus<\/u>)\u2026 also advantages like a cheap laundromat (in the village, one block away along creek) (15\u00a2 wash + 10\u00a2\/15 min. dry), free plumbing repair, free \u201cswappe shoppe\u201d (free store), and closer to school\u2026<\/p>\r\n
Sideways in margin:<\/span> * there\u2019s plenty of room for either or both of you to stay here on yr way north, when you get out\u2026 we can arrange to pick you up\u2026 let us know the date as soon as you know\u2026 we\u2019re looking forward to your release more than anybody<\/u> (except yoursel
f<\/strike>ves), and will be so<\/u> very<\/u> glad to see you, even if it\u2019s only for a day\u2026 much love, p, m, j & j<\/p>\r\nwe traded our \u201958 vw bus for a \u201958 bug, then sold the bug after marcy had slight collision\u2026 with no insurance, it\u2019s just not worth risk\u2026 so i\u2019ll be taking bus to school, direct from village for 20\u00a2 if i buy a ticket-book\u2026<\/p>\r\n
we\u2019re still tending our garden at old house--we got a couple of 2-ft.-plus-long daikons (japanese radishes) from it\u2026 many tomato plants\u2026 the corn plants are earing (b-earing?)\u2026 we\u2019ve harvested the onions and garlics, they\u2019re superfine\u2026 the banana-squash, which we didn\u2019t plant but just grew from seeds in the organic-garbage-compost, has nearly taken over the garden, enormous\u2026<\/p>\r\n
reading: i too read UBIK by phildick recently, it was ok, but not to be compared with \u201cman in the high castle\u201d (plot programmed by i ching) or \u201cthree stigmata of palmer eldritch\u201d or, \u201cour friends from frolix 8\u201d\u2026 i read a superfine poem by d. hartman\u2026 other things: \u201cthe santaroga barrier\u201d by frank herbert (berkeley medallion book, 1968) as rich as \u201cdune\u201d but earlier\u2026 recommended\u2026 \u201chuman & other beings\u201d ed. by DeGraeff, partic.
x<\/strike> \u201call the colors of the rainbow\u201d by leigh brackett, tore me up\u2026 \u201cnine hundred grandmothers\u201d by madman r.a.lafferty (ace, 1970), partic. enjoyed \u201cprimary education of the camiroi\u201d and \u201csnuffles\u201d\u2026 and \u201cnine chains to the moon\u201d, bucky fuller\u2019s most metaphysical tome. enclosing an unsigned poem*, possibly by g. snyder or k.patchen.<\/p>\r\nSideways in margin:<\/span> * it\u2019s written on back of a used-to-be-gummed strip of joh-rei insignia stickers\u2026<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
Notes<\/h2>\r\n
\r\n
- \u201cgomorrah\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- I assume this was Peter making a joke. (But possibly could have been a joke made by one of his parents.)<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201ca certain hot-springs resort\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- Which is to say, Harbinger<\/a>. This letter is the only time I know of that Peter mentioned the New Mexico property. I\u2019m intrigued as usual by the prospect of an alternate life; in this case, one in which we did move to NM and I grew up surrounded by deer and bear and national forest. \u2026I wonder what kind of training Peter felt he needed to spend a couple years doing before we could move there.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cmarried students\u2019 housing\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- For a bit more about Albany Village\/University Village, see notes on Apr. 17, 1971 letter<\/a>. I\u2019m not sure whether the whole Village was populated by married students, or just part of it. Also not sure whether students had to show a marriage license to live there\u2014I don\u2019t know whether the university had a place for unmarried-but-living-with-someone students.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201ccolor guitar\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- For more, see Mar. 5 letter<\/a>.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cfood conspiracy\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- For more, see Jan. 26 letter<\/a>.<\/dd>\r\n
- Also, the Life<\/cite> magazine article did get written and published; you can read it online<\/a>. And you can read more about the Food Conspiracies<\/a> from someone who participated from 1971 to 1973. (Thanks for these links, Jay!)<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cfruitarian diet\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- Fascinating. I have no memory of this phase. By the time of my earliest memories, we had re-added chicken and fish to our diet; I don\u2019t recall Peter ever espousing or aiming for a fruitarian diet.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cmt. tam\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- Mt. Tamalpais<\/a>, which I think is where Peter and Marcy were non-legally married by a friend of theirs sometime in 1967. For a couple of photos, see my 2015 Facebook post<\/a> and blog post<\/a>. Oddly, I\u2019ve never been to Mt. Tamalpais since I was old enough to remember; someday I\u2019d like to visit it.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cpoem by d. hartman\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- That would be my uncle David, one of the recipients of this letter.<\/dd>\r\n
- leigh brackett<\/dt>\r\n
- Huh, I don\u2019t think I remember Peter ever praising Brackett in my presence. But I probably did first encounter her work somewhere in his old science fiction anthologies.<\/dd>\r\n
- \u201cunsigned poem\u201d<\/dt>\r\n
- The poem is not with this letter, so I don\u2019t know anything more about it.<\/dd>\r\n<\/dl>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Peter tells his brothers what we\u2019ve been up to in Berkeley. \u201co wow–we\u2019ve finished moving! our incredible! accumulation! of household furnishings, \u2018etc.\u2019 (o so much \u2018etc.\u2019\u2026)\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-peter","category-uc-berkeley"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2949"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2979,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949\/revisions\/2979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kith.org\/pmjj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}