Oh Slab City, where have you gone?
I looked around to find you the other day. And when I couldn’t, I realized that you’re just like everywhere else now. With territories and divisions keeping us apart.
Maybe it’s the media’s fault (isn’t that always the case?).
Or perhaps we should point our fingers at the innerwebs for bringing in a whole new crowd.
Whoever or whatever is to blame for your sudden rise to stardom isn’t nearly as important as what I’m about to say.
I’m sorry, but I think I’ve fallen out of love with you.
It wasn’t always like this.
Long ago you were the Last Free Place for adventurous spirits who cherished freedom, independence and community.
But that is no longer the case. You’re just . . . different.
Maybe it’s the fences worn around your dusty roads. I simply cannot love a free place that keeps people out. The irony is clear.
The walls have multiplied and so have the lines.
Between Slabbers and Snabbers like us.
You used to bring us together, in places like The Lizard Tree Library. But no longer are you open to all at any hour of the day. When dusk falls you reserve your new walls for that small club of tough souls who stick it out and shoo us away.
Camps are now permanent establishments with structures and ramshackle ranches built to last.
Snabber beware if you encroach. Fly away fast, you aren’t as welcomed as you used to be.
Admit it. You’re not the same and others know it too. The boundaries seem to have spread away and beyond, to more welcoming communities that could possibly thrive in the brutal heat.
To know you in the past was to love you. But that was then and today is different I’m sorry to say.
Maybe we’ll be back. Maybe we won’t, time will tell. Until that day comes, I wish you the best and hope that you can return to the loving spirit that was once the heart of who you were.
Dying a sedentary death is NOT for me. Better to live a life of experiences so as to know the feeling of living than wishing you’d done, “it”. Either or Sl/Sn … the experience is da thing.
Right on! Couldn’t agree more.
I’m so surprised at the changes! It was just a few years ago that Sam and I were there. It is sad!
Well you guys should swing by sometimes and see if you agree with my thoughts. Who knows, maybe it was all in my head.
Enjoy the now, remember the past as only you can, and discover new places to embrace.
There was a time that word of mouth past from person to person, now it passes from hundreds to hundreds or more via the internet. Its just the new norm. Hold what is important close to your heart, filter what you throw to the millions.
Someone once said: You can never go back……….
Travel safe
We only went for the first time last year, so I have nothing to compare it to. But it did seem quite touristy and there were certainly some very well – established campsites. However, when Tahoe and I took a walk we were welcomed by smiling faces and friendly dogs all along the way. So that was nice. I just wonder if all this is a symptom of the growing number of people who don’t want to (or can’t adored to) live under the thumb of “The Man” yet are not as rebellious and well- differentiated as they think they are.
Maya I’m so glad you had a good experience. Yeah, I guess I sound like one of those crotchety old people that say things like “It ain’t what it used to be,” but it’s really true. At first I thought it was me…but then we talked to a couple of friends of ours who have also been going there for as long as we have. They agree that the fences and permanent structures have completely changed the atmosphere, and said they probably won’t be going back either.
And yeah, I agree that this is a major symptom of people who can’t afford to live in a conventional society, at least in California.
I blame it on the Trustafarians.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trustafarian
I’d say that’s definitely part of it.