1998 Arizona Rainbow Gathering: PhotosPhotos from 1998 Arizona Rainbow Gathering: A Photo Essay
"I prefer to teach one plant at a time," he says. He then leads 20 or so students across an open mountain meadow (elev. 9,000 ft.) and down a shady creekside, pointing out the flora along the way: astors, dandelions, wild celery, osha, yaro, wild kerns, gooseberry, primrose, buttercup, five kinds of lichen on a single rock, field mint, purple irisis, white geraniums, water hemlock, and more. Greenlight's fascination with plants goes back 40 years. "I started becoming interested in plants as a Boy Scout when I wanted to stay in the woods after the pancake mix ran out," he recalls. He now lives in Northern California amidst the giant, old-growth forests and the fog banks that roll off the nearby Pacific Ocean. He sleeps in a Redwood tree whenever he gets the chance.
"Go look for something green," he encourages his students at the end of his walk. "Meditate on it. Establish a relationship with it. If you're eating plants all the time, you won't need to be cured. You will always be cured."
With the nose of a bloodhound and the belly of a python, he moves relentlessly from kitchen to kitchen across the 4 sq. mile campsite. When he isn't eating, he can be found working - carrying supplies, digging shitters, cutting firewood and hauling water - in order to make room for the next round of food. As he wolfs down the last of the chili, he bounces on his toes and rubs his belly confidently. "Ummm, Umm," he says. "We're going to be eatin' good tonight."
Dumpster's Favorite Dumpsters: A Continental Buffet
Commodities
Blooming Prairies Distributors
White Wave Tofu
Rudy's Bakery
Tuscon, Arizona
Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's
Azumaya
Best International Dumpsters
1.) Copenhagen, Denmark |
Greenlight joined the Rainbow Family in 1984 and during the Gathering he gives an herbwalk every other day to novice and experienced herbalists alike. He estimates that he can identify 3,000 of the United States' 35,000 plant species and he knows their medicinal uses as well.
On the Rainbow Trail: In the days leading up to the 4th of July, thousands of people streamed into the Gathering site atop a 9,000 ft. mountain. And they were greeted with smiles and the ubiquitous, unofficial Rainbow Family mantra: "Welcome Home!"..."Welcome Home brother"..."Welcome Home sister"...
Zhahai, the Meme Gardener, may have been one of the few Rainbows who was prepared for the early monsoons that would ultimately swamp the 1998 Gathering.
Happiness is a 64 oz. Big Gulp full of food: Dumpster stops to scarf down some steaming hot chili from Millieways Kitchen. Fluent in three languages, he has hitchhiked and hopped freights around the United States and across Europe, Turkey, Canada and Latin America for a dozen years, finding treasure where others see only trash. He has come to every Gathering (except one) since 1987.