May 1974: Reminiscing about Pat Lake’s virgin forest and our withdrawals. What it was like to be totally cut off from a society obsessed with noise and entertainment. Lost in the wilderness. Fast forward back to May of 1974 and my meeting of Cindy Murphy. Dave & Janet Romeril act as matchmakers. We hitchike to the Qua Qua May Day Festival and make love. Cindy’s salvation. We travel to Crossroad Christian Youth Ministry in St. John, NB and discover Joe & Marie are born again too, having left the Krishna people. We hitchike to Joe and Marie’s farm outside Middleton, NS and God calls us all to create a Christian Community. One flesh.

May 1974: I continue recounting the event surrounding my fugitive run across the Canadian border (Dec. 31 1969); Divine providence shines down on me when I discover owner of Shum Organic Foods is boyhood, Boyscout friend from Baltimore. I move into Al and Rebecca Baker’s communal house and work at Shum. I meet a bonafide gypsy from Poland and travel with him and his two wives. My vision of creating the Pat Lake Commune. The famous explorer and videograher, Alan Bibby, joins us at the last minute, as part of his documentary on new forms of family.

May 1974: Reflections on Pat Lake Commune in BC, Canada (1970) and the calling I felt to establish it; Marsha Stewart; My Drug bust and fugitive run to the Canadian Border (1969).

May 1974: A woman scorned and an affair to remember. The “Free-sex” of our hippy culture sometimes extracted a high price. I meet a 19 year old bicyclist who rode her bike a 1000 miles and begin recounting how I started the British Columbia, Pat Lake Commune.

May 1974: Summary of what has transpired since February, when I left Bear River to find work in Halifax and buy seeds for Spring planting. I discover my transformation is deeper then I realized, with sex no longer being the casual, if-it-feels-good-why-not recreational activity. Did God really order men of old to commit genocide and kill every man, woman and child in order to take their promised land? Did Jesus disobey the very scriptures he quoted?

November 1973: Living alone in the abandoned farmhouse I embark on a 7 month journey of Bible study and research, comparing what Jesus said in the Bible versus what others say about him. God rewards me with a piercing white light that comes upon me daily, each time I open the Bible to read. I sense it cleansing and healing my mind, brining enlightenment. I finally surrender the defenses of my logical mind and as a little child accept Christ into my heart.

Summer-Fall 1973: Living alone and rent-free in an abandoned farmhouse with no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing and no windows. With absolutely no income or money I successfully create the “First Annual Natural Health and Healing Conference of Nova Scotia”. This week-long conference was held in the abandoned farmhouse, just prior to my moving in, and attracted 45-60 participants and trainers from as far away as Saschatewan, Rhode Island and Boston. During harvest I discover a lot of old-time, extremely delicious apple varieties and develop my own successfull recipe for canning wild fruits raw.

Spring 1973: Scott and I move from our plastic A-frame to a rented log cabin in Bear River, Nova Scotia. I put in a garden and get invited to attend a Bible study on the second chapter of Acts, which discusses a first century Christian community.

Spring-Summer-Fall 1972: Robert Ziegler and I read poetry (him) with flute accompaniement (me) in local Halifax’s downtown park; also at local high school where we get the surprise of our life. I move on, meeting Scott Smith and Dave & Janet Romeril. My idea to build an A-frame out of plastic prompts me to write the Canadian Government for permission to build a temporary artists residence and live in it rent-free. This leads to Scott and I wintering in it, experiencing fierce winter storms, an eerie silver glow on moonlit nights, breathing walls and one of the most amazing sounds I’ve ever heard, the echoing rifle-like sounds of lake ice cracking, fading into the night.

February 1972: Traveling in Nova Scotia and still interviewing organic Back-To-The-Land people. Interviewed Stephanie & Dan Parker; Jim & Gail Hulbert; Don & Nancy at Andy & Vicki’s Bear River Farm; and Watson Peck. Still traveling mostly with Robert and Elizabeth Ziegler and their two young girls. We’ve discovered some surprising facts regarding both the back-to-the-land hippies and those couples farming organically who have community roots.