But there is one stop along this journey through fruitcake land where the other side of the wacko spectrum truly holds court. A place where, in the course of walking two blocks, I've had a guy in camouflage get nose to nose with me and yell "Eat a bullet motherfucker" and then, moments later, passed four middle aged men and woman dressed like Buddhist monks wearing pyramids on their heads. Only to be followed by an elderly woman who lifted her skirt to show me way more than I ever needed to see.
That place is Mount Shasta.
Don't get me wrong. Mount Shasta is one of the most amazing mountains in the world. And as I learned in the natural food store, it's the main reason why so many 'interesting' people are attracted to the area. I learned this during what started out as a relatively normal conversation in the supermarket with a relatively normal looking man in his 50's.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi," I returned.
"Do you live here in Mount Shasta?" he asked.
"No, just passing through. How about you.?"
"We're from Twin Falls. Just traveling. We're here for the meditation seminar."
"I like to meditate too." I said, " I just saw Jon Kabat Zinn in LA two days ago."
"I don't know who that is." he said. "We're here because the Ontarians are hovering their spaceship over Mount Shasta so the energy pathways are fully open."
"Really. Ok. Well I'm just going to get this lasagna and hit the road."
Maybe the left will get it's own Tea Party yet.
