& it happens
A girlfriend recently commented, on a Marco Polo, that I had this amazing nature about me. It was as if:
“Miel just says, hey, what about this cool thing? & it happens.”
– Roberta Suzette
This delightfully reminded me of our father, Wally Jones. His closest and best of friends was Lowell Rose–after whom my identical twin, Ravi Rose, was named. They met walking down E. 6th Avenue near the Hilton in Eugene. One guy said to the other guy, “Hey, you look like a cool guy. I’m a cool guy too. I think we should hang out.” Off they went, friends for the rest of their lives.
I was fortunate to have been able to be raised by them both, joining for their epic birthday parties, Lowell’s in August, and Wally’s in December.
We now call ourselves the “Hoebabies”. The spawn of Hoedads. (Insert joke from Wally. If you have a good one to share, please drop it in the comments below.) In fact, we are the literal spawn of hoedads, as our folks met over tree planting and conceived either in the Wallowas, or in the immediate return from a tree planting expedition.
The Hoedads came together as a worker-owned treeplanting and forestry labor cooperative, based in Eugene, Oregon. Their first work was in the Umpqua Forest of Tiller, where I grew up as a child.
They were the original generation of making it happen. Seeing things very differently than the status quo they had known, the culture they had been steeped in. The went back to the land, and recreated themselves, and their families.
I see the parallels in my own life, and how they inspired and created me to become the Miel I am today.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to share time with this incredible group, at the upcoming Hoedads 50th Reunion. If you’d like to learn more, I’ll be reading this article, from a prior reunion.
Hoedads Celebrate Reforestation History, as published in West by Northwest, by Roscoe Caron, a fellow Cheap Thrill of Wally’s.
Just like that, 50 years pass. Just like that, another generation is born. I’m grateful to be bringing our boys, to learn from their hippie heritage.
Hippie Child,
Miel