By Louie Ferrera

The Hog Farm Hideaway is a three day music festival held on a bucolic ranch in southern Mendocino County, California.  The following is my reflection on one particular morning there.

There are moments in life when you just get into the flow. Like a slow float down a lazy river everything you do seems effortless. I had one of those moments last Sunday morning at the Hog Farm Hideaway.

After a nearly sleepless Friday night, I slept soundly and uninterrupted on Saturday. It’s amazing what good sleep can do for you and no wonder that sleep deprivation is a common torture technique. I crawled out of the tent around 6:45 and into the warming rays of a just risen sun. Compared to last night’s controlled pandemonium during String Cheese Incident’s set and all of the other sights and sounds of a Saturday night at the festival, this Sunday morning felt particularly tranquil. All I could hear were the random stirrings of a few early risers like myself, the occasional chip, chip of a bird and the distant hum of a generator. I made coffee, donned my shades and sat in a chair facing the sun. I just breathed, soaking up its nourishing rays, feeling rejuvenated and ready for the promise of this new day.

My initial idea was to take a shower but I quickly jettisoned that idea when I saw how long the line was, and instead opted to catch the Banana Slug String Band’s set on the side stage of the main music meadow. My slow walk there had a very Oregon Country Fair quality to it. There were smiles of contentment on the faces of the people I passed. Everyone looked tired, but it was that “good tired” you get from doing something that you love (in this case dancing late into the night to you favorite bands). Smiles and greetings were given and taken with ease, we were all co-conspirators in this collective cosmic giggle.

I arrived just in time to sing along with the Slugs to River Song, songwriter Steve Van Zandt’s paean to flowing waters. I had tears in my eyes as the beautiful imagery and slow, waltz time of this tune always manages to tug at my heart strings. I was feeling particularly emotional today and grateful; grateful for a restful night and for this glorious morning and to just be here taking part in the peace and love vibe that enveloped us all.

I was happily dancing to the whimsical Kingdom of the Crab (Van Zandt sang the song dressed in a giant crab costume) when my errant left arm knocked the salsa container right off the tray of a girl dancing beside me. I apologized profusely, we both laughed it off and continued our “crabbing”.  In another situation there could have been angry words and recrimination, but not today, not here. After the show, I bought her an ice pop as a consolation. We hugged and went our separate ways.

As if my heart wasn’t full enough, by the time The Slugs set ended I was nearly bursting! What those guys do is simply magic. This Santa Cruz band that plays environmentally themed songs for children young and old had us “kids” in the palm of their hand throughout their all to brief 45 minute set. By now I felt as if I were floating on a cloud of love and began the slow meander upstream through this river of happiness to Ten Mile Creek.

One of the best features of The Hog Farm is this gentle ribbon of water that flows through the forest at the western edge of the festival site. What a blessing to have a place like this to cool off in after a dusty day of dancing. I shed my clothes and stepped gingerly into its refreshing waters. The various sizes, shapes and colors of the cobblestones at the bottom were clearly visible, small fish darted around my ankles, the green of the surrounding forest was serene and soothing. I immersed  myself, it was a baptism and a rebirth all in one. After the initial shock of the cold water my body adjusted. The water was only a few feet deep so I was easily able to lie here up to my neck and let the creek flow by me. There was a bit of easy conversation with a couple of other folks sharing this moment with me, otherwise I just breathed in the incredible gratitude that I was feeling to be here. I felt alive and filled up, I was in the flow.