were you living in Santa Cruz pre-1989

Greetings
I am looking for old school types who were living in Santa Cruz pre-1989.
I was born in SantaCruz, and left for a long journey through Europe one month before the 1989 earth/change, my grand mother advised me to continue on my journey. I returned home a year later, most of my friends had scattered to the 4 directions, and housing had become so expensive I could not afford to stay for long. Well as the universe played me, I discovered & moved to my beloved adopted home of New Orleans in 1991...durring the last 2 years while dealing with all the katrina kaos, I am reminded in some ways about the tragedy of 1989, and all the bonds that were broken due to migration & circumstantial displacement.
Obviously, Katrina, the flooding of New Orleans, & the loss of life is a huge tragedy,perhaps more so then 1989, but for me the pain and sorrow is the same, it cuts deep. You see, I lost My home in NOLA, and some friends.I have been trying to move back for two years...the realestate inflation & gentrification have hit hard in New Orleans. New Orleans does not have the economy to support high prices, and life is really hard there, no resources, out of control murder rate ...AHHHGG>Breaks MY Heart..So, here I am in NYC thanks to rent control! I am remembering where I came from, what I loss, found and loss again, HOME. I loss contact with 97% of my SantaCruz friends, and I've learned a very important (& painful) lesson from that loss - that is keep in touch, and return often, never give up on the people, and the place you love. I hope to return to living in New Orleans someday. As for my birth home Santa Cruz-I tried to return once, twice, then I gave up on her... Its been a long time since I walked through elf land, or rode my bike to Ben Lomand, or along the coastal highway. Its been a long time since I saw my Santa Cruz peeps. If you feel me, Holla!
Peace, A.M. Hann

:nopity:

 

Wow, I do feel you!! Me and an old (now long since) ex girlfriend were in Santa Cruz throughout the summer of 1984 up until October of that year when we went back up to Oakland.

We were both in our early twenties at that time and seeking adventure and we sure found it!

Tons of good folks in Santa Cruz back then. This was during the pre "Troll Basher" era before folks started going off into the woods and beating street folk with ball bats and other assorted, awful things.

The one person I remember best from that time was Owl, a very nice guy who made bead strings and leather stuff and sold it on the Santa Cruz Mall out in front of where the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company used to be up near the corner across the street from the post office.

He was one of the coolest people we ever knew, always mellow, always peaceful, if somewhat moody sometimes, but he was always cool.

My ex gf and I ended up inheriting a camp up the railroad tracks outside of town, in the forests across from the San Lorenzo River.

At the time we were there it was still safe to camp right down by the river at night. That was long before the heroin and crack addicts took it over and made it deadly.

The street community was totally different then. People didn't fight and fuss and argue, battling over crusts of bread.

I couldn't tell you the number of times we'd run across folks who'd set up impromptu cooking fires and they'd have something going in a big pot or a huge skillet or something and they always shared and were happy to share.

everyone pitched in, put in, shared and we all basically took care of each other. It was like shades of the sixties all over again and I was really sad to see it end.

I went back to Santa Cruz for the last time right around New Year's of 2004 and it broke my heart!

Long gone was the Santa Cruz I'd known so many years ago.

The people were cold blooded, the street folks were horribly ragged and downright desperate.

I was lucky enough to get a grayhound bus back to Oakland on New Year's Day when it started raining.

The sky must have been expressing my broken heart for me because it rained like crazy and so did my heart.

The beautiful, vibrant Santa Cruz that I once knew is long gone since both 1989 and post 9/11. It's a different, sadder world we live in.

Still, we've got to go on being the Light so those who stumble in the dark can find their way out.

Peace.

Ed

 

I visited Santa Cruz 3 times a month. I lived in San Jose during the 70's. I remember the head shops, Karishners [hari nam], the boardwalk and the 'hurricane', sitting with my kids watching the surfers, sitting on the dock, I was at the beach the night the lights went out on the 4th of July. Near riots and looting. the bikers had taken up an entire parking lot. the crepe house that seated about 12 people. It is where I got hooked on chai tea among other things.