old hippie and young hippieskaua’i 2016 – 2^nd entry
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The market in Kilauea, just down the street from Princeville, is one of my favorites. And today it did not disappoint even with rain, at times, coming down in buckets. It was full of old hippies and what I call live-forevers. These are Kaua’i’s Millennials and here too they defined themselves by a compulsion for exercise and for healthy-eating. They do yoga, eat only organic, wear dreads, spurn make-up and work for environmentally conscious projects. All are blond, all are tall, all are skinny. It’s a very exclusive club and like their counterparts on the mainland pretend openness and diversity.

Many have started scented-oils boutiques, juice bars, but all espouse a philosophy of modernity that removes them from the agri-businessses and fossil-fuelers of the mainland.

Like the hippies of old, they too want a better world; like the hippies of old, they too have retreated from society; like the hippies of old, they too want an alternate life-style. But unlike the old hippies these new iterations are not willing to forego the luxuries of modernity. Their devices – iPhone and iPads – are never out of reach; their Coach purses and Marc Jacob’s sandals look right at home on the wet grounds of Kilauea farmers market.