One morning,
in Gainesville, Florida (UF)
Hal and I
were lying in bed with
LIFE Magazine –
gazing at photos of "hippies"
in Haight-Ashbury and
other areas of
San Francisco &
Berkeley –

Like thousands of other young
people from around the world
– we were strangely drawn
to investigate and become a part of
the "Experience."

Hal had been accepted by a number of graduate schools.
We had a map open on the floor
and pointed to our home base on the West Coast of Florida –
and decided
we may as well go – as far as possible –
to gain some new experiences – and targeted
California's West Coast – specifically the
San Francisco Bay Area
and UC Berkeley.*

And so we arrived on Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, during
THE SUMMER OF LOVE
1967
– and yes –

IT WAS FAR OUT!
To have Experienced this Experience is the only way to begin
to fathom
the "EXPERIENCE"

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Footnote: We left Florida for Berkeley with only our
Phillips 66 credit card and bachelor's degrees from UF.
I was to be the major bread winner, with my degree in Fine Art,
while Hal earned his two year Master's Degree in
Landscape Architecture
at UC Berkeley.

Two years later, after experiencing the "EXPERIENCE"
– brimming with elevated energy –
and with Hal's Master's Degree in hand, we returned home on our
Phillips 66 card. Approaching the Atlantic Coast,
we had to keep our vehicle from veering North
– as Woodstock was just geering up! –
but we knew we were running out of everything at this point –
and turned South…

After only 18 months, we cut up our credit cards,
paid off our student loan,
and Hal traded in his 8 to 5 office attire for a bathing suit
– and began his lifework!

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