Telling under the trees at the Sierra Storytelling Festival

This weekend, I had the chance to meet my fellow Renegade storytellers at the Sierra Storytelling Festival in the charming Gold Country town of Nevada City. The festival happens in one of my favorite places on the entire planet, a sweet little white schoolhouse up on the San Juan ridge overlooking the mountains. (This place appeals to many artists and writers, including the poet laureate Gary Snyder who was rumored to be in the audience.) Nevada City has a special appeal to renegades who left San Francisco in the 1960s to go "back to the land" and many of those now gray haired hippies still live in off the grid solar powered houses here.

It was a perfect, warm summer day, the breeze was just enough to keep things moving, and we sat under the pines and ate watermellon on a picnic blanket. l

The stage was beautiful, with a pine tree rising right up inside it, and two huge bouquets of sunflowers on either side. The mic and soundsystem are amazing -- you can stand anywhere on stage, walk and move, and this mic picks up every nuance.

This is the first time I have ever witnessed nationally famous professional storytellers in action and it was humbling. They were riveting. If you ever have a chance to visit this festival, go!

On Saturday I had chance to take the stage, and told "1967" -- a story about my first peace protest, at the tender age of five, in the height of the summer of love. After I told the story, someone in the audience shouted "encore!" Ok, just one person, but it's a start! Now I dream of taking the center stage as a featured teller at this charming festival someday in the future.