4/20...hehehe

Okay, so I know there may be those of you out there that have no idea what I mean when I reference 4/20 and giggle afterwards. To some it means nothing more than the 20th day of April, others it may be something simple like payday or even that they have a dentist appointment. To me, however, it is a devious reminder to what the pot smokers of the world like to refer to as a National holiday, in true oxymoron fashion (no, I am not calling pot smokers morons...I said OXYmoron....look it up; means something totally different).

When I was a young lass, obviously before I saw the error of my ways, I too dabbled in the consumption of the cannabis, weed, bud, ganja, Mary Jane, pot...whatever you want to call it; I smoked it. There is no sense in lying about it. I was a joker, I was a smoker, I was a midnight toker! I am not proud of it and there are many regrets that I have as a time or two I was in an incredible amount of danger and escaped barely with my life. I don't condone illegal use of marijuana nor do I promote its use. I am just telling my story on this nostalgic day.

So where was I, oh, right, I smoked it. Well 4/20 was a holiday for many. I remember back in the day when someone told me about its origin. Throughout the years I have heard numerous different stories about where the idea of 4/20 came from...where it evolved. I was told that it was the dispatching code that law enforcement use when busting a citizen for the use and possession of illegal marijuana. (Not true) I remember a story one time about how Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Jimmy Hendrix all died on April 20 and it was a day of morning and celebration. (ah...no; that's just stupid) Someone told me, probably stoned out of their gourd and I am sure I believed them, that it was how many active chemicals there are in marijuana. (This one sounded logical, but nope...not right) I think I also heard that in England, avid true devotees in the consumption use of weed sit down every afternoon and smoke a bowl at precisely at 4:20 in the afternoon, come rain or shine(again pure fiction). Yep...I have heard them all.

But what is the truth? Where did this iconic mystical and unofficial holiday evolve and who is responsible for millions of people using this day as a Smoke Out holiday?

The last one is actually not that far from the truth, as it does actually have to do with time. I did a lot of research on this and "apparently," from what I have found through several sources, the idea of 4/20 came from a bunch of kids. Back in the early seventies in California at San Rafael High School, a group of kids who called themselves the "Waldo's," apparently because they sat on a wall outside the school, would meet up and smoke weed together. It became a code known simply as "420" which they could use in school, and no one was the wiser.

This is pretty funny to me because when I was a teen, many of us thought that we were so sneaky and smart because we too had meeting places where we would party. Ours were nothing as notorious to the world as "420" but we partied at places like "Broke Dick Creek" (pronounced "crick" from where I am from) and "Wide Ass." We could walk through the halls and yell "Party at Broke Dick Friday night" and the teachers could never figure it out. Oh, it eventually got busted but for a solid two years...we had out secret place and our secret code that everyone in our school knew what it meant.

I still hear about "Broke Dick" every now and again when I go home for a visit. It has been over fifteen years and people still talk about it. It didn't start a global movement like 4/20 but it was just another way that kids could stick it to the Man!

It made us special. It made us invincible. But most of all it made us Legends.

So here is to my "420"...may the mountain air and trees never speak a word of what it witnessed those many nights of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll...Here's to Broke Dick and Wide Ass...may you live proud and strong in our memories!!

I know this was a strange post, and I swear to you, I am not stoned...though sometimes I wish I were! Kidding. Sort of.

Wishing you all good health and happiness! (And for some of you...have a hit for me!)