Daffodil Uprising

When Cassia delves into her father's tumultuous college years spanning the late Sixties, she's both amused and aghast. In four turbulent years, he and his dorm buddies go from uptight square to psychedelic cool against a backdrop of protests, the Pill, and pot. None of them quite fit the hippie stereotype, but there's no question of their shared identity as they advance radical actions and outlooks. So much that's now taken for granted has come about through their heated conflict and even tragedy.
Her father's collected photos, correspondence, and notes give her a rare insight into the free-wheelin' Revolution of Peace & Love and much more as it rises within the American heartland.
His rural college campus and his buddies in the dorm seem an unlikely outpost for radical upheaval, in the face of bumbling bureaucracy and its oppressive Establishment — including the omnipresent military draft and continuing 'Nam quagmire — these boyz move step by step from square to turned on, tuned in, and, well, there are more directions than simply dropping out. They're not alone.
As Cassia finds out, hippies come in many varieties and degrees, spurred on by many differing motivations. Their garb and experiences are both colorful and drab. Their lessons, both outrageous and down-to-the-basics of survival. Her father's an artist. His lover, a flower-child dreamer. There are political activists, magicians and wizards, prophets, mystics, wise elders, tricksters, pranksters, outlaws, partiers, druggies, travel agents, actors, burnouts, organizers, and operators, as well as their opponents. It's a volatile mix of self-discovery, youthful rebellion, erotic awakening, brotherhood, ambition, desire, testing, disillusionment, even heartbreak. Sometimes their actions are sophomoric, and sometimes, tragic. Looking back, it's hard to believe anyone can change as much as they did in such a short time. But for many, that's the legacy that lingers, along with so much unfinished business.
And then there's hitchhiking, as her father learns at the end — as well as whole new counterculture adventures just over the horizon.