By Achy Obejas | The New York Times
David Lee Hoffman knows the way he has chosen to live for nearly 50 years is unconventional, maybe even a little bit crazy and likely against the law.
In 1973, after years of travel abroad to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam, Mr. Hoffman bought two acres of land in Marin County, Calif., a lush, leafy peninsula across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Since then, he’s built a sanctuary to showcase his ideas about environmental sustainability: the Shower Tower, the Worm Palace (crucial to his composting toilet), the Tea Cave (where he has stored more than 50,000 pounds of rare, aged tea), the Tea Pagoda (where he’s hosted tea ceremonies for friends and dignitaries for more than 40 years) and so many more.
