Well, I did make it. My friends and I - long separated,
but hopefully not forgotten (they aren't) - were going to music festivals
that summer. We lived outside of D.C. they had a commune in Arlington, Va
and I lived across the city in Bethesda, MD.
We thought this Woodstock music and arts festival sounded
like "fun" - lots great music, altho' nothing seemed firmed up. So off we
went, one carload of us leaving Thursday evening and the others planned to
leave Friday morning. By the time we got up there, we had to leave the car
and walk in, but not too far.
We hung out by the roadside, amazed at the people - just
like us! Happy, joyous, peaceful, and free....yeah, that is what it was all
about. Surprisingly, our friends joined us (I knew about 15 other people
who went, too, but somehow missed them...there was this crowd....). One of
our group had brought a nylon surplus cargo parachute. We draped it over
some trees - home! It looked great, real Arabian Nights stuff. We were hanging
out, trying to decide whether to go on down to the site -
and it started raining. Pouring! Our lovely tent was soon decimated. We gathered
what we could and hiked over to the site, in the rain. We parked, just above
the mid-way point, and hunkered down for the next few days.
In spite of it all, we had a wonderful time. The music
was (mostly) fantastic. Poor Janis was on her last legs. Grace Slick was
a little too high, but hung on. My favorite group was Saturday night - Sly
and the Family Stone had everybody rockin'. (and where are they now? Mostly
dead, I think) Waking up to Jimi Hendrix was totally surreal - the sun was
just barely up, the sky was bluer than blue and the birds were singing. Then
we hear our National Anthem - and oh! say, can we
sing?!!! Sure 'nuff.
Its almost 30 years later. I've found myself in Paradise
Valley, in the Pacific Northwest, and have been here for 13 years. But, I'm
going back east this mid-August. In 1969 I had the world's biggest and best
19th birthday party: Woodstock! Turning 49 there won't be the same, of course,
but I feel the need.... Maybe I'll see ya there!
Peace and love -
Gayle Nourse gaylen@valint.net