August 14, 2014
The summer of 1969 was exhilarating for my family and friends. I was barefoot and pregnant with my second daughter, my family spending the summer at a bungalow in Monticello, NY in the Catskill mountains. Other friends were at neighboring bungalow colonies to get away from the heat of the city for two months.
Memorable Moments:
On July 20 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon ... and then there was the electrifying moments of the Woodstock Festival. Saturday, my husband, Ralph, and I went with another couple, Linda and Alan, to see what all the commotion was about and enjoy the music - being concert goers. We were amazed at the size of the audience and energies of the performers having never seen anything this extensive before. Ralph also performed at the major Catskill hotels that summer, but this was different. At the time, none of us realized history was being made.
Did people smoke weed? Of course they did but we didn't. I've never done drugs and don't drink. Were people friendly? Yes. Were they and from all across the country? Yes. Were they "Hippies"? Many were. Were they as opinionated as young people are today? Of course! Were there sanitary issues? Yes. Food and water? Could have used more but we brought our own.
How awesome life would have been if we had today's technologies. Think of all the Instagrams I would have posted and Facebook posts I would have sent - about events as they happened. I would love to revisit Bethel, NY one day, but not this year. I'm not interested in revisiting the farm, but more about meeting people my age and seeing what has happened to them along the way. On occasion my age group visits Burning Man in Nevada, but it's too hot for me in the desert.
Woodstock Google Videos
This year the 45th Anniversary aligns with the same days of the week as the original.
Woodstock at 45: Still stardust, still golden CNN - August 15, 2014
Hippies