Has it really been forty years?
Me at 19
Taking a few to have my tomato samich. A lot of talk about Woodstock this weekend. People are waxing nostalgic about the best rock concert evah.I did not attend, although I know at least one person, Dave Galfand, who did. I was 20 and had not even smoked a joint. There was plenty of press about the concert saying that it may well be a big riot due to all the drugs that were expected. The thought did not impress me at all. Huge crowds of hopped up hippies all bent on having a mind blowing time just scared the crap outta me. I was happy to go down to the local watering hole and dance the night away after sipping a few beers or maybe a Harvey-Wall-Banger. I was kinda prissy in my attitude to those who smoked up. Concerts I had attended up to that point were Harry Belafonte and Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. Things changed for me a lot the next two years. I don't remember seeing the movie about Woodstock, but I must have at some point. I started to identify with the generation I was part of instead of some bogus generation my parents had invented. I wore my skirts very short, much to the chagrin of my knee hating mother. Pot and a few other substances were experimented with. Nothing I ever got hooked on. It was entertainment similar to having a few drinks. I embroidered all over my jeans. Wearing a bra was optional. After leaving home, a one room apartment became my new refuge. There was a boy who stayed with me more often than not. When my mother found out, I was disowned. My banishment lasted till the boy and I broke up. It was about that time I experienced a form of sexual harassment, although I had no clue what it was. My supervisor, who was a married man with a child, wanted to take me out. I knew what he had in mind. No way I was going to be another notch on his slimy belt. Shortly after that, he fired me. Had to move and so shared another very small apartment with a good girl friend. We were both living on unemployment insurance but had enough to buy beer and have a good time. It was about that time in 70 that I met Frank. He was lead guitar in a 5 man band called Euphoria. I moved in with him and the band. By this time he had proposed and given me a ring. He talked to my dad and all was on the up and up although my mother was pissed at me for living with a man without the benefit of clergy. Oh well!In August of '69, Frank and his other band mates were playing a gig in southern Quebec. It was just a small jaunt over to Woodstock. He told me, the guys suggested they smuggle him across the border to see the concert. Being a draft dodger, he would have none of it. He would stay in Canada till he was a Canadian citizen and Jimmy Carter pardoned all the dodgers. Do I feel like I missed out on a special moment in time by not attending Woodstock? Nah, not really. I have been to many great concerts in the years since. One regret was not ever seeing Hendrix. Oh well!Keep Dancing!
