Woodstock

Can it be 40 years since Woodstock? For just about anyone my age (60), Woodstock conjures up some very specific memories. Living in the mid-west, there were few people who probably actually attended the music festival. I did meet someone from Galesburg who claimed to have attended. Who knows if he really did?

I can remember the news coverage on TV that week-end. I thought it looked pretty cool; my dad (who rarely shared his opinion on such matters) thought it seemed pretty ridiculous. I know the news coverage focused much more on the traffic, the mud, and lack of food rather than the musical aspects of the week-end. It would take the release of the film on Woodstock the next year to provide that memory.

The film came out in the summer of 1970 and I was working as a cook in a bar in Galesburg, (Infinity Plus One). One of the waitresses was a Galesburg HS grad. a year older than me, and I had a crush on her all summer. Finally, near the end of the summer I got up the courage to ask her out and we went to the movie Woodstock. I remember being really impressed with how well they tried to capture both the music and the community aspects of the concert goers. I bought the Woodstock album because of the movie and played it often for many years. We passed it on to our son Marshall who I hope continues to cherish it.

There's been some good articles on Woodstock (Smithsonian magazine) and cable documentaries (Woodstock: now and then) that have come out recently, that have been fun and educational to read and watch. There are always back stories that are interesting, like the couple who are on the album cover. Woodstock was one of their very first dates; they eventually got married and are still married.

The idealism of our youth and the counter-culture ideals were lived out in Woodstock, three days of peace and music. It will always represent a dream that remains unfilled.

Picking Blueberries

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For a variety of reasons, I've had the opportunity to harvest many different fruits and vegetables in my life. Sweet corn, strawberries, apples, peaches, cherries, potatoes, raspberries, carrots, and green beans all come right to mind. Sometimes for money, more often than not for personal use. When we were in Washington earlier this summer I had my first opportunity to pick blueberries.

We went to a U-pick'm blueberry farm, which was similar to strawberry farms. You're given a bucket and directed to the rows of blueberries that can be harvested that day. You pick what you want and pay, by weight, for what you picked. Blueberry plants are about 4-6 feet tall, and the blueberries grow in bunches, but they ripen independently. So you are individually picking the berries you want. Of course you can eat as many as you want (I found I needed to test 1 for every 10 I picked) and I dropped a lot because when they are ripe they come off pretty easily.

Fresh blueberries are fantastic and we had them on cereal, in pancakes, and just ate them by the handful. We didn't have to climb any ladders or crawl around on the ground to pick them.

Maybe the only possible drawback is what our grandson warned us: "If you eat too many blueberries, you'll get blue poop!".

Going Home

Earlier this summer Alice and I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with friends Don and Cindy while we were visiting other family in Portland, OR. It was a pleasant reunion. I grew up with Don and we spent a lot of time together in elementary school and high school. Shortly after Alice and I were married, the four of us lived in a farm house together for a while; and, in a very 70's experience, we bought a van and traveled out west together ending up in Washington where we lived for a while in a little log cabin while we picked apples. From there our lives started to spin in different directions, but for a while there was few people that I knew better than Don and Cindy.

Even though we only rarely get together now and we've had long gaps of not seeing each other, I'm always glad when we can get together for awhile. Seeing them is always a bit like coming home. That time together created a bond that is always there regardless of the miles and time that separate us. I feel blessed that I have many friends like that from my hometown, from school, and from various places I've worked.

I hope that you all have friends and shared experiences with them that in spite of the years and distance that may separate you, getting together always feels a bit like coming home.