It Was 40 Years Ago Today (Again)...

Yes, folks, today marks the 40th anniversary of the original Woodstock Music & Arts Festival, a generation-defining celebration of peace, love, and culture. From August 15-18, 1969, thousands of hippies gathered at Max Yasgur's Upstate New York dairy farm and were treated to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and CSNY, among many other great acts. This afternoon, I had a little inter-generational communication about the issues and culture of the 60s and today with my dad. He called to remind me about VH1's Woodstock-themed programming and to reminisce. (He wasn't physically at Woodstock, but he was "there" mentally and spiritually.) I think everything that took place back then has resulted in what's happening now. For instance, the Civil Rights Movement made the outcome of the last presidential election possible. I've concluded that historical events occur in a cyclical pattern. That is, every 40 years or so, history tends to repeat itself. One negative repetition is war. Just like with Vietnam, there's been a lot of protest against U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fortunately for today's progressives, we actually like our president (now), and there is at least some inkling of an exit strategy from the conflicts we are currently enduring. Y'know, a lot of us were getting kinda worried a year ago. I think it's safe to say that Dubya actually made Nixon look good by comparison. lol! Yeah, Dad and I have some really interesting dialogue. I'm so grateful for the values I was imbued with. (BTW, Dad, if you're reading this, I didn't have "a little help from my friends" writing it.) Incidentally, I got my Volkswagen back today, so things are uber-groovy in the Ashleyverse.