By the Time we got to Woodstock.....

[Angelpeace]

In August 0f 1969 I was 12 and Jamie was 15. Knew about Woodstock. Wanted to go. But by the time we got to Woodstock we were 25 years too late. There were crowds when we were there in 1994 for the 25th anniversary, not like '69 by no means, but they came from all over the United States. Young and old. They were all peaceful people, these hippies and their offspring and the curious and those of tradition that came every time they could, and there was joy and freedom among everbody gathered in that field that was once Yasger's Farm.

We arrived at the field a little after 2am on the morning of August 14, 1994. It was pitch dark and you couldn't see a thing, but when we stepped out of the van we could hear them. Voices coming from all over the field, and as we walked up on each group of people we could hear music playing and people were talking about the free concerts starting on August 15. We slept in the van at our camp site that first night, and in the morning we went back to walk the field in the daylight. Vendors and free food booths were already set up and running along the edges of the field which rose and fanned out into a natural bowl as you walked up from the road at the bottom of the field.
Below is a picture of one of the colorful vendors set up at the top of the small rise.

 

[Angelpeace]

The first thing we looked for and made pictures of at the field was the marker for the site. Here are three different pictures I took of the marker.

 

[Angelpeace]

I loved this shot of the two children reading the marker

 

[Angelpeace]

And this is the last of the marker with the little girl sitting on it.

 

[RedGinger]

Cool story Nina and I liked the way you wrote it.

 

[Angelpeace]

When we came back just after lunch time on August 15th, the crowd had really picked, and where the day before there had been a little makeshift stage, there was now a flatbed truck and the rumor was the Richie Havens had sent the truck and equipment because he and some other were coming to play a free concert. During the afternoon we wandered the field and talked to people. The rumors on who was coming to play ranged from Mountain to Eric Clapton to Bob Dylan to Paul McCartney and on and on, but no one was in a hurry. There were no people rushing around in a panic. There was nothing but peace. I talked to a New York City mailman, an ad executive, and a lawer to name a few that said they tried to make the trip every year. I told Jamie that I felt like I was standing on hallowed ground. For me, I told him, it felt like steping into the hand of God when I stepped in that field. No where else on this earth, not even my home, has given me the feeling that that field did.
Below is one of the pictures I took of the crowd.

 

[Angelpeace]

This is a picture of one of the colorful busses in the field.

 

[RedGinger]

It must have been a really neat place to be. I never considered it much, but now I would go if I had the opportunity.
I always liked this song. Joni Mitchell is great. "We are stardust, million year old carbon." I love that lyric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6IDoxi9QsE

 

[Angelpeace]

This is a picture I had someone take of Jamie and me as we were headed down to the field. We had been married almost 4 years when we took this trip. At the time I used to tell his that he was my "little big man" and I was his his "big little woman". This picture was taking just a couple of hours before Jamie borrowed a girl's guitar and he and I gave an impromptu performance in that glourious field. Standing at the base of that bowl, his playing and my singing seemed to just rise toward the back of that bowl. I saw people standing all around us with camcorders pointed at his. I looked up at one point and saw a news helicopter flying overhead witha cameraman hanging out the door pointing a camera down at the field. Never in my life have a sang like I sang that day or has Jamie played like he played that day. We finished our little performance with our version of "A Change is Gonna Come", and as we hit the final notes, thunderous applause and cheers and whistles came roaring at us down that little rise. If we had known when we were singing just how many people could hear us, we probably whould have been awful. As it is, I have never felt the kind of rush I got from that crowd. Wish I had the talent to do that all the time and get that same feeling all the time, but because we did that I can now say, "We played Woodstock"[][][][]

 

[Angelpeace]

Shortly after the above photo and our performance, Jamie fell and broke his leg in four places. Because of that we made it into The Times Herald Record. Here's the story.