The Summer of Love turns 40

Last Sunday San Francisco celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park.

When my friends and I arrived at 11 am the happy and colorful crowd numbered 20,000. The skies were sunny and blue, there was a joyous atmosphere and a funny smell in the air.

By one o’clock the crowd had swelled to 30,000 and I needed a break from the heat and sun, so I met my friend from Italy to go to the Cliff House at Ocean Beach for lunch. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Ocean Beach so crowded and so sunny. Quite spectacular.

No, we did not coordinate our outfits. It was actually kind of embarrassing and freaky. (By the way he hasn’t grown a huge stomach - that’s the wind billowing his shirt.)

After some good food and drink, refreshing ocean air, and a couple of hours spent with a close friend I felt sufficiently energized to return to the Summer of Love festivities, where the crowd now numbered 40 to 50 thousand.

What amazed me about the event was how peaceful, relaxing and well organized it was. The music was great, although each band could play only 2 or 3 pieces because of the long line up of musicians scheduled to perform. “Mellow” is how I would define this day in my memory.