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• May 24, 1968: I managed to find a place to crash in Riverside, a run-down old shack occupied by some very, very groovy people who are part-time students at Riverside City College. Last weekend we all went to the beach, primarily because I really wanted to see the ocean, and spent the night sleeping on the sand as endless waves splashed onto the shore a few feet away. Nothing I have ever seen is quite so moving as gazing out to sea. Each time I view the ocean I feel drawn to it in a most mysterious way. 
On Sunday we drove out to Griffith Park near Los Angeles to partake in a Love-in. There must have been thousands of kids (and some not so old hip adults) congregated in the park. In the air was a spirit of joy and frivolity mixed with feelings of peace & love that only being stoned en masse can create. We sat high on a hill (both literally and figuratively) overlooking the merry-go-round, the pungent aroma of our generation permeating the air - illegal substances being passed around with an aura of total impunity. Music was everywhere. I found myself not just hearing the music, but actually feeling it as well. All around us people were dancing, some gyrating wildly and others moving slowly like some form of ancient Tai Chi. A girl with pupils dilated to the size of black saucers danced over and told me she loved me while placing around my neck some love beads which, she told me, she had strung herself especially for me. I thanked her, she stared back vacantly, I'm not certain she even heard me. "Peace," she said. "Peace," I replied. And she moved on, waving her arms against the blue sky, dancing her dance to the love gods. It was an incomparable experience and thoroughly enjoyable. No wonder the older generation fears us. We are changing the world from the uptight place they created to one where freedom of expression is the order of the day. And all this freedom frightens the hell out of them! |