SUMMER OF LOVE
1969, Taos was hopping with the release of Easy Rider starring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. It was also alive with love, flowers, communes, tranquility, and peace. Where ever you went you would encounter young women with flowers in their hair wearing long flowing sundresses, bearded long haired men wearing tie died shirts and torn faded jeans, kids with nothing on but a smile, old school buses painted with peace signs and multi colored flowers. That was what the summer of love was all about. While war was raging in Viet Nam, love was showering our little community.
This summer Taos is celebrating those times, times when people cared more about what to plant in their communal gardens than how much their 401K’s have tanked. They found life to be filled with peace, joy, love, and sharing much unlike the greed, corruption, and terrorism we see today. It was a time when America’s youth was protesting an unpopular war by engaging in love. Dodging the draft and moving to Canada was made much simpler by moving to Taos and becoming incommunicado. A simpler time yes, but my how things have changed in forty years.
Check out this website, http://www.taossummeroflove.com/calendar/ to see all the events that are coming to Taos over the course of the Summer of Love. Make your plans now to visit during this fun filled time. Together we might be able to bring a little joy and love to all of our lives.
~douglas bachtel