I Am Going To San Francisco

I won’t be wearing a flower in my hair, because the Summer of Love is over, and Jerry Garcia has been dead for a long time now.  Nearly 100,000 people came to San Francisco in 1967 to become part of a movement that not only explored expressions of self-determination but also rejected convention and forged new ideas about human rights, lifestyle, music, art and fashion.  The Summer of Love certainly transformed San Francisco into a counterculture magnet which nurtured an environment that fostered acceptance and creativity.  I know that I am going to meet some gentle people there, and that love will still be in the air, but I am going there because I just inherited a winery.  San Francisco is not particularly known for growing grapes, but it is located extremely close to the world-famous Napa Valley and the neighboring Sonoma County which each make a really nice Pinot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.  This vineyard does present a challenge because the municipal water contains chlorine and fluoride, so I will have to rely on distillation to remove these contaminates.  The constant fog and cold summers are not friends of the grape either, so if grapes don’t work, I could always start growing pistachios.

The moment I walked through the green doors on this brick wall, I fell in love with this place.  I saw all of those luscious grapes peeking through the vines, and the magnificent Santa Cruz Mountains in the background.  My uncle who just passed away was a member of the Merry Pranksters and he lived at Mickey Hart’s barn in Novato before he bought this property that just became mine.  I have always loved visiting him here in San Francisco and he took me to the best concerts.  My uncle introduced me to John Phillips from the Mamas and the Papas at the Monterey International Pop Festival.  John Phillips was in The Journeymen with his friend Scott McKenzie, and since he was busy promoting this concert, he gave this song about wearing flowers in your hair if you are going to San Francisco to his old friend.  John knew that this song encapsulated the feelings and aspirations of young people in America, and that they would travel far and wide to attend a music festival which promised to deliver that, so this song shows the love of a whole generation.  I am thinking that if the grapes and pistachios don’t work out for me, I might just start growing flowers here.

Written for Sadje at Keep It Alive What Do You See #158, where the Image credit comes from Mick Haupt.