Katie Couric's Notebook: Woodstock

It wasn't the first rock festival or the biggest ever.

But as more than one historian has said, for a moment, it was the center of pop culture.

And the real star was the audience - half a million young people jammed into a farmer's field-- during one of the most turbulent times in our nation's history.

It could have been a disaster. The food ran out. There weren't enough bathrooms, and it poured rain, turning Yasgur's farm into a giant mud pit.

But for the most part, the event lived up to its billing: 3 days of revelry without any major mishaps. And that's truly remarkable.

Yes, the "Woodstock Generation" is approaching Social Security age and the summer of '69 is long gone.

But, just as suede French clothing is now making a comeback, there's a youthful innocence that's still alive in all of us wishing for a little peace, love, and rock 'n roll.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.