Early Saturday morning we ate, tidied camp and stored everything to await our return. Two months had passed, a month's worth of work remained for me but orientation called. I was also looking forward to a bath and the smell of the house I'd grown up in. Yeah, even though I was eighteen I had to admit I missed seeing my mom. Fifty-three years have passed since that day and I still miss seeing her.
For a change we ate breakfast in town on Emil's dime. Seeing as he had all the dimes I was fine with that.
"Uncle Emil, I was thinking that we might find a barber before we head down. Maybe get some of my hair removed. Maybe all of it. It's gotten long enough to be a nuisance and it'd be a lot easier keeping my head clean when we come back up."
"Okay with me Archie. Mine's gotten to the point where I can comb it and that's not a good sign."
Finished eating and five minutes later we joined the line at Ray's to get our ears lowered. A half hour wait led to two minutes in the chair. Just like the path to the outhouse I had it all taken down to the nubs.
Keep in mind when this was and that I was still a teenager. The Beatles had invaded a little over a year earlier and brought their haircuts with them. By the summer of '65 hair over the ears and collar was considered fashionable and showed no signs of slowing down. Problem was, I never felt myself to be all that fashionable. And after a couple of months in a tent, building a cabin from the ground up without a radio, television or a newspaper, I wouldn't have known fashion if it'd bit me in the ass. And didn't care. Also felt I'd grown up a bit. Not that I was comfortable about any decisions I was making, including the haircut. No, I knew I'd stand out like a sore thumb among the students at the U and would feel a little self conscious, almost embarrassed. But so be it. Besides, it felt good rubbing my head as we walked to the mud splattered truck. Very good.
We were set up in groups of about twenty. Started by introducing ourselves and what we wanted to accomplish in school. Though I had no idea what direction I was heading I spouted some hogwash about wanting to get a degree in political science - not sure what science has to do with politics - go on to law school, become a politician, get exposed for something or other, take to the bottle and end my life in disgrace as a well paid lobbyist. May not have actually said that but the intent was there. We spent the rest of the morning wandering from building to building, ate lunch, got our pictures taken for an ID and registered for classes. Had I known what I was doing, at least one of the classes I chose would have been an interesting one. But over the years I learned there weren't many of them and they always filled on the first day of registration.
More than anything I felt like a doofus walking around campus with a group of people who probably also felt the same. Didn't know at the time the world was filled with self-conscious doofusses (doofii?) just like me. Guess there was a lot I didn't know. What I did know was the smell of sun on pines, how to dig a hole in the woods and how to drift a tiny jig and scrap of pork rind to entice a brook trout strike. Checked the course directory from top to bottom and didn't find anything like that.
Truth was I don't think I was ready for a university education. Hah. Don't know if I'm ready yet. Go back to what I'd said earlier, I was told by those who should know that I was college material. Been hearing stuff like that all the time I was growing up. Maybe if I'd known exactly what college material was, I could have decided on my own if I fit the mold. But I didn't. And didn't have an alternative. So there I was, short hair in a long hair world.
Tuesday morning me and Emil climbed back into his freshly washed Ford and fled to the sanctity of the Arrowhead. I'd enjoyed my time at home but was starting to wonder exactly where home was. Once out of the cities Emil turned the wheel over to me. "Keep 'er between the lines Archie and near the speed limit. Not often I get to watch the world pass by. By the by, just between you and me and the wall, how'd it go over at the U?"
"It went Uncle Emil, it went. Something about the whole university scene just doesn't feel right to me. Don't know exactly what. But it sure didn't feel like a happy place to me. Oh well, maybe it'll turn out for the best."
No comments:
Post a Comment