Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be (for the class of Carleton, ’71)

The title of this piece was written on the hall wall

of the dormitory I Inhabited my Sophomore year

I have to be honest, mates.

My Sophomore year changed my life

riding the waves of awakening happening 

at that time…discovering my mind there,

discovering Buddhism, that meditation 

was my life path. 

I remember playing touch football with

my Senior proctor Freshman year. He was

a real ballplayer, but I caught a catch and 

he dubbed me “Lineman”.

Claude Schneider was my roommate  Frosh

year.  He wrote notes on his notes. I’d never

seen anything like that. He put up with the time

I got sick at the foot of my bed.

I do remember Charley Quimby’s popcorn balls

Sophomore year I remember we took the photo

for 4th Musser in the shower, all naked. I 

remember 5th Musser, graffiti on the walls like

a primitive cavern, John Zielinski’s motorcycle

the centerpiece of our room, it sparked a first

romance. We tried to dry/distill/ do something 

with marijuana and alcohol in one of our rooms.

The hall filled with smoke, inducing the proctor

to visit and comment that it was really too much,

and could we tone it down We complied. It wasn’t

working anyway.

Wauchope, Shelly, Craig, Arn, Greg, John, me.

It was a Pynchon novel for a couple of trimesters

Junior and Senior years I was just trying 

to get through.  years later I would have a dream,

wake up with a shudder, that I was in school 

there for another year…but, the good

had been done by then. There were some notable

good things  those years….two plays I directed,

zen sitting with Eshin Nishimura, Sensei, other plays….uh….

The concert on the Arb; Charley, Zielinski, 

Burghardt…..(Purinton?) They played a great 

song, a long one, the only one they played or 

the only one  I heard…I can’t be sure. Doors 

“When the music’s over.” A bitty “Be In”.

I remember the Reformed Druids… their 

sacramental chants at football games. 

I don’t remember the football games.

I remember the plays I was in…lots of good 

actors at that time.  It was a lot of fun and 

kept my interest up. Very spiritual.

The hamburgers were great at whatever that

place was called where we bough hamburgers. 

We all seemed to love eating a lot.

One night, Peter Bundy and I had an adventure…

…(this will be the closer)…

We had gotten friendly in the course of some  

play we had been in together. We wanted to 

get to know each other better. We went into 

Northfield to look for trouble. We walked past 

the Catholic Church and decided to break in 

and steal the wine.  A basement window was 

open and I hung by my fingertips, not knowing

how far down the floor was, and let go. It was

OK. I let Peter in and we looked through stuff…

the robes and such, then took a gallon jug of

Mogan David out of the fridge and walked out

the front door, went down to the tracks, and

drank all night, with great conversation. As the 

sun was coming up, we found ourselves back

on campus, walking past some dorms, singing

pretty darn loudly. Shouts to shut up occurred

as we passed each building.

Suddenly, a door flew open to one of the girls’ 

dorms and a man, naked, ran out and down 

the sidewalk like a shot. A moment later, a

a girl came to the door and said that that guy

was like that in her closet when she opened it,

and he ran right out. That was a complete 

evening.

So yes, I did learn a few things at Carleton

that carried me through life. It was enough 

time to figure things out. It was a first taste 

of freedom