26 February 2006
reunion blues [2]
DOUG sits on a plain wooden chair, behind him stretches row on row on row of bushy green cannabis plants, in a chamber draped from polished concrete floor to 10-foot timber ceiling, in glistening white vinyl, the fabric blazing in the light of a 1000 watt high-pressure sodium lamp. Nothing escapes the bulb's withering glare; folds in the drapery shade barely to bone. The gentle bubbling sound of the hydroponic garden system soothes the gleaming white sanctuary. Marijuana smoke wreathes Doug's head, eyes shut, his face creased in a stoned smile, life is good, the joint burns in his left hand, he holds his eyeglasses in his right hand, the lenses flash tiny 1000-watt reflections when he gestures with the eyeglasses, as he continues the story....
DOUG: Ultimately, I'm interested in understanding, at a deeper level, what went on in that period of our lives. What forces came into play? Why did things work out they way they did? What impact might this all have on life now? Heavy questions. Boring, perhaps, at a certain level. But, this sort of thinking is what I do, I look back and reflect, and I write about it. "How did we survive?" is an excellent question, directed both to the way we made it through the mad crush of events of freshman year...and to the way we've made it through the years down-and-up to the present moment, 36 years later. 36 years.
He shakes his head, then gestures with his eyeglasses, indicating the pot plants.
DOUG: I have finally liberated my inner pot-head! When I think about some of the stuff we smoked back then. And, no, I don't mean to bad-mouth Buggs' stash, which clearly helped to animate the dormitory scene in those early days of moving in, wiping the scales from our eyes. First time I met him, I think this is it, he's loping down the hall, that peculiar stride of his, kind of leaning forward urgent-like moving into the day, next thing I know we're introducing ourselves, and he says, "You like marijuana?" To which I could answer only, "Yes." Which brought the by-now-not-altogether-unexpected, "Let's go smoke some!" And that's what we did. We went on to do it with frightening regularity for the rest of the school year, and when I came back from Korea but was still in the Army down at Kileen, six long months to go before my discharge, and I used to come up and hang out with you guys in Fort Worth, and after I got out of the Army, those months hanging out, smoking and drugging and drinking and shooting pool and playing pinball at The Stables ("Where Incredible Friendships Begin"), before I moved on to the West Coast, to college, Berkeley, the dark years, marriage to Alice, early business success, spectacular bankruptcy, public humiliation, re-hab, recovery, 12 Steps, one day at a time.... But, no, I was back in the dormitory at TCU, we are meeting each other for the first time, the potential is so fresh and dynamic that it CRACKLES in the otherwise soggy August air.... So long ago, that time. So long ago.
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DOUG: Ultimately, I'm interested in understanding, at a deeper level, what went on in that period of our lives. What forces came into play? Why did things work out they way they did? What impact might this all have on life now? Heavy questions. Boring, perhaps, at a certain level. But, this sort of thinking is what I do, I look back and reflect, and I write about it. "How did we survive?" is an excellent question, directed both to the way we made it through the mad crush of events of freshman year...and to the way we've made it through the years down-and-up to the present moment, 36 years later. 36 years.
He shakes his head, then gestures with his eyeglasses, indicating the pot plants.
DOUG: I have finally liberated my inner pot-head! When I think about some of the stuff we smoked back then. And, no, I don't mean to bad-mouth Buggs' stash, which clearly helped to animate the dormitory scene in those early days of moving in, wiping the scales from our eyes. First time I met him, I think this is it, he's loping down the hall, that peculiar stride of his, kind of leaning forward urgent-like moving into the day, next thing I know we're introducing ourselves, and he says, "You like marijuana?" To which I could answer only, "Yes." Which brought the by-now-not-altogether-unexpected, "Let's go smoke some!" And that's what we did. We went on to do it with frightening regularity for the rest of the school year, and when I came back from Korea but was still in the Army down at Kileen, six long months to go before my discharge, and I used to come up and hang out with you guys in Fort Worth, and after I got out of the Army, those months hanging out, smoking and drugging and drinking and shooting pool and playing pinball at The Stables ("Where Incredible Friendships Begin"), before I moved on to the West Coast, to college, Berkeley, the dark years, marriage to Alice, early business success, spectacular bankruptcy, public humiliation, re-hab, recovery, 12 Steps, one day at a time.... But, no, I was back in the dormitory at TCU, we are meeting each other for the first time, the potential is so fresh and dynamic that it CRACKLES in the otherwise soggy August air.... So long ago, that time. So long ago.
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# posted by Unknown @ 8:59 PM 
