This was eons ago, in the good old days – the 1960s – when as the saying goes: “The 60s were good to me!” Back thenHank was my best bud (no pun at this point). We were hustling odd jobs and sharing a flat west of the river in Milwaukee, when he put down his mug one morning and announced he was going west, “While I’m still a young man.” Said he was tired of Wisconsin winters and was moving to San Francisco. “Old friend wrote, said the scene in Haight-Ashbury was to die for, joints falling out of trees. Puff the magic dragon. I’m out of here.”
It must have been 1965. I came across an old postcard from Hank in my copy of Kesey’s Cuckoo’s Nest, had a postmark that looked like 1967. “Come on out – we’re burning draft cards in Berkeley. NO MORE WAR!”
I was still in the flat, no lady in my life and certainly no career path. Heck, I thought, why not. One thing for sure, the “shit” they had in San Fran was better than here. Couple of puffs were enough. I checked under the old mattress – shy a couple dollars for airfare. I had to cut down to a beer a day during the week. Couple of months, and another part time job, and I was good to go. So, I told my boss I needed some time out – part-timers never get bennies or paid vacations – and booked a flight out.
Good trip. We did party hearty, staying high most of the time. Hank was right – good crap in sunny Cal.
He lived in Oakland with Carol, his girlfriend. She had a full-time job. Like Hank admitted, someone has to have a career. He stayed home and kept house. Even shopped and did the cooking. He was hosting a party in my honor that Friday night. “I’m going to make my special dessert. You’ll love it.”
Comes Friday, we clean house. Another couple and their female friend, “To balance the genders,” said Carol, came over about six. There’s lots of tofu and veggies. “Mellow people don’t kill,” said Hank.
For dessert, Hank’s Best Ever Brownies. Only trouble, Hank didn’t clean the shit before dropping it in the brownie mix. I’m chewing away, taking out the stems and seeds, putting them on my plate. Hank’s watching and then he finally reaches over and swipes them up stuffing them into his mouth. “Dang, Charlie, don’t you know this is al dente, it’s what puts the Best into the Best Brownies Ever!”
INSTANT NOODLES 