Campus Life

a funny thing happened on the way to Wellsboro Pa and the Pa Grand Canyon. Lance got a hankerin' to go back to college when he drove through State College, Pa, home of PennState U. Basically a town encompassing a 41,000 student campus, suddenly the world was filled with people younger, thinner people, all with backpacks and round glasses. Lance had a backpack and felt quite at home. Instantly, the stores called out moderninity, every eatery was fast-foodcentric, bikes appeared from nowhere and the women were...smokin'. (Heretofore, Pa. women have not been eye catching, to say the least.)

Lance parked his trusty steed at the gate to the campus and moseyed (?) into the sea of students spilling out of class and headed for lunch in the HUB student union. These are LEAP program kids, freshmen taking summer classes so they can LEAP ahead when the real academic year starts. And there were thousands of them. Lance was swept into the HUB and washed up at the information desk where he discovered there was a three day arts festival starting...tomorrow. There was no space at the inn, motel, hotel or manger anywhere in town. Lance tried to register for school (see pictures) but didn't meet height requirements. He even offered to set up fr the arts festival citing prior experience, but was overlooked, literally, at every turn.

Headed north again, there was time to think about the difference between small town life and big town life. Driving through small towns, especially on a hot summer day, no one is out and about. If residents gather, it is in small, cool private places. They have almost professional quality ballfields galore, more than libraries, as if this is the chosen place community gathers to celebrate life. The heros are the local sports kids, not the nerds. There is something fascinating about whether community invests in our heads or our bodies, he thought. For a moment, he saw the world divided into communities which value the neck up or the neck down. Lance knew where he would choose to live.

By the time he rolled into Wellsboro, he was ready for small town charm. With the perfect village green, flowing fountain, sign announcing summer band concerts (alas, a week from now) and a Main Street to die for, he stumbled upon a quaint victorian home across from the green listing the Visitors Center, Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Authority, and Leadership Tioga County. Friendly staff showed him where to sleep, eat, walk, sight see the PA. GRAND CANYON. Upstairs, he compared notes with the Leadership staff and found that shop talk spilled from his lips like a thirsty cowboy finding an oasis after days in the desert.

Checking in at the 1876 Penn Wells hotel, where walls and floors don't quite square up, he walked to the "famous" Wellsboro Diner #388 (means the 8th one made in 1938 with porceline inside and out=) for a BLT club and unbelievable fresh raspberry pie. The waitress and the hotel clerk both confirmed #1 see the Grand Canyon, and 2# there's no live music in town tonight. who Walking the main drag, lit by fake carriage lamp down the median strip,, Lance could feel his body sliding into a state of relaxation he hadn't known. It was a mental relaxation, the kind that doesn't automatically turn to "to do lists", deadlines and details to confirm one's value and self-worth. Fact is, "to be or not to be" is only a matter of serendipity, not will. "To be" is a gift we can only squander by ignoring today. At 60, Lance had ignored that gift many times.

At breakfast in the Native Bagel the next morning, Lance chatted with an elderly (70's) couple who, after warily allowing Lance to approach them as they read their morning paper, turned downright chatty when the topic hit #3. She would quit working in a heartbeat if they could afford it and would have no problem staying active with things around the house. He, already retired, ran for and won Town Supervisor, and voluntarily keeps the Village Green green, by choice. She says he has too many meetings. He says you should stay active or die. She says they are finally going on their first cruise in the fall. She said they do everything together. He just smiled.

Everyone has a story, if someone cares to listen. Lance mounted up for the Grand Canyon, Route Six, and the Lake Erie Region.