1970; Hangin' at the University

      As I continued to spend a lot of my free time at the university.  I began to know and socialize with the small, but growing faction of counter-culture students.  They had formed a mock fraternity which they called 'Phi Zappa Krappa'.  I enjoyed being around people with similar values in music, pop culture, and politics.  Whenever I could, I hung out with whatever individuals from the group I could.  

    Since I had a lot of free time and was hanging out at the university anyway, I took couple of graduate classes; one in Evolution, and one in Ecology, both subjects that I was extremely interested in.

    I happened to be taking the Ecology class when the 1st Earth Day occurred on May 22, 1970.  We organized a small celebration of the event at the University of Evansville with some speakers from the Biology Department and my mother even volunteered to sew up an “Ecology” flag for the gathering.

    A month or so after that 1st Earth Day, the ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corp) were putting on a military “tattoo” on the campus.  I, along with some other anti-military-types, marched along in jest with the troops.  As a result, I received a reprimand from the Dean of the University, for showing disrespect to the ROTC  during their marching ceremonies.

    While hanging out with the Phi Zappa Krappa's, I soon found myself noticing a quiet, blue-eyed, honey-haired, girl from Germany, who everyone called “Kraut”.   (I had always loved the riddle:  What do you call a German Hippie?   Answer: “Flower Kraut.”).  

    In questioning some friends I discovered her name, and she that had recently moved to the US,, after growing up in Berlin, Germany.  She had just begun attending the University of Evansville and was hoping to later major in Art History.

    The more I saw of her, the more enthralled with her, I became.  After building up my nerve, I approached her and we soon began dating.  After several dates I was hooked:  We seemed to share so many of the same interests, values, and tastes, and beside that, she was beautiful and intelligent.

        We went to movies, to the museum, and on excursions to wooded parks.  She soon became my best friend and since she couldn’t drive, I was happy to ferry her in the MG to wherever she wanted to go.  She liked my family and I began to take her to all of my family gatherings.

        “Ecology” flag shown above.  Phi Zappa Krappa group photo below, with my new best friend; front row, second from the left.

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca