While on a quick trip to the ladies' room of a downtown Conway restaurant today, I was almost overwhelmed by the fragrance of patchouli.

I looked for someone wearing long braids and a madras print, but the patrons all looked 21st Century.

A little dizzy, I was taken back to my college years in the '70s.

A poor "special student" who needed to save money, I bought used books. Unfortunately, my American History book, quite a heavy tome, reeked of patchouli, and amazingly, every line of the book was underlined.

That sort of defeats the purpose of an underline, don't you think?

If I remember correctly, the underlining dropped off after the War of 1812. I suspect that's about the time the previous owner dropped out.

Too bad. He missed a lot.

(Staff writer Becky Harris can be reached at becky.harris@thecabin.net and 505-1234.)