Pomona College is full of beautiful moments: the way the light at sunset covers the trees in sheets of gold; the way leaves collect small puddles of water after a midnight watering and sparkle like thousands of diamonds in the moonlight. There is another moment that is commonly lost amongst the drooling and snores of Pomona students. Early mornings are magical on this campus. Wisps of fog churn overhead as the dew on the grass creates an almost effervescent effect. Eventually, the fog burns off and rays of brilliant yellow light slice between the branches of the towering trees surrounding Marston Quadrangle.

Another immense pleasure often missed is someone I always just called “The Walker.” He is an elderly man who walks every morning around the quad. He wears a navy blue warm-up suit, and when at full speed resembles a trophy-size tarpon tearing through the water. Before Pomona lost what is one of its most difficult rights of passage, the 8:00 am Freshman Seminar, the man was something of a phenomenon. The Walker was always in a cheery spirit, and nearly shouted a resounding “Good Morning!” at anyone with whom he made eye contact. The result was his huge popularity among the entire freshman class. Even a remote reference to a man who walked in the morning immediately struck a chord with the entire school. Where else does such an old looking man walk so intensely and quickly? I decided that Gentleman’s Time was supposed to benefit and investigate members of the community, and they need not be an administrator or professor to be important or visible within our community.

The Walker is formally known as Richard Johnston, but you can call him Bud. I spent about half an hour circling the quad with him. At first I waited for him to reach where I was standing, and then approached him. He was beyond willing, even eager, to talk with me. At that moment, he stopped and offered to talk. Frankly, I was frightened; I had never before seen the man stopped. So we just kept walking, which was more comfortable, especially since Bud proffered to slow from his usual pace for me (It was unclear if this was a joke or not; Bud admittedly walks at a pace attune to that of Flash Gordon).

Bud quickly dived into a brief history of his life. Bud is a “native son” having been born and raised in Southern California. He enlisted in the Navy out of high school and was active right after World War II. After his tour of duty he worked at the General Dynamics factory building guided missiles. After a round of layoffs in 1973, he enrolled in school at Woodbury College in Los Angeles and earned his certificate to practice as a Certified Public Accountant. He ended up working back at General Dynamics, got laid off again, and found a job working for the Internal Audit of the Defense Department. Ironically enough, he was put in charge of the audit of General Dynamics. Eventually, he retired to his home in Claremont, where he has lived for 35 years.

We laughed the entire way through the walk, even though he had to stop and catch his breath occasionally mid-sentence. After I found out he was 75, and was just recently capable of walking five miles in under an hour, I let these instances slide. Honestly, Bud just plain likes walking. He and his wife used to walk at a health club in Montclair until it was bought out by a larger organization, raising the prices. It was too much to pay, especially since he just went to walk. They had tried other Claremont locales for walking, but had settled on Pomona is Marston Quad. Bud remarked that it was just beautiful here, and everyone was invariably nice to him. He likes seeing the same people every morning, be they fellow walkers or employees of the College. We talked about all the dogs that made regular appearances, and how his wife was a slower walker, so he just lapped her on his way.

Bud really made me feel good about being an American. We actively discussed the recent election, we chatted about the picture-buttons of his grandkids on his hat, and conversed about his daughter who still lives in Claremont. When his wife returned from Starbucks, our walk came to an end. He stopped and looked into the distance and remarked proudly about how well the grounds are kept here. Bud seems to be really happy about walking here for the last seven years. Although most Pomona kids would shy away from an old man who built weapons and voted for Schwarzenegger, I encourage everyone to continue saying ‘hi’ to him on the way to morning class, regardless, I know that Bud will continue saying “Good Morning!” to the rest of you.