Tail Lights: Ten Years Gone

Tail Lights: Ten Years Gone

Ten Years Gone

Ten Years Gone

The wrist band bracelet from the Wauwatosa Fire Dept said, “Never Forget 9- 11-01.”

I don’t there has been one day since 9/11 that I don’t think about the day our Twin Towers fell.

That day, as I was driving between different branches of my employer, I couldn’t believe the quiet and stillness all around. It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining and the road was wide open. I was the only car on the road. There were no airplanes in the sky. Just the drone of my Mustang‘s engine. The stillness was disturbing. As I slowly coasted to a stop sign at the end of an off ramp, I said to myself, “ It’s all different now. ” and it was…

Every time I see a Jumbo Jet in the sky or the numbers 9-1-1. I remember that day. The small rock in the pit of stomach has never completely gone away. Like most people, the events of 9-11 changed me personally like it changed the rest of the country. Originally this narrative was going to be about those changes, and why I thought it mattered, but I scraped it. I watched Paul Simon sing “the Sounds of Silence.” at Ground Zero, (one of my favorite songs), then I went for a long motorcycle ride.

Traffic was light as I headed out of Milwaukee on my ride of reflection. I gathered my thought about what I wanted to say. As I rode my thought came to me.

In the general scheme of things America is a young country. People smarter than me compare the USA to a teenager. I would say that they are correct. Our country is like an impulsive teenager, who has had to grow up to fast because of a traumatic event. This would explain our actions over the last decade. It really has been a turbulent ten years. For a few months after 9-11 were united in a quest for our new normal. Resilient and determined, we started to rebuild. This, however didn’t last long. As a country, we first went on a reckless spending spree from 2003 through 2007. Surprisingly, the most popular fashion purchased was Political Partisanship. Not even the badly handled Hurricane Katrina could slow us down on our shopping trip. The two front War on Terror rages on 10 years later and our middle class wallets still say ”the economy ain’t so good” after we’ve maxed out the credit card in 2008.

On this day, ten years later we are more divided and confused then we have been since the Civil War. As we mourn the 2977 victims that died in New York on that horrible day, there is still hope. There is hope because a lot of people remember how united we were in the days and months after 9-11. There is hope because teenagers that grow up fast; still grow up. I should know…

G. Andrew Epperly

The Milwaukee Kidd



Tail Lights: Retro Man Part 1

Tail Lights: Retro Man Part 1

Retro Man Part 1

    God help me, but I'm a throwback to the late decades of the 20th Century.  My symptoms have gotten worse as I stuggled through the never ending winter of 2011. 
    Sometime this winter I started collecting my music on Vinyl again and taking the time to listen to it.  It's still better, and each album is like an event on to it's self.  In the '80s there was nothing I liked more then going to a record store (a dying business) getting a new record, checking out the album art, reading the liner notes and putting needle to vinyl.  I remember bringing Rush's "Moving Pictures" home and, dropping it on my Gerard turntable.  It just blew me to another world.  CD's and MP 3s never did that for me.
   I have a passion for car racing. but I don't like  all the electronic controls that take the fun out of driving.  I wish car companies would have stopped at Electronic Fuel Injection.  Stability Control, Anti-lock and Traction Control take the fun out it for me.  The car that I raced last year had none of that, then again I haven't won much either. Motorcycles are still pure, although they also, are getting more technical.  But I only ride those, not race them.
    I haven't written on this blog for a long time  because I have had a hard time with how much  I want of "me"  drifting around the internet. 
     In the past writers would query editors to get their words out.  If it was good , they'ed get published.  Now there are millions of writers out in Cyber World.  It is a million times harder to get noticed.  It's the same with struggling starting rock bands.  They used to tour and submit tapes to record producers.  It was never easy, but now anybody can put a video on the internet.  It's hard to get noticed with the millions of trash that's out there.  It's just harder to find .... quality.
    So, I'm really just and ex street racer from the '80s trying to stay legit in the new century.    My next blogs will probably be about trying to find my way through the brave new world.   Today I will end with a question.  Whats better, personally running into a long lost friend, or getting a friend request on Facebook?                                                                                                        TMK