Goodbyes From Green Bay

1985 - A farewell card from Doug - "It's rare to find an open mind. I love you for the freedom you've inspired in me." Amazing note to get from a biker. I inspired freedom in HIM? Hmmmm. Doug stories - almost too numerous to tell. I'll tell one. He was doing some time in the county jail for some traffic snafu or something equally meaningless. The jail was having some construction work done on the top floor (of what was a three-five story building, I don't remember which). Doug figured out a way to get out through a ventilator vent in the ceiling into the construction area, down the side of the building, and completely away. He did this every night for the two weeks he was in there. Went to see his girlfriend and...... Well, we'll bring the curtain down tastefully on that scene. Told me he wasn't worried about getting caught sneaking out. He was worried about getting caught sneaking back in! Which he did. Every night.

A note from a woman who says she enjoyed knowing me because I "allowed me to be me". These were biker women. A very strong bunch. I wonder what happened to them. I'm afraid some of them were lost. I've never returned to find out. I remember when crystal meth hit town, going over to a woman's house one afternoon, and there they all were, high as kites, and macramé-ing everything in sight. They'd bought out the craft store. They had piles of magazines and patterns, and the living room was piled high with macramé twine. The women were shaky, nervous, couldn't stop talking, couldn't stop moving. I thought, I don't think I want to do this. I'm not too crazy about macramé. Haven't liked it much ever since, actually. I did do some of that crystal - until one last time, when I hadn't planned on it. Thought it was cocaine, actually. Until the burn. Up all night. Next day, tried to call my son in Madison. Couldn't find him. Ended up talking to a roommate of his for about an hour, babbling on and on. Talk about embarrassing memories! Poor kid. Never touched the stuff again.

Gods! The 80's!