Day's End

Day’s End

August 18, 2017 11:45PM

Rolling through the university town of Angola, Indiana, Route 20 West. A quiet night but for the engine’s grumble. A tall statue centered in the town square to honor Civil War fighters forces traffic into a roundabout (which annoys the Trucker), and past the courthouse adorned with a cupola. On the radio, Bruce Springsteen’s gravelly voice grates out

...Son, take a good look around,

This is your hometown…

Down main street, dark, but for a few night lights on local business establishments. Tables on the sidewalk adjoining a local eatery host a lively gathering, celebrating the completed work week, we suppose. Further on, Gay’s Hops ‘n Schnapps is shuttered but for the overhead neon light in red. Beyond it, an empty lot holds a few “lifted” pickup trucks parked at angles, their chrome shining silver in the streetlights. A group of young men gather around a low slung motorcycle. The eerie blue of its decorative lighting illuminates their shaved heads, leather vests, and knee high boots.

On we roll, along the deserted street. Businesses end, homes shrink to one story and then house trailers, followed by empty lots with just enough wattage to blot out the stars on an otherwise clear night. Billy Joel is now reminding us

These are the times to remember, for they will not last forever;

These are the days to hold onto, cause we won’t, though we’ll want to;

These are the times, for times are gonna change....

The Trucker slows his rig onto a turning lane, and we ease into an empty lot by a sleeping restaurant that will wake with the morning, in time for breakfast. Dan Fogelberg’s words fit the Trucker’s face in the digital glow of the dashboard

The leader of the band is tired, and his eyes are growing old…

Fitting the truck into a narrow space in the row of trucks already parked and slumbering, he turns the key and flips switches. Silence drops the corners of its blanket, wrapping the truck in peace. Logbooks and maps will wait. But for the distant whine of a lonely truck farther down the highway, the land is asleep, along with the Trucker.