PHOTOS BY DANIEL M. LIPPITT

The Willies:
As happy in the
basement as on
the stage.

Mid-Life C

Exercising
another
side to keep
age a state
of mind.

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

102

Join Myself a blues band, par-
Creepin' up on forty, its a scary
ty all night long!
age;
Maybe even write myself a
Success and happiness are get-
popular song!
tin' harder to gauge.
Buy a fancy sports car, have a
Spendin' all my money goin'
torrid affair!
nowhere fast;
Wake up in the morning: I'll be
Wonderin' how much longer
gasping for air!
this is goin' to last.
The stages of my life are all cut
The stories of men's mid-life
up in slices;
Lord I think I'm ready for a crises haunt the collective con-
scious of many married women.
mid-life crisis!
Tabloids sell the tales of slightly
graying family men and leggy,
n Gary Busch's West young blondes, fast cars and dan-
Bloomfield basement, gerous adventures.
In real life, a lot of men admit
when both the law
briefs and the children to the itchings of aging. But, un-
are safely tucked away, like those stories in the tabloids,
the Willies emerge. they scratch with a guitar pick or
Not representative fishing pole.
of a skin condition, the Willies
Workin' night and day but I
is a blues band — the not-so-se-
cret, once weekly diversion of Mr. don't get no reward;
All I am is tired and a whole
Busch and friends John Potter
and Neil Goodman.
lot bored.

1

of
Tons
obligations to
my family
and friends;
Commit-
ment's not so
bad but it just
never ends.
I'd buy my freedom if
I could afford the prices;
Guess I'll have to settle for a
mid-life crisis!

Every year Rick Selik of Hunt-
ington Woods and his boyhood
buddies embark on a fishing ex-
pedition into the depths of Cana-
da. On his 40th birthday, Mr.
Selik gathered the group and
hiked up the Grand Canyon. T 'ast
year, they attempted fly-fishing
in Alaska.
"Hitting 40, it's a recognition
you're no longer young physical-
ly — your back hurts, your shoul-
ders hurt, your tennis elbow
hurts. At that stage of the game

you realize you're hit middle age,"
Mr. Selik said.

Blast some heavy metal on the
stereo;
Anything but emulate the sta-
tus quo!
Head on out to Vegas and just
let 'ern roll;
Or maybe bungee jumpin'
would renew my soul!

What brought the Willies to-
gether was a lingering memory
of what once was — especially for
Mr. Potter and Mr. Busch.
Mr. Potter, a multi-media pro-