It was a merry first Christmas for Bracken Jr. Santa, and his grandparents, and rest of the family were good to the little man.
It was a great decade for me—I graduated from college, got married, got a house, began The Murfreesboro Pulse, and of course welcomed Bracken Jr. into the world in a late-decade burst of unexpected magic.
But now the first decade of the 21st Century is over and it’s a much different world than it was 10 years ago.
Though most were Internet users at the beginning of the decade, the way being connected through machines and devices has become such as way of life over the past years is amazing. Everywhere you look, people are sending messages with their thumbs, eyes glued to a phone and away from the world around them, possibly with earbuds delivering their favorite tunes.
Businesses have come and gone. Murfreesboro, and MTSU have seen tremendous growth. Luckily, the area now has a certain entertainment magazine totally dedicated to coverage of Rutherford County’s people, restaurants and talent. Will the Pulse still be printing a hard copy in 10 more years, or will I be sending blogs to your cell phone? Only time will tell.
Looking at the national news it was hard to find many bright spots this decade. Terrorism, Hurricane Katrina, investment scams, bank bailouts, recession, global warming, erosion of civil liberties, socialism scare, Guantanamo, scary times.
The “War on Terror” has been going on for the better part of 10 years, and is an end even in sight yet? “This war on terrorism is going to take a while,” said Bush shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. In this, unfortunately, he was right.
May a handful of blackhearted, suicide bombing cowards not screw up the world for the rest of us in the coming decade.
So, if a race happened, yes, Chris Johnson would win in the 50-yard dash against Bolt, in full pads . . . in a real game situation.
Peace,

Bracken Mayo Sr., Editor in Chief