We get a little grumpy when every business screams "SALE" at the top of its wholesale lungs, without saving any air for a peep about prices. It's hard to get too mad at the brick and mortar stores, though, when they just want a little foot traffic. Delivery services like Schwan's, Amazon.com and hell, the internet, make it very easy to abandon the body to couch potato status, eyes glued to whatever screen is handy.
We've got legs
Decide not to use 'em.
(Apologies to ZZ Top)
Hence, "sale." Everything's on sale. Well, yes, of course it is. A sale is simply what is accomplished when something is sold. It is the noun form of the verb, "to sell." Buyer beware: "discount" and "reduced price" are entirely different words, if you want to get really picky (we do). When we see the word "sale," we ask: do you really mean that you're going to have lower prices than usual?
We frowned, we bullied, we cajoled. Kris Buckner of Saddle Up was a good sport about it. It looks like the answer, in this case, might be yes.*
*Yes, you certainly may drive around like a maniac, crisscrossing the state in search of lower prices. Burn up your fuel and your time to save a dollar, if you like. It's 2014 and we need new ways of imagining Grandmother; what could be better than lean-and-mean Leadfoot with a stack of deer carcasses on the hood, turtle shells for hubcaps, pulling into the gravel driveway of the old family cottage at 5:30pm, exhausted, ornery and half-dead from applying non-stop scrutiny to aisles and aisles and aisles of sterile goods?
Updated: 6/12/14, 7:40pm Who is this guy? Who does he think he is? An artist proposes ownership of a day for each of us and tries out the idea for himself.
About a month ago, a former resident of Bear Lake invaded his own hometown, stamping it with "JWEDAY2014." Jason Wilder Evans, a filmmaker now living in Washington, D.C., appeared on flyers around town. His YouTube videos rolled in to the virtual lakeshore. His comments on village improvement plans popped up on Facebook. His artwork, according to Evans, was exhibited at multiple locations in the area. Technically, he was born in Benzie County, but his family moved to Bear Lake when he was young and he grew up here.
One common theme unites Evans' proclamations: today, if you haven't heard the news, is Jason Wilder Evans Day - meant for the individual trying to avoid groupthink.
For all of the repetition, though, Evans may never know the impact of his birthday celebration-turned-social experiment. One concept behind Jason Wilder Evans Day is that people may very well mark the occasion without realizing it. Buying milk, riding a bike and other everyday activities, says Evans, are just a few of the ways that others can help him celebrate his day. There will be a parade, too - perhaps the longest parade ever. The cars that trickle past important buildings and even your own residence are the proof. All you have to do to make it bona-fide is wave at the drivers. Extra points if they wave back.
Evans declined an interview request, preferring to let his physical, virtual and conceptual artifacts speak for him. But the idea of bona-fide, legitimate behavior appears to be central to JWEDAY2014. Who decides if one day is National Blueberry Day, after all? Does the National Blueberry Council have such power - and do we give it to them? Is it repetition that makes something real, whether by radio DJs looking to fill time with trivia ("Did ya hear? Oh, I'm lovin' it. I love blueberry pancakes!"), or by local boosters eager to find an extra reason to give a business attention? A birthday is just as real, if not more so, than any industry PR day, and Evans invites us to claim our own day in the same manner.
One of Evans' stunts highlights the difficulty of such informal initiative, however, when translated to the world of official minutes and motions. In one video, Evans circulates a petition that seeks official recognition of his birthday by the Village of Bear Lake. Apparently, it was delivered to the village board members, but shot down. It's hard to tell what they made of the petition. Do they take it as a joke? Can they respond accordingly, with good humor? Do they take it as a serious request that, if they were to approve it, takes no skin off their own backs?
Evans seizes on their reaction in another video (featuring a puppet show, set to audio from the meeting). He looks to be genuinely hurt that Carver Edwards, Village Trustee, says the Village might recognize June 12 as a special day once Evans is dead. Of course, most governments are long-known for honoring only a handful of people throughout the year after their deaths. And "never kid a kidder" comes to mind, but it's a cutting remark that's hard to interpret. Edwards is a retired undertaker and funeral home owner/operator.
It's easy to brush off a living person with a harmless, playful request, Evans seems to argue, but it's hard to be accountable and diligent when it comes to the Village's own business (the status of a Village Museum project, spearheaded by Edwards, is uncertain--and allegedly no answers are forthcoming). Why should such a small unit of government behave in this manner? Evans' goofball, self-important holiday seems to illustrate a potential, real-world problem with the way we treat each other while wearing the mask of an Elected Official.
JWEDAY2014 goes further than that. While making much of impromptu activities, Evans also pokes at the quasi-formal efforts of a group of citizens interested in cleaning up downtown properties. Recent building purchases, dilapidated structures owned by the Leckrone family, and the struggle to start new ventures amid state and local codes have all highlighted frustration that's brewed for decades.
In recent years, the Leckrones have lost the heads of the family, John and Karen, who assembled large collections of antiques, knicknacks and craft supplies while they were alive. Karen passed away this February. Their survivors, children and grandchildren, have attempted to sell off those items, using the Village Variety Store and other storefronts. Many have been critical of broken items that border several of the Leckrone properties. Just do it, Evans argues, without scheduling special clean-up days. Respond as an individual to a grieving family, rather than as a group with long-standing grievances that surviving family members may not be able to answer for.
In claiming today as his own, and inviting us to join him, Jason Wilder Evans isn't breaking new ground. In France and Greece, among other countries, "name days" are celebrated every day of the year. Saint Nicholas' and Saint Patrick's days are the only ones that ring a bell for many Americans, but the Catholic calender apportions each day to a different Christian saint. Those whose names are closest to each saint often have bigger parties for the name-connection than the event of birth. Evans says, why not us, too?
There is one darker element at play. As in all art, whether painting or other forms open to interpretation, one can't be sure whether Bear Lake's native son intends it. But it's important to notice where Evans places the accent. It's all about him, on the surface, but he takes elaborate pains to emphasize that individual variance, especially if it doesn't mesh with his own suggestions, is highly important. Bottom-up, rather than top-down, initiative, brainstorming and action fills his speech as soon as you get past the personal headline. Wildly different, personalized behavior is what he calls for. One can't help but think of the polar opposite and its consequences. Give too much ground to the authorities, wait until a deliberative, official group stamps something with its imprint, and even a popular folksong might escape the very people it belongs to.
About nine four hours are left in the day. What will you do with them?
After the blood-root bloomed, the ferns/brakes shot up and the morels came and went. Then we noticed the leaf-pairs everywhere.
One of us has lived here a relatively short time and doesn't know a hawk from a handsaw. A few questions, posed to a select few who promised not to make fun of him, revealed nothing.
An initial search across the vast reaches of the internet was plagued with stupidity:
"two leaves," resulted filtered by "last month"
"seedlings what are they michigan"
"what are they" seedlings michigan
seedlings everywhere what are they michigan two pair two leaves pair of them
(These search terms are only a few of the ones used; the really dumb ones, devoid of proper vegetative descriptors, have been redacted.)
The "seedlings everywhere" phrase began to lead in the right direction, especially when coupled with a glance at the Google Images page. Ontario, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia are among the states and provinces buzzing with questions about thousands of seedlings never-before seen. Or not remembered.
They're maple seedlings, apparently quite pronounced this spring because of the many seed-pods that erupted last year. Their seed-pods are the whirly ones that descend like little helicopters. For many, they sat unnoticed through the fall and were protected by heavy snowfall. The snow then gradually melted and irrigated the seeds - and, depending on where you live, something you've never seen/remembered before arrived.
There are stories about what to do with them, if they bother you. See links at the end of this article.
Most of them come down to this: mow 2-3 times, if you mow. Or you can cut them down with a weed-whip*. Or you can pull them by hand. You can also eat them. Several sites recommend against eating them if you use herbicide (posion) on your land. Nuggets of meanness that dwell within us wanted to leave this last bit out, but herbicide = poison might be unknown to someone, just as the basics of maple tree propagation were heretofore unknown to this writer.
*Weed-whips, sickles and other wireless, handheld devices should be used with caution, especially if you've just had them sharpened. As with a dull razor blade, one develops the habit over time of applying more and more pressure to compensate for the dullness. Since muscle memory is not always synced-up with your brain, a suddenly-sharp tool could result in injury, if the pre-sharpened level of pressure is applied.
