Trends in Outdoor Living 1

letters

Our simple rules: Keep your letter to 300 words or less, send no more than one per month, include your name/address/ phone number, and agree to allow us to edit. That’s it. Email info@northernexpress.com and hit send!

Vapor State

I just read an interesting interview with J. Carl Ganter in the March 15 issue of Northern Express [“Why the World’s Water Scarcity Matters Here, Now”]. I disagree with one quote that was attributed to Mr. Ganter. He was quoted as saying that water is not something that can be sublimated. I assert that water is something that can be sublimated. This phenomenon may be observed on our icy sidewalks and driveways on cold sunny days.

Timmy P., Cheboygan

Border Business

I am surprised and disappointed by the current illegal migrant surge at our southern border. Press Secretary Jen Psaki describes the surge as a challenge when, in reality, it is a disaster and threat to our national security and a humanitarian crisis. Why haven’t President Biden and Vice President Harris visited the border to properly assess the situation? Why hasn’t the media been allowed to view the detention facilities? Have the migrants been properly vetted and COVID-19 tested before being released? Who is supplying the Biden T-shirts and large “Biden2020” flag? What is the plan to deal with the situation and prevent it from happening again? [Various media reported, about Biden’s presidential bid, that an unnamed source said they reportedly heard former President Obama state “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to fu@% things up.” Where is the administration’s leadership to deal with this ongoing disaster? Are you concerned as a citizen about the future of our country with open borders?

Wally J., Traverse City

Fake News

Regarding Dan B.’s letter in the March 22 issue, “Trump Mob Boss Phone Call”: Hey, guess what, Dan? The whole phone call turned out to be 100 percent fake. The Washington Post even admitted it and has retracted. So don’t jump to conclusions next time. Remember what they say about assume.

Charlie M., Topinabee

What the Hex?

Perhaps you read the March 27, 2021, New York Times story “GOP Chair in Michigan Tars Officials as Witches” in which “Ron Weiser, the chair of the Michigan Republican Party, drew swift criticism … after a video surfaced that showed him calling top Democratic officials in his state ‘witches’ and referred to assassination while discussing two Republican Congressman who had voted to impeach … Trump.”

Weiser also blabbered on tape about burning at the stake Gov. Whitmer, Attorney General Nessel, and Secretary of State Benson.

Of course, such idiocy should be taken seriously, especially by Republicans who can’t possibly expect anything other than their own collective demise by their own dangerous threats.

The 5,000 University of Michigan students and faculty should go back to work to force Weiser to resign from his position on the UM Board of Regents this time, not only for not denouncing Trump for the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

Some of us UM alums and friends will join with a song, sung to the tune of “Take Me out to the Ball Game,” with the lead line courtesy of Attorney General Dana Nessel:

Sign me up for that coven Give the GOPers the hex Bigots and proven predators More of the plague? What the heck?

Sign me up for that coven ’Cause the GOP’s gone coo coo We Dems kick ass, it’s proven GOPers knee deep in doo-doo

Sign me up for that coven We’re the good witches, folks Help magically clean the environment And in poverty make a huge dent

Come on, join our coven Where good works abound We plant in good ground, solar surrounds Give our kids a future that’s sound

Anabel D., Mackinaw City

Accountability Fantasy

I wonder what it would be like if districts of the legislators who voted against the most recent national relief bill received zero money. I am looking right at you, Jack Bergman. What if there was no relief for those who live in District 1 because you voted no? Imagine the mom-and-pop small businesses that would get no relief, while in other districts, where the legislator voted for the bill, did.

How about the young families who could really use those $1,400 relief checks and child credits? Sorry, but if you live in District 1, you get none, while those in other districts do. Oh, were you counting on eviction protection? Again, not in Michigan’s District 1; your representative voted against the relief bill. Tough rocks.

I am a big fan of accountability and dependability. You luck out on those counts, Mr. Bergman, because while you voted no, criticized the bill, and Mondaymorning-quarterbacked its needs and impact, your constituents still get the benefits of the bill. Sweet deal. I can only hope that the District 1 citizens have very good memories next election. Remember, you got much-needed relief, but no thanks to Bergman; h2e voted no.

Jeff K., Elmwood Township Lead by Example, Cheboygan BOC

Ever since Cheboygan County’s Board of Commissioners Jan. 26 “Declaration of Concern,” our COVID cases continue to go up in Cheboygan County. On April 1, we had the great distinction of reaching the “extremely high risk for COVID.” I recall saying on Jan. 26 that “the variants are coming. Now is not the time to open everything up.” Now Michigan has the highest number of B 1.1.7. cases. B 1.1.7. is 50 percent more contagious, creates harsher symptoms, is attacking younger people, and has worse outcomes, such as death.

At the town-hall COVID meeting on March 24, I was quite surprised that the board let Commissioner Warfield open the meeting with garbage science while we had Dr. Meyerson from Northwest Health Department and Ms. Bryan from District 4 Health Department online. Mr. Warfield calls this virus “C2,” a made-up name that shows he has no respect for science. It is SARS CoV-2, which literally means “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.” If Mr. Warfield wants to shorten it, call it SARS 2 to give it the weight and respect it deserves. This respiratory virus is transmitted by people without symptoms over 50 percent of the time. This is why masking became a mandate and continues today. Cloth masks or plastic shields keep you from literally spitting into another person’s face. Mr. Warfield and others do not care to wear them.

As members of a governing body that holds the Public Trust, the BOC breaks that trust every time they don’t support wearing masks. Even when fully vaccinated, I will continue to wear my mask, because transmission science is still developing. However, we know that this is not the fly. The Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners sets a bad example for our community, and I implore them to stop being so irresponsible. View the meeting at youtu.be/Y41–T56B8Co.

Lena T., Cheboygan

Bill the Polluters

Those of us living on or near the Great Lakes are well aware of rising waters. Record levels reported in 2019-20 were devastating for lakeshore property owners and a call for action to us all. We all see the extreme weather events across the country.

The glaciers are melting, oceans are acidifying and rising, plant and animals are dying off. The hotter and drier summers are causing larger and more frequent wildfires. And climate change has already “made conditions more favorable to the spread of some infectious diseases,” according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

We need to consider how much carbon and methane pollution our earth will withstand. Failing to address climate change and the human causes is not an option if we want future generations to survive.

What can we as individuals do? Write and call our representatives, Senators Debbie Stabenow, Gary Peters, and Congressman Jack Bergman to encourage them to support any climate bills, including a carbon fee and dividend package. We must decrease this pollution, and making it costly for the polluters will be our best solution

Berta M., Lake Ann

CONTENTS

features

Mim’s Mediterranean......................................7 Northern Homescape.................................10 Trends in Outdoor Living...............................12 Truth vs. the World.........................................14 Salvage Stars....................................................16

columns & stuff

Top Ten........................................................5 Spectator/Stephen Tuttle...............................6 Opinion..........................................................8 Weird............................................................9 Dates........................................................18 Advice.....................................................21 Crossword..................................................21 Astrology.....................................................22 Classifieds...............................................22

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this week’s top ten

Local Engineers in State’s Largest River Restoration project Win “Academy Award”

Despite the failure of a temporary floodcontrol structure during the 2012 removal of the former Brown Bridge Dam — the first of the three Boardman River dams to be removed as part of the state’s largest-ever river restoration project — AECOM of Traverse City (which was not responsible for the failure) recently nabbed a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in what’s known as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry,” the American Council of Engineering Companies’ annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA). Judged by a national 20-member panel of builtenvironment leaders, along with experts from government, media, and academia, the award recognizes the firm’s role in reconnecting 160 miles of free-flowing cold-water stream, including the restoration of more than three river miles of native cold-water fisheries habitat, more than 250 acres of wetlands, and nearly 60 acres of upland habitat. The last remaining dam on the river, the Union Street dam, remains at the center of a controversy regarding its removal and replacement with FishPass, a hot topic Northern Express began writing about in the story, “Is Traverse City Ready for FishPass,” in its Oct. 7, 2019, issue.

bottoms up ultimate mary mix

Yes, Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks. Less apparent to those who don’t, like us, diligently stalk the home improvement store’s register shelves is that it’s also the place for life-improving food products. (See our May 25, 2019, review of Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, which appeared at Traverse City’s Ace Hardware long before your local grocery, Target, or Walmart caught wind of those sticks’ magical blend of butter and mystery spices.)

This garden season, while paying for nine 40-pound bags of topsoil and manure, we happened upon another life-changer: the self-proclaimed “Ultimate Mary Mix” by TRÜ ($8.95). No stranger to claims like this, we initially scoffed, then read the label further. This mix, it turns out, is blended with one of TRÜ’s flagship products, Smoked Black Pepper Pickles.

Now, we don’t know this Coloradobased pickle purveyor TRÜ. We’ve never tasted their or any Smoked Black Pepper Pickles, for that matter.

But as anyone who has devoted entire summer Sunday mornings dosing lowly cans of spicy V8 juice with spurts and sprinkles of lime juice, pepper, pickle juice, horseradish, and whathaveyou in search of nailing the perfect homemade mix, a singular swivel of a lid that opens to this — a readymade revelation that’s mildly tangy and robustly spicy, with just a touch of sweet to save your tongue from burning but with enough bite to make you beat your tingling chest — well, let’s just say TRÜ’s “Ultimate Bloody Mary Mix” proclamation is not a load of manure. But you can get that, too.

We bought our jar (conveniently located next to the Dot’s) at 734 W. Front St., in Traverse City. (231) 946-2140, www.acehardware.com

Whattaya say? Whattaya know? All About Midwest Gangsters

Put on your zoot suit or flapper dress and join Chad Lewis — researcher, author, and lecturer “on topics strange and unusual” — to follow in the footsteps of America’s most infamous gangsters as they turned our beloved Midwest into their personal crime vacationland. Filled with deadly bank robberies, explosive shootouts, brutal murders, and daring kidnappings, this free online presentation shows audiences the locations where gangster history will never die. To register for the 7pm April 15 presentation, click on “Gangsters of the Midwest” under the events tab at the Petoskey District Library’s Facebook page.

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Hey, watch it! THE MIGHTY DUCKS: GAME CHANGERS

Disney+’s Marvel TV spinoffs (Wandavision, Falcon and Winter Soldier) might be getting the lion’s share of the streamer’s buzz, but in true underdog style, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is a gem of a new series that will win you over with its heart. A sequel to the hit ’90s films, Game Changers introduces us to a new generation of would-be hockey stars. After Evan is cut from the ultra-competitive Mighty Ducks youth hockey squad, his hard-working mom (the ever-delightful Lauren Graham) helps him form a new team of lovable misfits. And just who happens to be running the rink where they practice? None other than a curmudgeonly, defiantly retiredfrom-hockey Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), the man who first helped the Ducks take flight. With sweet charm and escapist good cheer, this is a wholesome saga the whole family can root for.

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