Letters 9-30-13

Sept. 29, 2013

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Too many festivals

Rick Coates hit the nail on the head with his recent article on the increasing number of festivals and events up north, particularly the Traverse City area. Personally, I am "festivaled out" and no longer attend any of them, no matter what the theme. I don’t enjoy the crowding, the competition for parking spots, and the traffic problems. TC in particular is not designed for the level of traffic it is experiencing in the summer, and this will only increase as celebrities such as Mario Battali praise the area’s virtues. It seems it is not enough to have a beautiful natural area: one must be over-stimulated with dozens of entertainment options to an exhausting degree. The issue of trendiness is related. Journalist Ted Conover, in his book "Whiteout," tells what happened to Aspen, Colorado, a once sleepy mining town, when it became fashionable. As property values and rents increase, basic service people such as teachers, law enforcement, restaurant workers, etc., can no longer afford to live where they work, and a town becomes a mono-culture comprised of, and serving, only the very wealthy. Wealth begins to drive a town, and as can be seen in TC, the local character of a place is gradually lost. TC is succumbing to the construction of larger and larger buildings,upscale restaurants replacing local cafes, and of course the endless traffic issues. I appreciate Coates writing about the issue of festivals and commend Mayor Mike Estes for taking a serious look at it.

Jean Wynn - Petoskey

Living Badly in Eden

Born and raised in Michigan, I moved away 33 years ago to pursue an education and career. Now, at age 60, after living in Boston, Dallas, Calgary, and earning a PhD in Brisbane, Australia, I chose to come back to Michigan because of its breathtaking beauty, its localized economy, and its commitment to community and culture. Indeed, sitting at the epicenter of the world’s fresh water supply, Michigan is second to none. At least it should be.

But without collective and sustained self-reflection, Northern Michigan may soon find itself just another shabby spot on the map of exploitation. For instance, building a novelty splash park upon the very shore of an immensely beautiful freshwater bay is ludicrously redundant. Debasing movie theater marquee lights promote only the seduction of celebrity advertising over genuine community artworks. Expanding oil and gas production (fracking) despite real potentials of water and soil contamination panders only to short-term greed. Voting to defund education yet courting Asian exchange students in Traverse City schools, while 51% of all young children in Michigan remain in poverty is, to me, neither Christian or moral. Spraying toxic brine on roads, expanding airport runways without noise control, criminalizing an autistic child’s mother, jeopardizing the Boardman River, running over innocent bicyclists, baiting deer to kill them with semi-automatic weapons, clear cutting cherry trees to grow corn for ethanol... these are symptoms of malignant deadend exploitative growth and greed, not human solutions to a healthy sustainable community. These actions make northern Michigan ordinary, not extraordinary.

Maybe "festivals of nothing" are actually good for the people of northern Michigan. It just might give us time to pause, to breathe in our precious abundance, and ponder what is really important to us today and for tomorrow. We have forgotten to behave as if we live in Eden.

Holland Wilde - Empire

Just a stoners’ convention?

The logo for the medical marijuana convention does NOT instill faith that this is a viable form of medicine for the suffering. The conference also starts at 4:20 - another reference to going against societal norm. If it’s just a stoners’ convention, then drop the auspice of benefiting the community and wanting to have legislative discussion. You’ll probably be taken more seriously if you leave the yellow submarine, tie-dye and Cheech and Chong out it.

Dawn Wesenberg - via email

Circadian Rhythms Influence Organs

The biological clock that regulates day and night cycles is called the circadian rhythm. Besides color, the healing of congestion is rhythm. It is a tremendous healing factor. The heart heals under the rhythm of 3/4, the lungs 2/4 rhythm. The lymphatic system likes an even, soft rhythm like the sound and rhythm of a brook in the forest.

rhythm of stomach and colon

rhythm of the liver/pancreas

rhythm of the nerves

rhythm of the lungs

PLEASE, PLEASE Can we VOTE to leave the TIME alone? Let’s join Arizona.

Kb Sutton - via email

No yard signs for mayor

As mayor, documentation of my city service is public information that is recorded on public TV and commented on by the media on a regular basis. As such, my campaign for re-election will have no expenditures and will not include the display of yard signs. I’ve previously used campaign yard signs but with seven commission candidates, three ballot issues and signs for everything else one can imagine, I’ll abstain from decorating our town any further. As mayor, I believe that I have made a significant contribution to the betterment of the city and if re-elected will make every effort to make the city the best that it can be.

Michael Estes - Traverse City

Improvements not for us

It seems some of the Traverse City locals are confused about a few things. The improvements to the Open Space, the waste-of-money Splash Pad, and the new Marina, were not made for us that live here year round. We are already here, and most were here for years before. We were already happy with the old stuff. The new vision of the Open Space was made for others. It was designed with tourists in mind. The design was set up to lure in visitors. Its the same principle behind driving flashy sports cars, driving over-sized pickups, wearing huge diamonds, glittery gold, and designer clothes, and throwing huge extravagant weddings. None of these purchases are meant for the individual. They offer no benefit other than to show off to others what you have. We would be naive to think otherwise. 

George Nemetz - via email