the niki download

6/25/2021

Hey,

I have just returned from a family vacation (thanks mom and dad). We stayed in Harbor Springs, named for the cold-water aquifer that empties into a natural harbor. The house we stayed at is called “The Potato House.” It is owned by the New Era Potato Chip Corporation and sits at the mouth of the Tunnel of Trees, a storied scenic drive which snakes along a bluff hugging Lake Michigan…

So, of course, I decided to take a drive and document it for the download. It turned out to be the last scenic drive I would ever take in my engine-oil-leaking Cruze you might remember from this download. I traded it in for a Honda Fit Sport, which I hope lasts forever. Never ever buy a Chevy. Seriously.

First I saw an old school house. I discovered it is called The Five Mile Creek Schoolhouse. It operated as a one-room school from 1915-1952. Over the years many generations of teachers educated small groups of students, warmed by a wood furnace, on which they also cooked hot lunches.

After the school closed, in 1954, The Five Mile Creek Community Association paid one dollar for the building and began monthly "schoolhouse dinners”. They also let the "mayor" of Five Mile Creek, Jim Smith, play ping pong. The dinners continue to gather the small community together once a month for a potluck meal.

Then I saw some sheep and thought of the song Sheep by Gonjasufi.

You are my shepard babe
I wouldn't have it any other way
My heavenly shepherd
Shepherd babe
You're such a good shepherd
Oh heavenly shepherd
We wouldn't have it no other way

In retrospect, those lyrics are highly synchronistic to an inexplicable spiritual occurrence which took place the first evening of this trip. After a 21 days of no cannabis, I took a small bong rip and had an uncharacteristic psychotic reaction during which I spoke to God through my wife Cecilia. She says it was different than I remember and that I need to stop reading conspiracy theories. Was it just the weed? It was certainly weird. I am now more centered than ever.

By the way God says you will be fine and to be like water.
Or was that Bruce Lee?

Here is a picture of Cecilia being like water at
Thorn Swift Nature Preserve, also on the Tunnel of Trees.

Continuing my drive, I stopped at this outlook and
listened to the crashing waves. Which made me have to pee.

I peed on this dirt road. Urine is good for plants.
Piss on your garden and thank me later.

Relieved, I drove on…

…and I saw a patriotic pallet,
which is a “thing” up north, they are all over the place.

Driving on… I saw many homes and thought about how insane the housing market is now. I doubt I will ever be able to afford a home thanks to firms like Blackrock, if you have a pension fund (which no one in my generation has) it is growing thanks to speculation on housing among many other financial assets.

Side note… Have you noticed how new builds are literally styrofoam and aluminum covered in concrete? The world is no longer being built to last.
I wonder why… Capitalism Core? or End Times?

In my most cynical moments, it is hard for me not to characterize the older generations as selfish vampires sucking the economic life blood from their offspring. In the end, I try to remember we are all implicated in hyper-capitalism. We are all cynical suckers!

I kept driving. Pedal to the metal, baby, just like our death cult of a culture.

I saw a patriotic shed.

I saw a “wooden indian” wearing a disposable mask at the Leggs Inn, and sang Hank William’s Kaw-Liga while thinking about how all this land was stolen.

This particular area of northern Michigan is called Waganakisi
by the Odawa people, for the record.

Right next to the Leggs is a Cross, which marks the place where Jesuits established a Log Mission Station in the 1600s, marking the first time colonial Christians “graced” this particular bit of land.

It trips me out that a spiritual practice centered on a savior dedicated to peace and love while raising up the poor was almost immediately co-opted to drive the self centered nature of man, but I digress. Christ is cool, Christians are annoying, except for Quakers, they are the best and make great oatmeal.

In the 1740s, after the Ojibwe uprising at Ft. Michilimackinac, the Odawa and Jesuit Friar Dujauney gave refuge to the surviving British at this spot. In 1765 the Jesuits dipped. In 1833 the Old Log Mission was rebuilt.

It burned to the ground in 1918. The town left this cross up.

I drove on…

..and came to Wilderness State Park where I saw two Bald Eagles dipping their talons in the surf. Did you know that Benny-Boy-Franklin wanted the national bird to be the humble Turkey?

Take a second to imagine our culture if: rather than a bird known for stealing the prey of other weaker birds we selected a vegetable munching “flightless” (wild turkeys can fly, sort of) bird sporting a ball sack on its chin.

Also, just kidding that is a myth. Benny-Boy-Franklinstien
wanted Moses to be our national bird.

I did not get a glorious Bald Eagle picture because
I only had a wide angle lens…IDIOT!

So I photographed this tree.

Finally, I drove home thinking about the Summer Solstice and all that transpired at the “New Era” Potato House. I definitely feel a change coming on..

See you next week.

-niki

Culdesac #27: Contributing to
Visual Histories with Brittany Greeson

On the latest installment of my podcast, I had a conversation with Brittany Greeson, a documentary photographer currently based in Detroit Michigan whose work examines economic divestment, gender disparity and the daily life of the American working-class primarily through long-form visual narratives and portraiture.