dear ann arbor family –
see you in the fall
there will be bands & dancing as we reunite eventually.
thank you, roos roost coffee.
i really appreciate you
for filling us with coffee and optimism.
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“joy weathers any storm: happiness rides the waves.”
-todd stocker
Take the Wooden Money
During the darkest days of the Great Depression, the logging city of Tenino, Washington, created a complimentary wooden currency to help locals survive the economic crisis. Now, almost 90 years later, the town is once again “printing money” on postcard-sized sheets of maple to help locals suffering from financial hardship. Pegged at the rate of real U.S. dollars, the currency can be spent everywhere from grocery stores to gas stations and child care centers, whose owners can later exchange them.
“It worked perfectly,” says Tenino’s mayor Wayne Fournier, who offers residents who demonstrate they are experiencing economic difficulties caused by the pandemic a stipend of up to $300 a month in wooden dollars. These currencies aren’t actual replacements of real money. They are complementary currencies — a broad term for a galaxy of local alternatives to national currencies.
According to research published in Papers in Political Economy in 2018, 3,500 – 4,500 such systems have been recorded in more than 50 countries across the world. Typically they are a localized currency that can only be exchanged among people and businesses within a region, town, or even a single neighborhood. Many are membership programs limited to those who have signed up; they typically work in conjunction with, rather than replacing, the official national currency.
They take many different forms. Relatively few are based on paper money; many are purely digital or exchanged via smart cards. Their goals can span multiple economic, social, and environmental objectives. Some aim to protect local independent businesses. Some promote more equal and sustainable visions of society. Others have been founded in response to economic crises when traditional financial systems have ground to a halt. As the coronavirus pandemic brings on a wave of social and economic tumult, all three challenges appear to be in play at once.
In Tenino, which has a population of less than 2,000, the wooden money is printed using an antique 1890 Chandler & Price letterpress. Since the launch in May, cities from Arizona to Montana and California have been in contact with Tenino for advice about starting their own local currencies.
“We have no idea what is going to happen next in 2020,” adds Fournier. “But cities like ours need to come up with niche ways to be sustainable without relying on the larger world.”
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“sharing money is what gives it its value.”
-elvis presley
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credits: story – Bloomberg City Lab, Peter Young. photo – Jason Redmons, AFP
nothing like a bit of coffee talk between friends
to restore your balance and make for a great day.
—
“as long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?”
-cassandra clare, City of Ashes
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art credit: ryan conners, painting, midsommer 2019, cat art
The T-Rex Walking Club parades in Ferndale,MI
The T-Rex Walking Club takes a stroll to bring joy during the coronavirus pandemic. A silly and secret club formed during the pandemic is on a quest to bring smiles to the faces of kids, and a few adults, while under Michigan’s stay home order.
On Friday, when Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended Michigan’s order, there was parade of a pink unicorn, followed by a gentle giraffe, a ferocious bear, a swinging stegosaurus, Scooby-Doo and a shark too, a tall pterodactyl, a trotting triceratops, a black-and-white penguin, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, a friendly T-Rex, another penguin, and a one-eyed Minion.
This motley crew, which calls itself the Ferndale T-Rex Walking Club, takes its unannounced strolls through neighborhoods. There are other characters, too, and a few members have costumes on order. On their next walks, you might see an additional unicorn, more sharks, a polar bear, a gorilla, a Godzilla, an alligator, a hippo, a flamingo, a zebra, and an upside-down clown.
Most members of the club are also members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.The point of the parade, is to cheer up the community during otherwise gloomy times and get children and adults to smile, said Oscar Renautt, who heads the Elks public relations committee.
The T-Rex club has its own set of rules. You must be invited; have an enclosed, inflatable costume; wear a face mask; and you can never, ever tell anyone where — or when — the group is going to go walking.
The founder, Ms. Ignash, received her pink unicorn costume one Christmas, has had it for years, and she’d occasionally show up somewhere in it for a laugh. Then, she posted the article in Facebook for local residents and they thought it was a good idea. Folks asked her to organize an event, so she did. It was right after the stay-at-home order, and within two hours, close to 200 people were interested.
Ignash decided that it was a totally crazy idea, and irresponsible to create crowds of people during a pandemic, so she canceled the event, and started over. Instead, she created a private group and invited just a couple of friends to join her. They went on a walk in costume, and then another, and another, adding a few friends — and characters — each time.
The costumes are so big that they naturally require the walkers to space out about six-feet apart, a social distancing requirement of the governor’s order. They also don’t want to spread the virus so they wear masks.Visibility inside isn’t so good either, and it can get hot inside the costume. So they don’t walk for too long. “But, it’s fun because kids really freak out,” Ignash said. “They see us coming, or they hear other people talking about us coming, and kids freak out. Its fun, just so much fun.”
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credits: Frank Witsil- Detroit Free Press, Ferndale Elks Club
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“a procession is a participants’ journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”
– Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking
in recent days
i have seen and read about
many gestures of hospitality
one reaching out to another
with each act
i find a renewed sense of hope.
—
“hospitality is always an act that benefits the host even more than the guest. the concept of hospitality arose in ancient times when the reciprocity was easier to see: in nomadic cultures, the food and shelter one gave to a stranger yesterday is the food and shelter one hopes to receive from a stranger tomorrow. by offering hospitality, one participates in the endless reweaving of a social fabric on which all can depend – thus the gift of sustenance for the guest becomes a gift of hope for the host.”
-parker j. palmer
a wonderful note during these challenging times, from our local library:
ann arbor district library
Today, you checked out 30,622 items from the AADL.
Last Friday, that number was 5,067.
NOW PLEASE, DON’T BRING ANY OF IT BACK!
NONE OF IT!
NO JOKE!
Seriously, please keep everything until we ask for it back.
We promise, we’ll let you know when.
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More information on our system-wide closure: https://aadl.org/covidclosure
“the only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
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credits: robert mccloskly, illustrator (blueberries for sal, make way for ducklings),aadl.org
grandie f and his friends take a short walk
through their neighborhood
(and now mine)
to help bring a few first things over to my new digs.
the friendliest movers ever.
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“i get by with a little help from my friends.”
-John lennon
“the most important thing on earth is for all of us to make this sentence true:
compassion is what people do.”
-glennon doyle melton
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image credit: interfaith council for peace and justice, washtenaw congregational sanctuary
on the field
pizza
summer weather
blankets
pillows
movie
littles running and playing in the end zone
and a few of our closest friends
sharing a big night in the big house.
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“when we establish human connections within the context of shared
experience we create community wherever we go.”
― gina greenlee
the eight giant, colorful tops, designed by *héctor esrawe and ignacio cadena, are large enough for multiple people to sit or stand inside them, and visitors are welcome to take a spin. they were designed to facilitate play, celebrate culture, and bring people together to interact and connect. Los Trompos is an interactive piece that comes to life when people engage with it. the tops are based on the construction of the actual toy and reflect the work of mexican artisans, as well as mexican culture, art, and architecture.
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“simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it.”
-karolina ku
I didn't have my glasses on.... 