Tuesday, 6/9

You know it's been coming, so if for some bizarre reason you've actually been waiting for it, here it is--

Lilac-palooza 2020!

I spent part of my half-day off yesterday sniffing lilacs, and since the sun was actually (almost) out I brought a camera along, just for good measure. I'm glad I did, too, because there are among the sights I saw--

For some reason, I feel a little...skittish when I include someone in a picture I'm taking without asking their permission. However, I personally think that, in a case like this, having a person really makes the shot. So I hope I didn't encroach on anyone's personal space.

I'm guessing this creature won't mind, though--

Okay. I promise not to rant & rave about lilacs any more. And if for some reason I do break my promise and rant & rave about lilacs, I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

Oh, stop laughing. I really WILL try!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 6/8

“You owe me restitution”!

That line, from my second favorite Charlie Brown cartoon ever (and bonus points if you know from which cartoon that line comes) has popped into my head over the weekend when, at least here in Marquette, we had lovely “summer” weather (at least if you consider clouds and mist and  temperatures hovering around 50 “summer”) It wasn't just this weekend, either; we've had many days when the forecast sounded promising then turned out to be nothing like what it was supposed to be, and we've had days when the forecast sounded promising yet a lake breeze decided to play tricks on us. Both Saturday & yesterday, like I said, was a perfect example, and it marked the first time that I actually said the above-quoted line about restitution out loud.

And now I can't seem to stop.

Yes, I know that complaining about the weather is about as futile as trying to change the weather. There's nothing you can do about it. You get what you get, and you have to take it, no matter no much you may loathe it. You'd think that after living here most of my adult life I'd realize that. But for some bizarre reason I still think that Mother Nature is making this personal, that she's doing this just to make me whine. Yes, I know that I have absolutely no bearing on the weather, and whatever happens is not because of me. I'm self-aware enough to know that.

I just wish Mother Nature knew that, too.

8-)

I know I shouldn't complain, not when you look around other parts of the planet and see extreme heat or extreme drought or extreme rain (or any of the other non-weather crap 2020 has thrown at us). In that respect, we're lucky. We have enough water to live normal lives, we're not dying because of flooding or extreme temperatures, and our lives, unlike the lives of many people, aren't torn asunder by weather. Just because it was 25 degrees cooler than it should be, or a little foggier than normal, or because we have a breeze coming off the world's largest freshwater lake, a lake that still has water in it, is no reason to complain.

I know that. I realize that. So yes, I should stop complaining about it. Yet still, for some weirdly bizarre reason, I still think Mother Nature owes us restitution.

And no, I don't know why.

I'll shut up about the weather now. After all, I'm sure you're tired of me complaining about it, the same way you're tired of me waxing rhapsodic about lilacs. Besides, today's supposed to be warm. Really, really warm. So I'm just gonna go outside and enjoy it.

And then maybe that line from the Charlie Brown cartoon will finally leave my head!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 6/5

At the moment, I'm leaning towards keeping it.

I've written in here many times the past three months about my Corona-hair...my feathery, wavy, increasingly long Corona-hair. Like many people with their hair these days, I've gone back & forth on whether or not it's good or it's bad or it's just merely different. But the more I see it, the more I'm coming to terms with it

And that makes me wonder how it would look on TV.

I'm not talking about those “On The Town” things I do for Fox UP. If I felt like it I could look like a slob while doing them (and, on occasion, have). I'm talking about “High School Bowl” where, technically, I'm the adult in the room. I've always tried to look my best on the show, which means (among other things) that I've tried to keep my hair neat. But what if I started doing the show with hair that looks like I just got done surfing?

Interesting concept, I must admit.

Of course, I wear a coat & tie on the show, and during the last dress-up day we had here at work I noticed that the long hair really looks good with a black jacket. If you recall, wearing a gray jacket just brings out the gray in my hair, but with a black jacket it just looks...interesting. I don't know that I could get away with wearing the same color jacket for 20 shows, but that possibility is out there.

So we'll have to see.

Luckily, I still have another three months to make that decision. For now I think I'll just keep letting it grow, and see what happens. I have no idea why I've become so intrigued by the thought of long hair, but if that's the only way in which I've been affected by these insane past three months..

Well, then, maybe that's not a bad thing.

Have yourself a great weekend. I'm gonna go stare at my hair a little more!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 6/4

Well, it looks like the tours are a go.

If you've been reading these since the pandemic started you may recall that I've been wondering if I'll get to do my Jim Koski ™ walking tours for the Marquette Regional History Center this summer. Now that the state's stay-at-home order is lifted and now that the History Center itself is reopening June 15^th, the answer to my question is “yes”. A qualified “yes”, but it's still a “yes”.

And these days I'll take a qualified “yes”.

Here's why the yes is qualified. Despite the fact that the state's stay-at-home order is lifted, there is still a ban on gatherings of more than 99 people. Now, for most things that really doesn't matter, but seeing as how my tours average 160 or so people, and the last one I gave—South Marquette—almost topped 300, that could be a problem

Hmm.

Now, the possibility exists that the limit on gatherings may be raised by the time the first tour—Third Street Night & Day—rolls around July 8^th. That part of it wouldn't be a problem. But I do have a concern about socially distancing 99 or 160 or 300 people while walking up a street.

Is that even doable?

That's why the “yes” was qualified. I will be doing the tours, but we're just not quite sure what form they will take. One option is for me to give it several evenings in a row to smaller groups. That way, everyone who wanted to go could go, and hopefully we can maintain some kind of social distance. The other option would be to give the tour once, cap the number of people who are actually physically there, and then livestream it to everyone else. I think it's kind of a neat idea, but with one big problem.

I give these tours to make money for the History Center. Would people donate if they could only go virtually? Is there even a way for them to make a donation?

Once again, that's why the “yes” is qualified.

We still have a couple of weeks to figure things out before the first tour rolls around (the second, if you're curious, is in late August). We'll just have to see if that “yes” becomes more qualified or less qualified.

Keep your fingers crossed that it's the former.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 6/3

WEDNESDAY, 6/3:

Does anybody remember when I wrote what follows?

First, let me explain how I came across it. With all the insanity of the past few months my office has been getting quite messy, and for the past week or so I've been trying to neaten it up, 30 seconds at a time. It's not the best way of doing it, but because I'm the only one here these days I feel a strange sense of responsibility to keep things as neat as they can be during these challenging times.

Go figure. And, as an aside, won't it be nice someday not hearing commercials that use the phrase “these challenging times”?

Anyway, when I was doing my 30 seconds of cleaning Friday I came across a list I once wrote. I have no idea when I wrote the list, nor do I have any idea about the context in which I wrote it, although I'm thinking it might've been during one of those bouts of “Is Jim a Yooper or Isn't He?” that seems to occur every few years. I don't know if I ever used it on the air or in here. All I know is that I wrote it, printed it out, and must've promptly stuck it in a wire basket, where it's sat buried under a bunch of other papers (and a thin layer of dust) for an unknown number of years.

So without further ado, here's the list:

SEVEN SIGNS YOU MAY NOT BE A TRUE YOOPER:

7. If you've never—even in a dream—thought about buying a pick-up truck.

6. If, when someone says “hilltop”, you think of a mountain, and not a sweet roll.

5. If you don't salute when you hear the name Vince Lombardi.

4. If you don't own a single piece of clothing in hunter's orange.

3. If you've never gone ice fishing, because you're afraid of cold feet.

2. If you realize the Appleton is NOT the shopping capital of the universe.

And the number one sign you may not be a true Yooper?

1. If you've ever—even once and even by accident—pronounced it PAY-stee

Well, that's the list. Like I said, I'm not quite sure of its date or its origin, so if any of the lame jokes seem familiar; well, maybe you can help me figure it out. I know I'd appreciate it.

See what I get for trying to clean my office?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 6/2

I did not mean to make anyone cry.

Yesterday's short blog and picture seems to have touched an awful lot of people (just scroll down a little to check it out, if you haven't yet). I've gotten all kinds of notes about it, and I just wanna say 'thanks” to everyone who took a little time to send me something, even if it was just an e-mail that let me know (jokingly) that one reader had to reapply her mascara after looking at it.

Sorry about that.

The genesis for the piece came about while I was running yesterday morning and saw the lilac tree that was pictured. It's the first one (at least that I've noticed) in Marquette with blooms, so it immediately caught my attention. I was six or seven blocks away from home; by the time I got back, the little written piece that went with the picture was fully formed in my head, and a few minutes later (after I ran back down with a camera) the piece was up on the web.

Amazing how quickly you can do things these days.

Now here's the kicker. I wouldn't have normally seen the lilacs, because I usually don't run where the tree was blooming. But every so often I feel compelled to run down a certain street, and for whatever reason yesterday was one of those days. If I hadn't run down that street I wouldn't have seen the lilacs, wouldn't have posted the blog, and wouldn't have made Michelle from Marquette's mascara run.

But yesterday, for some reason, I felt compelled to run past my grandparents' old house on Magnetic and see the buds blooming on the first lilac tree I ever remember consciously sniffing.

Weird how that works out, huh?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 6/4

In a world awash in pain, where chaos seems to grow on an exponential basis, look for the things that make you smile.  That bring you calm.

That let you breathe.

(jim@wmqt.com)