By Scott Sullivan
Editor
Just because
you don’t know what it
means doesn’t mean
it means nothing.
We’re No. 135!
Saugatuck is the third Most Zen City in Michigan and 135th in the nation, per Mission Connection. With elections looming, this is balm to know.
“In our fast-paced world,” says the website, “stress and anxiety can quickly accumulate, prompting many to seek out spaces that nurture mental and physical well-being.”
In a nutshell, s#*! piles up, we want out … to Saugatuck, naturally, where we hole up in short-term rentals. No one knows our names if we get out fast. If they do and we don’t, we change them.
Then again, many fall in love and decide to stay. Some come back and back till deciding let’s look at home prices … Yikes! Why not share with others, split costs? Most places are too big and drafty for just us anyway.
When Saugatuck talks about STR issues, note some guests become longterm renters, then owners here.
“This artsy lakeside town,” Mission Control continues in boilerplate tourist-ese, “offers wellness services including yoga studios, spas and holistic health centers. Saugatuck’s quiet charm is perfect for relaxation and healing.”
As I nestled into the quaint, laid-back vibe of an STR I could only afford one night, my blood boiled thinking this newly-uncrated authority rated 134 towns ahead of us.
For instance, Asheville, N.C. (22nd) needs post-Helene updating. Local jazz artist Jim Cooper organized a “Blues for Asheville” benefit concert Oct. 20 at the Saugatuck Woman’s Club to help out.
Sedona, Ariz. — no shock to New Agers — tops MC’s list. Other oases for wannabe catatonics include Ojai, Calif. and Hilo, Hawaii. Go from Bend to Flagstaff, depending on Nov. 5 election results, for even more peace of mind.
No. 12 Vero Beach, Fla., spring training camp for the LA Dodgers, is the top Eastern City, this West-biased website says. In Michigan Saugatuck trails only Traverse City (39th) and Petoskey (103rd). Both are on the Mitten’s left coast too.
The further West you go, you cross the Pacific Ocean and International Date Line. As today turns into tomorrow, the more Zen you get. To the cradle Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Lau Tzu, Mao, Pol Pot and stone temples near Phnohm Penh. A few more meridians west, we come to the peace-loving Middle East.
Even farther, Douglas. Notes from the underground are that Warnock swamp swallowed Ferry Street to join lead “spaghetti lines” linking older downtown houses.
What’s fastest, best way to fix these? Money,alas, is no object, plus federal and state grants take time to get.
“We have, what? An eighth of a mile of Ferry (closed between West Shore and Campbell) in city limits?” asked council hopeful Dana White at the Oct. 2 Douglas forum. Who’s really cut off is Saugatuck: Park Street and tourist draws like Mt. Baldhead, Oval Beach and Ox-Bow take forever to reach when busy.
“Shouldn’t those who benefit most,” White asked, “pitch in too?”
Consolidation, in cases like this and many more, makes sense. We share schools, fire protection, a library; roads and watersheds, herds of deer, humans and other invasive species …
Near the north base of Baldy’s stairs stands a lockbox (see picture at right) you can pitch in to help save this community-wide icon — steps, decks, Radome and giant dune that supports them. Its north hillside was ravaged by a 2011-12 native hardwood die-off caused by an herbicide meant, ironically, to save them. The invasive menace was oriental bittersweet — one more beast from the too-far East.
Renee Zita’s family grew up here. Working with John Kerr of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center and more friends, she told me last week $400 collected from the lockbox this season will go to plant new trees alongside that browning, denuded slope.
A private business, Huntree Nurseries, has furnished root-sinking, soil-holding foilage and planting expertise. The Saugatuck High School Interact Club — members come Douglas, Glenn, Laketown and Saugatuck townships too — will step up to do the work.
What do a few hundred bucks mean these days to heal challenges of such magnitude? As with Asheville, our volunteer efforts amount to spitting in the wind if we calculate staggering inflatiion and A.I. formulas.
But you can’t measure human care. This is what we have.
