collage from 2016 annual Mint Festival, middle Michigan weekend

The second full weekend in August has been the date for the St. Johns, Michigan MINT FESTIVAL since 1985, itself the resurrection of an event in the 1930s to attract the motoring public on the new system of roads and to spotlight the work of area farmers who leveraged the peculiarly fine particles and rich soil suited to growing and processing mint to produce a prodigious percentage of the country's supply of mint oil used in food, drinks, and medicines. This set of photos from 2016 features the highlights of the 10 a.m. parade that begins at Oakview South elementary school and winds its way to main street of downtown St. Johns, the county seat for Clinton County. [source, http://sjindy.com for August 20, 2016]

There are a few photos, also, of members of the high school graduating class of 1966, who were holding their 50th reunion; that is, 2016 marks 50 years since they finished secondary education at age 18. Other events not pictured that form part of the weekend include the music and dance at a couple of venues on the grounds of the City Park, the many private households that alone or with others prepare tables of used clothing, recreation, hobby, and household goods for sale, called variously "yard sale," "garage sale," "porch sale" or "rummage sale." Then what many consider to be the main event, there are scores of crafters, artists, and merchants that rent a space along the shaded City Park to cater to visitors buying souvenirs, snacks, or presents. With so many people in town, other things are scheduled for this same weekend: sports tournaments (kickball, tennis, road race for runner), for instance. Area churches and civic organizations set up food booths to help in their fund-raising efforts, too.

collage from 2016 annual Mint Festival, middle Michigan weekend

The second full weekend in August has been the date for the St. Johns, Michigan MINT FESTIVAL since 1985, itself the resurrection of an event in the 1930s to attract the motoring public on the new system of roads and to spotlight the work of area farmers who leveraged the peculiarly fine particles and rich soil suited to growing and processing mint to produce a prodigious percentage of the country's supply of mint oil used in food, drinks, and medicines. This set of photos from 2016 features the highlights of the 10 a.m. parade that begins at Oakview South elementary school and winds its way to main street of downtown St. Johns, the county seat for Clinton County. [source, http://sjindy.com for August 20, 2016]

There are a few photos, also, of members of the high school graduating class of 1966, who were holding their 50th reunion; that is, 2016 marks 50 years since they finished secondary education at age 18. Other events not pictured that form part of the weekend include the music and dance at a couple of venues on the grounds of the City Park, the many private households that alone or with others prepare tables of used clothing, recreation, hobby, and household goods for sale, called variously "yard sale," "garage sale," "porch sale" or "rummage sale." Then what many consider to be the main event, there are scores of crafters, artists, and merchants that rent a space along the shaded City Park to cater to visitors buying souvenirs, snacks, or presents. With so many people in town, other things are scheduled for this same weekend: sports tournaments (kickball, tennis, road race for runner), for instance. Area churches and civic organizations set up food booths to help in their fund-raising efforts, too.

What makes anthropology what it is?

veterans' monument, north end of Main Stree, downtown St. Johns, MI 48879

Context of time, place, and within the spectrum of the human condition (relationship to other varieties of culture and language and environment and ideology and material culture).

Text for the master narratives known among the speakers (and/or readers) of a particular language.

Texture that gives shape, feel, rhythms and patterns to daily experience.

And while there are many other social science and humanities traditions now and those found in other places/languages and time, it is anthropology that engages most personally; personal scale of individual lives, and by means of participant-observation, rather than to pretend any sort of pure abstraction or analytical distance from the subjects. Much of the most valuable work is conducted in the field and for extended, even longitudinal periods, during which many relationships are formed that work in both directions: of use and satisfaction (or distress) to the anthropologist, but also a living part of the local people's knowledge and resource pool of social capital to make use of. In the best examples a dialog results with voice of insider and outsider both present in the final form.

What makes anthropology what it is?

veterans' monument, north end of Main Stree, downtown St. Johns, MI 48879

Context of time, place, and within the spectrum of the human condition (relationship to other varieties of culture and language and environment and ideology and material culture).

Text for the master narratives known among the speakers (and/or readers) of a particular language.

Texture that gives shape, feel, rhythms and patterns to daily experience.

And while there are many other social science and humanities traditions now and those found in other places/languages and time, it is anthropology that engages most personally; personal scale of individual lives, and by means of participant-observation, rather than to pretend any sort of pure abstraction or analytical distance from the subjects. Much of the most valuable work is conducted in the field and for extended, even longitudinal periods, during which many relationships are formed that work in both directions: of use and satisfaction (or distress) to the anthropologist, but also a living part of the local people's knowledge and resource pool of social capital to make use of. In the best examples a dialog results with voice of insider and outsider both present in the final form.

Garage sale - redistributing wealth, meaning, material culture

selling off unwanted, accumulated household possessions - sheltered in garage

After taking a turn near the road to wave the passing cars toward the garage sale, I sat down in the cool shade of this warm August morning and reflected on the tables of once cherished or at least familiar possessions heaped on the tables here and extending outside onto the driveway area. Several houses contributed their items with prices affixed individually, or as a category (hardback books $1 and paperback $0.50 with children's little books 2 for $0.25). This produces a richer selection for those who stop to browse, many of whom are grandparents in search of things for family members. Others are collectors of specific items, or young families who wish to economize by sifting through the "free box" of unpriced items which by custom one should not monopolize, but leave some for others, too. Since most prices are a few dollars, the savings can be considerable if a person buys many things at a garage sale at pennies on the dollar when comparing the price of a used item to a new one, or even to the prices displayed online at Craigslist or Ebay.

The workers function, after arranging everything, is to be social and make their presence known to shoppers by a simple salutation or small talk. This way the shopper is made aware of the surveillance that is present to dissuade any stealing. At the end of the 3 days of selling and replenishing tables with other sale items that did not fit onto the surfaces at the beginning then the proceeds are tallied and the bits of tape or tags to identify the owner who contributed an item can be calculated.

One part of the experience of spending the day as part of the selling team is to meet acquaintances or friends, sometimes after a lapse of many years. There is moment when a stranger's face or voice slowly trigger memories and in an instant one knows who the person is. Instead of "a person" there is now a named part of one's social memory, complete with past meanings connected to the relationship with that person. It is like the picture turning from black and white into full color at the spark of recognition.

Nevertheless, another part of the day working at the garage sale is to recognize material culture that formed the fabric of one's own life or the world of one's children, for instance. For shoppers they see a power saw, but for you there are memories of the things built or repaired with that tool. For shoppers they see a pair of shoes, but for you  there are memories of some of the places those shoes took you. For shoppers there is a cassette tape with the recording of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but for you there are the many parties where those melodies were played. In all these cases the assembly of personal property first joins the similar items contributed by the other sellers on these tables and in the public eye of shoppers whose main source of reckoning meaning is the functionality of the item (it suits a need, or it fits their imagination) or the price tag. Thus the slight bitterness of seeing what once held a constant place in the geography of one's household routines and mental landscape of memories now drained of meaning and left on a table for strangers to take away someplace. The cumulative result of the many garage, yard, rummage, or tent sales around the town this weekend is that lots of personal property gets new owners and scatters to all sorts of unexpected places for another life of use until finally going into still another garage sale, or into a recycle stream, or possibly into a layer of landfill disposal.

Garage sale - redistributing wealth, meaning, material culture

selling off unwanted, accumulated household possessions - sheltered in garage

After taking a turn near the road to wave the passing cars toward the garage sale, I sat down in the cool shade of this warm August morning and reflected on the tables of once cherished or at least familiar possessions heaped on the tables here and extending outside onto the driveway area. Several houses contributed their items with prices affixed individually, or as a category (hardback books $1 and paperback $0.50 with children's little books 2 for $0.25). This produces a richer selection for those who stop to browse, many of whom are grandparents in search of things for family members. Others are collectors of specific items, or young families who wish to economize by sifting through the "free box" of unpriced items which by custom one should not monopolize, but leave some for others, too. Since most prices are a few dollars, the savings can be considerable if a person buys many things at a garage sale at pennies on the dollar when comparing the price of a used item to a new one, or even to the prices displayed online at Craigslist or Ebay.

The workers function, after arranging everything, is to be social and make their presence known to shoppers by a simple salutation or small talk. This way the shopper is made aware of the surveillance that is present to dissuade any stealing. At the end of the 3 days of selling and replenishing tables with other sale items that did not fit onto the surfaces at the beginning then the proceeds are tallied and  the bits of tape or tags to identify the owner who contributed an item can be calculated.

One part of the experience of spending the day as part of the selling team is to meet acquaintances or friends, sometimes after a lapse of many years. There is moment when a stranger's face or voice slowly trigger memories and in an instant one knows who the person is. Instead of "a person" there is now a named part of one's social memory, complete with past meanings connected to the relationship with that person. It is like the picture turning from black and white into full color at the spark of recognition.

Nevertheless, another part of the day working at the garage sale is to recognize material culture that formed the fabric of one's own life or the world of one's children, for instance. For shoppers they see a power saw, but for you there are memories of the things built or repaired with that tool. For shoppers they see a pair of shoes, but for you  there are memories of some of the places those shoes took you. For shoppers there is a cassette tape with the recording of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but for you there are the many parties where those melodies were played. In all these cases the assembly of personal property first joins the similar items contributed by the other sellers on these tables and in the public eye of shoppers whose main source of reckoning meaning is the functionality of the item (it suits a need, or it fits their imagination) or the price tag. Thus the slight bitterness of seeing what once held a constant place in the geography of one's household routines and mental landscape of memories now drained of meaning and left on a table for strangers to take away someplace. The cumulative result of the many garage, yard, rummage, or tent sales around the town this weekend is that lots of personal property gets new owners and scatters to all sorts of unexpected places for another life of use until finally going into still another garage sale, or into a recycle stream, or possibly into a layer of landfill disposal.