BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
By Orpheus Allison
Turkey followed by heaps of mashed potatoes and gravy! Not one but two super heavy duty snow storms causing a bad case of white-titus. Then the ultimate dig out. Finally the Christmas season has started. Put on your Santa hat and shake the bells off the sleigh.
Traveling is one way of shaking up the cobwebs. Cobwebs have a way of slowing down the brain and leaving one open to stultifying laziness. New ideas are needed to keep one alive. Think of the first time to experience a Twinkie or raw spinach. Celebrating travelers helps all of us advance as those travelers share their stories. Foods, tools, and ways of thoughts are celebrated for originality and usefulness. Importantly, ideas begin to churn and the power of boredom kickstarts new initiatives.
The County is home to experts in boredom. Scientists are now studying boredom and discovering that when people are bored their minds are actually churning away and that a certain amount of boredom can turn on the creative energy centers of the brain. Growing up in Aroostook County this feature is well known, if poorly appreciated. Those who remember when WAGM, Channel 10, and Channel 6 were the only things to watch, well remember those classic words: “Mom, Dad, I’m bored!”
Winter is here. Acres of snow cover the fields. It’s going to be cold, the wind is going to howl, and it is a long time to spring. Hello boredom. Hello new ideas. Welcome travelers. It is time we celebrated boredom. Now if the Weather Guy would fix his almanac page.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After 20 years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
