Premium: Sent to the store for a bag of ice, I was fortunate to find the store sold premium ice. Not just frozen water in the form of cubes, but premium ice. Do they charge more for the good stuff? What’s the difference from standard ice? Does premium melt slower? Does it contain additives that change the flavor of a drink? AI thinks premium has characteristics of clarity, density and slow melting. Market research shows we all want more clarity these days. Can you tell the difference when you slam a bag of premium to the parking lot before emptying it into a cooler? Of course, there is always the aesthetic appeal and snob option with premium.
Cellar: Have you ever walked past The Cellar on S Santa Fe? Just missed it because it’s downstairs - in the cellar, like an actual basement business below a hair place. Are they called hair places? Well, look up and see the small, but cool arrow shaped neon sign pointing down to cocktails at this interesting bar. The sign is throwback unique and kudos to the cellar for adding to the cool of downtown Salina with this small classy sign. It may be easier to enter, than to climb back up into hot daylight on a summer afternoon. You can try it. Or, just stay until the sun goes down. The Cellar is right across the street from Sanity.
Superstitious: Saw a ballplayer purposely hop over the 3rd base line as he went out to start a ballgame. Superstitious? Probably. Sports are full of players who have a routine they swear makes a difference in the outcome - digging in at the plate, a specific number of dribbles before a foul shot. Do you have lucky socks? At least 25% of people admit to being superstitious. If the Salina Liberty win a game while you are wearing a purple KWU shirt, will you continue to wear it to games until they lose? Don’t wash it. How does this work? How do we become convinced that unwashed socks, an old Salina Central shirt, a gold chain or a blessing can influence an event? Maybe we don’t have a plausible explanation. But, it’s a fun action to track, until it doesn’t work, and we become just occasionally or mildly stitious.
Didja: Didja Ever? It was an Elvis Presley song. I like to figure out the informal, unofficial spelling of our spoken English language mashups. For this one, I spelled it Didjever, as in didjever drive through a red light at Santa Fe & Iron. The car in front of me pretended it was physically attached to the black Dodge Ram in front of it. The Ram cruised slowly through the yellow light. The car acted like it was grandfathered in, but the light turned red before it even started through the intersection. It was a small, muted slo-mo traffic scene on a quiet Central Kansas afternoon. Didjever attach or mash mumble two words into one, almost like the car and Ram? Whadyathink?
Keep Open: One takeaway from last month’s River Fest is always the general compliance with the request to Keep This Aisle Open. Good advice to not camp out in the road. There are a few chairs or June white legs extended over the line. It’s American or human to push the line a bit, to blur the borders. It helps families navigating festival life with strollers, wagons, coolers, funnel cakes and kiddos. It helps the Ambuc volunteers go after trash all weekend too.The reminder extends to keeping our minds open as well. One mind per person - usually. Open minds help with viewing Festival art, prices and roving acts.
