EDITOR:

Well, that stupid and unnecessary project is in at Ludington Park.

I can’t bring myself to call it a “nature trail”, which is what I believe Enhance Escanaba is calling it.

My issue(s) with the new installation isn’t even the problem that many people have pointed out: Karen Moore’s obvious conflict of interest and blatant abuse of power. The government doesn’t work effectively anyway, so why are we mad about one City Council member pushing her own agenda to plant flowers?

Except that in this case, this particular planting ruined a perfectly nice slice of the city.

The walking path used to provide a nice view of the beautiful lake. Now, “Enhance” Escanaba, you have interrupted that scene by adding in rocks and bushes that aren’t even native! It looks bloody stupid.

Beyond that is the worst part – the $%*@ing QR codes.

Remember when going for a walk in the park meant a break from civilization and technology? You know how certain organizations are trying to encourage kids to get outside and detach from their phones for a bit?

Well, Enhance Escanaba has decided that people aren’t staring at their phones enough.

The plaques that are mounted on the trucked-in boulders are printed not with information about what part of the world these non-native plants are from… No, these big ugly signs bolted to the big ugly rocks have great big ugly black-and-white QR codes on them.

For people unfamiliar with the technology, QRs are like barcodes that you scan with your phone, which then redirects you to a website.

See, Enhance Escanaba, I explained that because I know a lot of our residents are older and not tech-savvy. It was a ridiculous notion to think QR codes were a good idea. We have a lot of elderly people in this community; do you think they want to be staring at a smartphone screen when they’re in the park? And young people shouldn’t be doing that either – no one should! We’re walking in the park to get close to NATURE, remember?

In summary, this project was an awful idea. I won’t say it was a waste of money, because I know the grant came from America in Bloom, which is a performative branch of Canadian National, a notoriously bad company. I’m sure they didn’t have any input, just handed out money to try to make themselves look good.

I will not be referring to it as the “Nature Trail,” because as I have explained, that is a misnomer. We may call it “Hindered View Lane” or the “Please Peer at your Phone Even More Path” or maybe the “Unnatural, Bad-Habit Encouraging Trail”.

None of those quite roll off the tongue. I encourage others to find alternative names, but I won’t blame those who choose to block it out of their minds entirely.

Jamie Levin

Escanaba