Ish, Gus, and a Lot of Questionable Statuary

We turned on an audio book, Andrew Clements’s Lunch Money, and cruised on down the road. Katherine fell asleep midway through chapter four and awoke somewhere after chapter seven. As the sunlight began to suggest that it was ready for evening to begin, but didn’t want to insist, we stopped in downtown Ishpeming, Michigan, to see the statue of “Old Ish,” of which we don’t know the back story.



There was a plaque that basically said, “It’s been here a long time,” and also pointed out that the base of the statue had once been a fountain for dogs, horses, and humans. We could, however, find only two spigots; it’s anyone’s guess who had to double up.



On either side of Ishy there were chairlift-seat benches, complete with framework. These had been sponsored by local businesses.



From our visit with Old Ish the Generic Native American, we drove to a monument to Generic American Lack of Taste: Da Yoopers Tourist Trap and Museum.



We spent most of our time in the gift shop, though we did tour the outside walkway with its conglomeration of regional stones, “comic” scenarios, metal folk sculpture, and quasi-functional “Yooper” contraptions, most of them dealing with drinking, snow removal, or both.