Near Wild Heaven 

In her 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery tells us of a particularly earnest and yearning moment in her eponymous heroine's youth: "It wouldn't matter if I got to a hundred picnics in after years; they wouldn't make up for missing this one. They're going to have boats on the Lake of Shining Waters — and ice cream, as I told you. I have never tasted ice cream. Diana tried to explain what it was like, but I guess ice cream is one of those things that are beyond imagination."

In a world of numbing convenience, we have dulled our desires into an unremarkable trough of steady treats. In the age of supermarkets, it is beyond imagination that someone wouldn't know the taste of ice cream. But life used to be much different not so long ago, and a handcrafted pleasure was something to be savored and cherished. My Canadian great grandfather Ernest (not the one who lived in Prince Edward Island, that would be too perfect, but rather southwestern Nova Scotia) was a man who understood the importance of small pleasures. A house and sign painter by trade, he would walk away from work on certain warm days, grab as many kids as he could find (his own and those in the general population of his hometown of Yarmouth) to pick wild berries to make ice cream for everyone involved. This was perceived as laziness and often led to disapproval from the rest of the working folks in town, and certainly some economic concerns from his wife, but the general consensus was that he was a harmless eccentric, a man who loved his family and community. As a grandpa, he would write long letters to my father and uncle when they were kids in America. These messages had almost no words but were instead filled with detailed watercolor pictures of his seasonal adventures. He braved the cold waters of the Atlantic in the dark months to pick the goods from scuttled ships — a legal but dangerous practice back then — and daily created his own art and adventures, filled with treasures where watercolors captured and words could not. My dad said he was the world's first hippie, living out of synch as he did in the socially rigid times of Montgomery's famous character. But I think he was more like William Blake, who saw "The world in a grain of sand. And Heaven in a wild flower." I write these words thinking of a friend who I lost last week. In my best memories of her, she chased love and beauty like that untasted picnic ice cream desired so dearly by Anne Shirley. Read this as a reminder for all you seekers out there to live and dream deeply, in watercolor flashes of treasure hunting, from cold oceans to warm afternoons where one can "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand. And Eternity in an hour."

Thursday

It isn't exactly Metal Monday, but Savage Henry Comedy Club steams ahead tonight with a loud line-up of merry noisemakers. Two Bay Area bands are in the mix: post-hardcore act Drought and screamo group Máu, along with local grind duo Klod and the punks in Racket. This all-ages funhouse starts at 7 p.m., with a sliding scale door price of $5-$10 and an understanding that a lack of funds won't deny admission.

Friday

The Westhaven Center for the Arts is hosting a to-do called "Let's Dance," with the Bayou Swamis providing the tunes for the action. I've only ever seen sit-down chamber music performances here, so I am curious to see how expansive the dance floor can get. If you are similarly inclined, you can find out for yourself at 7:30 p.m. for a $5-$20 sliding scale price.

Saturday

The Miniplex is the place to go tonight if you are hankering for a showcase of local bands, courtesy of Lighthouse Records. I can vouch for Pill for Thrills as a solid chunk of fun, and have yet to enjoy the works of Queen Karma, Porcelain Dog and Dinner Service, but I look forward to the experience, particularly since there is a better than even chance I'll be running sound. It's an early gig at 7 p.m., valued at a very reasonable $5.

Sunday

If you feel your Sunday would be improved by the addition of wine and live jazz in one of Eureka's more artistically stimulating settings, then you must sidle on over to the Morris Graves Museum of Art at 3 p.m. I can't speak for the specifics of the vinted refreshments, but I know for a fact that the tunes come courtesy of the good folks in Low Class Jazz, a sextet featuring vocalist Jo Kuzelka. The price is an easy to quaff $5, $2 for students and seniors, and free for museum members and kiddos.

Monday

Another weekly music event has come into the Doppler range of my radar system and I feel compelled to share its coordinates with all of my fellow enthusiasts. The Crisp Lounge now has a regular Monday psy-trance music night called Peaking with Melting Vision, which is a project of Humboldt Hot Air DJ Sam Murphy. The fun starts at 8:30 p.m., following Pete Nelson's comedy show Pete's Projecting Again, in which the aforementioned vision melter is also involved. Free.

Tuesday

Savage Henry Comedy Club presents Oops! All Gimmicks, a show helmed by Cap'n Jack Fischer which is entirely comprised of the sort of comedy that largely went extinct with the decline and fall of Gallagher and two Carrot Top facelifts ago. We're talking about prop comedy, celebrity impressions and sketches. All the schlock that's fit for slopping down the entertainment gullet sans taste buds. The fun starts at 9 p.m. and you can pay whatever you desire for a spot in the gallery.

Wednesday

It's the annual tribute and birthday show celebrating the life and music of departed celestial folkster Linda Faye Carson, who walked through the out door of this realm and off to destinations untold nearly two years ago. Her friends in LodeStar and Soul-A-Mente are keeping her candles lit against the winds of time. Which means an evening of delightful folk-rock and bluegrass songcraft. The Siren's Song Tavern is the place, 7:30 p.m. is the time, and while no one will be denied music due to a paucity of pennies, the suggested cover charge is $5-$10.

Collin Yeo (he/him) would like to extend an early congratulations to the world-destroying Freudian Death Drive for winning the Republican and Democratic primaries, and ultimately the 2024 election. He lives in Arcata, where none will escape the lethal shadow of man's stupid folly.