O.W. Root

Contributor at Enjoyer

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Articles

Looking for a glimmer of light

1 week ago | theblaze.com | O.W. Root

The past few years have been hard. Illnesses and deaths in our families. Other stuff too. It’s felt like a lot of the things that really matter haven’t really gone so good for a while. Work is fine. Actually, work is better than ever. But I don’t really care if I’m honest. It’s not what matters. When things were better, work was worse. I don’t really like this trade so much. Can I do an exchange? In the case of the flickering bathroom light, assuming the worst only made more work for myself.
Leelanau, the Last Holdout Against Dollar General

1 week ago | enjoyer.com | O.W. Root

Glen Arbor — Dollar General has invaded Michigan. The company has conquered both the Upper and Lower Peninsula. They have set up shop peddling cheap garbage in almost every corner of our lovely land. In 2025, Dollar Generals can be found in every single county in Michigan, save one. Yes, there is one place where they have been stopped, one last county that refuses to fall victim to this rapacious junk monger. Leelanau County is the final holdout. The final refuge.
Why Rogers City Never Became Charlevoix

2 weeks ago | enjoyer.com | O.W. Root

Rogers City — Pull up a map of Michigan. Find Charlevoix and Rogers City. They appear like a pair at the tip of the Lower Peninsula. One western, one eastern. Charlevoix on Lake Michigan. Rogers City on Lake Huron. On paper, they are strikingly similar. But on the ground, they are strikingly different. Both cities sit at nearly the same latitude. They are both, decidedly, Up North. To get from one to the other is an 81 mile drive straight through the northern wilderness. Both are practically the same size.
I never talk to liberals. Every so often I need to remind myself why.

3 weeks ago | conservativereview.com | O.W. Root
I never talk to liberals. Every so often I need to remind myself why.

3 weeks ago | theblaze.com | O.W. Root

I never talk to liberals. That may be a bit of an exaggeration. I do talk to liberals. I know extended family members who are liberals. I go to the store, and I am sure some of the people I talk with are liberals. I genuinely forget that there are people who still believe in 'the wage gap.' It’s insane. But I don’t talk politics with liberals. I don’t work with liberals.
Lessons from the ice storm

3 weeks ago | conservativereview.com | O.W. Root
Lessons from the ice storm

3 weeks ago | theblaze.com | O.W. Root

I live way up in Northern Michigan. Not quite the Upper Peninsula but almost. Closer to Canada than Detroit, in what many would call the “middle of nowhere.” We get a ton of snow storms — 125 inches of snow per year is the average. Weekends of 18 inches falling from the sky aren’t really that uncommon. “It snows every single day up there,” in the words of my father. It was smart to trust our guts and leave when we did. In our modern world, we tend not to listen to our instincts.
Water Bottles Are Literally So Lame

3 weeks ago | enjoyer.com | O.W. Root

Harbor Springs — You know it. I know it. We all know it. They are ugly, cumbersome, unnecessary, and a perfect example of our obsessive compulsive faux health and optimization culture. People today are desperately concerned with knowing the precise amount of water they consume every single day. Never before in human history have so many people lived their lives like little science experiments. Every ounce of H2O is logged and monitored in an Apple Watch, alongside steps, heart rate, and sleep.
On growing out of 'edgy' entertainment

1 month ago | conservativereview.com | O.W. Root
On growing out of 'edgy' entertainment

1 month ago | theblaze.com | O.W. Root

I don’t really care about “really dark” TV shows or “screwed up” movies anymore. They're supposed to rattle me or provoke me, but they don’t. They just bore me. I’m completely uninterested. It’s almost as if these stories are created by people who have never really reflected on the deeper nature of life and tragedy. In my 20s, I went through the typical phase of thinking shows and movies that “pushed the limit” were interesting, or at least might be worth watching.