I Renew My Love of Playing Cards at Detroit's Psychedelic Healing Shack
It's A Great Place to Play Cards
Wednesday, January 1st, 2024 at 6:14 PM
SMART BUS 710 WESTBOUND
Nine Mile and Ryan
Warren Michigan
I love to go out on New Year's Eve. I always find myself doing a different celebration. I always say every New Year's Eve is different, and this observance was held at an office called “The Psychedelic Healing Shack”. I spent the first hour just reading the phantasmagoric wall paintings. “Dr. Bob has your back” says a card kept by the jars of medicinal herbs. The shelves reminded me of a Chinatown pharmacy.
I also make a big deal about the Fourth of July. I have this little theme called, “Am I in the right place for the Fourth of July?” And that usually meant being out in nature.
When I lived in Muskegon, I always felt like I was in the right place for the Fourth of July. I didn't even have to go to see the fireworks or attend a parade. I could sit in a bag chair on the side of the lake and feel right at home for the holiday.
A new friend, who has taken an interest in my art, invited me to come to the Psychedelic Healing Shack shack on Woodward for a jazz concert. The event promised vegan food from their restaurant. I didn't know what else to expect because the building houses a chiropractic and herbalist practice. Even John Sinclair the hippie poet owned a coffee shop in the building, partnering with my host. For the second time, I encountered a great jazz band in performance on the wooden floor boards. One has to walk through the performance to reach the bathroom or go out the front door.
Yes, the rain fell, and I had to bundle up, but it was easy enough to take a Samurai Seven Bus 7 to Woodward. My friend told me that the band would start around 9. I was hoping that we could have some fun before the band started, so I showed up at 7pm. A staff member was cooking in the kitchen, preparing rice and soup for the evening.
A small group at a table were hanging out and talking. I was asked if I wanted to play Euchre. I hadn't played Euchre in years, and I almost said no, because I didn't want to embarrass myself playing cards. They needed four people to play Euchre, and I would be the fourth. I explained my rustiness, and they didn't care. So Dilly became my partner. I liked Dilly right away, because my partner sported a grey chin beard of about 10 inches in length, braided perfectly.
Nine Mile & Woodward
I began to remember the rules of Euchre fairly quickly. I know that one jack of color is the right bower, and the most powerful card in the whole deck. I knew that the opposite jack of color is the left bower, and I also learned how to tell the dealer to pick up the card flipped up, because that kind of card becomes trump.
So Dilly and I managed to squeeze out a victory. I remember my old trick of holding on to my smaller trump cards and throwing one on the pile when I no longer had to follow suit. I always liked that little stratagem. It worked numerous times during our game.
Sammy then proposed that we play spades, where spades are always the trump. One gets so many cards in your hand you can't hold on to them all. It was a trick to sort the cards by suit in my hand without showing off the faces.
Dilly was patient with me. I was dealing a card, and one card flipped up to reveal its face. Also, I was holding the deck too high when I was dealing, allowing everybody to see the face of the bottom card. But after about a few hours of playing, I just began remembering all my skills, and I only wish that Mom and her family had broken me into pinochle early.
They loved to play their pinochle, and I have no idea how to play it. Mom did teach me how to play it. Thank goodness she taught me Euchre, simpler than Pinochle but similar. I know that Omar Sharif was known for playing Bridge. I also remember that the News and Free Press published a Bridge column, analyzing expert games. Maybe if I play my cards right, I'll play poker, euchre, pinochle and bridge for love and money.
Old State Fairgrounds
10:48 PM
I went out and I soon realized that going out wasn't the best idea. Everybody tries to make their money on New Year's Eve, and on New Year's Day everybody wants to close up shop. So I went to the corner of Mack & Moross and didn't find National Coney Island open. I went to FedEx Office and that was closed too.
I still proceeded into Ferndale, and my highly reliable Taiwanese place had closed their doors. So walking along Nine Mile in Ferndale felt like walking through a mall closed for the evening. I did find a health food store open. The clerk had to break it to me that Tiger's Milk Candy Bars disappeared from the market three years ago.
I headed up to Royal Oak, although I was beginning to think going home was the best idea. And luckily I found Leo's Coney Island open, and I had a little bit of dinner. I also popped into a dive bar called Gusoline Alley, and they've fixed it up. It doesn't look like a dive bar so much anymore. In fact, they painted over all the graffiti in the restroom. And the place used to get awards for the graffiti on its walls, awards from the papers.
The Jason stays open 24-7, all other things equal. One could tell that many guests on the warm interior with Marx Moda modern furniture had plans to stay the night.
Time to catch the Earthy Eight Mile Bus 17 home.