Tottering out at Caryn Simon's farm. In the background if you look close, some chickens are visible. (Photo by the writer.)

[Editor's Note: HD, a.k.a. Dave Askins, editor of The Ann Arbor Chronicle, is also publisher of an online series of interviews on a teeter totter. Introductions to new Teeter Talks appear on The Chronicle.]

I care what things are called. Therefore I do not take lightly the headline written for this introduction to the most recent Teeter Talk – with Caryn Simon. I do not prefer the term “see-saw.” In fact I rather dislike it.

It’s a teeter totter, not a see-saw, and I want you to remember that.

Given that I have the power to write headlines as I like, why use a term I find odious? Because “see-saw” alliterates with “salve.” And I enjoy alliteration more than I dislike the term “see-saw.” Why “salve”? Because Caryn teaches a class on salve-making. [First session is July 18 July 11. Contact Info here. ]

Caryn makes salves from scratch, starting with fresh flowers picked on her farm. The morning of our totter ride up on North Territorial Road last week, she made tea from scratch after picking lemon balm from her garden.

In the course of her Talk we touched on salve-making, her work as a doula, whether she lives in Ann Arbor or Whitmore Lake, and what led her to lead the kind of life she’s living.

In the category of everything-is-connected-to-everything, I would put the following fact: Some of the chickens on Caryn’s farm were only one degree separated from the teeter totter prior to her ride. It  turns out that some of her chickens are refugees from Peter Beal’s place, which he had to abandon a couple of years ago.

On the totter I learned a lot – among other things that a salve is different from a paste. It did not occur to me to ask Caryn if a salve was the same as a tincture. I wish I had. I might have gotten a better headline out of that.