JACKSON, MI – These are the confessions of a confirmed boodler.

Almost no one on planet Earth is familiar with the practice of boodling, because it is a hyper-regional phenomenon found in one northern Michigan location.

For all I know, this may be the first quasi-anthropological report published to the outside world.

Boodling was stumbled across on a recent trip to Beaver Island. When I returned home, I wrote about a former Jackson County deputy who is the sole year-round law-enforcement officer on the island. In that story, a "unique island culture" was mentioned without elaboration.

“They have a thing here called ‘boodling,’” explained Deputy Travis Williams.

Don’t bother to look up the word, because dictionary definitions do not apply. Boodling is so big on Beaver Island that people there have an annual 5k run called “The Island Boodle.”

Here’s my best shot at a definition.

“Boodle: To roam in a carefree and loosely structured manner, often with beer.”

Boodling is most likely a social adaptation developed because Beaver Island is a confined space of 54 square miles. The island lies three hours, by boat, off the Charlevoix shoreline.

People on the island cannot go far, but they often travel around to encounter scenery and people. That is the fundamental building block of boodling.

Residents and visitors gather with friends and drive very slowly around the spectacular island on rough gravel roads. Their “island cars” are typically old and battered, which somehow adds allure to the boodling experience.

When two acquaintances pass in opposite directions, they often stop in the middle of the road to talk. Usually this causes no problems because there is no traffic to block.

For advanced boodling, picnic tables are placed in the beds of pickup trucks for the seating convenience of passengers. That may sound illegal, but it is not.

With or without picnic tables, passengers can ride in the back of pickups traveling 25 miles per hour or slower under a Michigan law that explicitly declares it is legal. Deputy Williams said it is commonly known as “The Beaver Island Law.”

If boodling sounds frivolous, I have failed to convey the full picture.

Boodlers have a highly developed appreciation of the grandeur of the world around them. They savor magnificent scenery. They “go to sunset,” as if it is a place.

It felt so satisfying I purchased a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Born to Boodle.”

At its essence, boodling is an easy-going approach to life based on enjoying every possible moment. That habit need not be confined to islands.

If you ask me, our world would be better off with more boodling.

-- Contact Brad Flory at brad@lifeinplaid.com