Ann Arbor

Yesterday, Inge and I went to Ann Arbor for our annual winter jaunt. It's an hour from my house by car.

Don and I had just watched Thursday on the national news that Ann Arbor is the first U.S. city to use all LED lights in the traffic lights, street lights and walkway lights. You can read about LED technology here. The mayor of Ann Arbor said these new lights are like taking 400 cars off the road, that's how much energy they save. They "burn" cold, not hot.

But seeing the LED lights was not the primary reason Inge and I made the drive. It was time to visit our favorite bookstore, Crazy Wisdom, and browse around Ann Arbor.




We pulled books off the shelves and ransacked them.

We looked longingly at other merchandise in the bookstore, all so alluring.

We drank coffee and ate scones.

After the bookstore we wandered into shops, like 10,000 Villages, a fair trade store that's gotten too expensive. I wonder how much of a cut the craftspeople receive.

'Kindness does not go rotten.'

We ended the day at the Common Grill in Chelsea, where we had a delicious meal and exchanged Christmas gifts.

I ate shrimp and lobster on linguine in red pepper sauce. Inge ate veggie wraps. We toasted our friendship with our glasses of wine, mine red, hers white.

I am grateful for my dear friend and how she grows more precious to me as the days, months and years go by.