Well, I went to Lansing yesterday to try out the lifestyle . . . and I must say, it fit pretty well. I took my bike, and parked in the parking lot of the little grocery store at the edge of our neighborhood. I rode up to our house, then turned around and headed in to work. It took me about fifteen minutes to get there. That was on a warm, sunny day with not much wind; I expect that in mid-winter if there's been snow, it could be 25 minutes. And there was enough wind to remind me that it can really howl down Michigan Avenue in the winter . . . Nice for the ride home, I guess, when it's a tailwind.

I was pleased to see that I could make it almost the entire way downtown by going on side streets. I was equally pleased to see that the streets are really nice - well-maintained, interesting architecture, and nice yards. They're old (20s, maybe?) two-story porched houses. I think I'd like riding through there in the changing seasons.

When I arrived downtown, I realized that the farmer's market was open, and thought pleasantly about the possibility of routinely stopping for vegetables on my way home . . . there's a bakery tucked along the route somewhere, too; my brother-in-law highly recommends their sourdough.

I can't really tell what the route would be like after dark, but I think I'd feel comfortable commuting back and forth into the early evening. It would be nice to think that I might feel comfortable bikng home after evening events such as plays on campus, but that might be optimistic. (Speaking of plays, I was heartened to see that we're within about three miles of at least two playhouses and a comedy club, and that doesn't count the LCC program or anything at MSU (both of which have free outdoor summer theatre programs). It sounds like enormous fun to go to the LCC productions, to which I get in free . . . It's not Broadway or Chicago, I know, but sooner or later it'd be my students on stage, and that sounds really fun.)

Afterwards I had dinner with Louise, at a very acceptable Italian restaurant in a Big Box Plaza up by our neighborhood. That plaza (bikeable from the house) is home to one of the two Schuler's Books in town. Schuler's is an independent bookstore (well, two bookstores) that reminds me of Borders twenty years ago. It's just totally cool to have it so close by.

After dinner, I hit the Krispy Kreme drive-thru for dessert, and then I came home, feeling that maybe my worries about moving are kinda silly . . .