Anne and I drove up to Michigan on Tuesday. There was a chill in the morning’s air after Monday’s balmy weather. Soon after we got on to the road, the sun came up and made the day way too bright. I prefer cloudy days for driving, because then you don’t have the sun staring you in the face all day. Fortunately, the cool, but clear weather gave us dry roads and clear sailing all the way to Ann Arbor. This is a road trip that Anne and I have made many times so we can almost drive it while on automatic pilot. To help facilitate this sense of automation, I had checked out a couple of audio books to pass the time and while away the miles. We listened to Spies of the Balkans, by Alan Furst. We both had just read this book over the summer, but listening to it was enough of a different experience that it was still enjoyable. Anyway, we made it safe and sound to Anne‘s folks house.

Anne’s sister from Seattle had flown in for the holidays. Jay and Carl flew to Detroit to see their son, Rey, who had driven up to Ann Arbor from Tennessee. Later today our son, David, will brave the busiest air travel day of the year, the enhanced TSA security procedures and fly to Detroit. Anne’s other sister Jane is a townie so she should drop by sooner or later. Missing from this holiday family gathering will be our son Dan who is in LA and Jay and Carl’s daughter Ashlan who is in Vancouver.