Love for the Longfellow Lights Committee

I'm on a plane to Colorado!  I'm doing that sneaky post-scheduling thing again!  I should probably try harder to preserve some air of mystery around Miles and Laurel, shouldn't I?  Don't answer that.

Yesterday I went for a run with my longlost running buddy Molly.  Last winter, we ran every weekend together, but because of our schedules flying every-which-way this fall, we haven't coordinated nearly well enough.  (We vowed for that to change, so expect more stories soon about running with Molly.)

Anyway, we covered six miles on the winter solstice - and oddly enough, because of a light snowfall that had started falling earlier in the afternoon, it seemed lighter than it had been at 4:45 in ages.  It was beautiful and we cruised along the river road's paths with Molly's sweet pup, Rachel. 

I had two favorite moments, besides catching up with Molly, obviously.  The first was when we veered off the river paths to head back up toward her house, probably 30 or 40 minutes after we had first run down those blocks.  The dusting of snow had just fallen before we started, and we saw two pairs of footprints on the sidewalk upon our return.  "Are those ours?" I asked Molly.  We tried to figure it out, and then a few yards later, we saw dog paws join the human footprints.  "RACHEL!" we both yelled.  The path continued like that for a block or two.  It was so pretty.

My other favorite tidbit is the good work of the Longfellow Lights Committee, which I witnessed along the route.  This committee is a group of five that includes Molly and her husband, Sara and two of their friends.  They represent the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis, where all of my friends seem to be moving.  This cohort met earlier in the month to craft their awards, and then headed out into the neighborhood to determine the best holiday displays and honor them appropriately with awards. 

You've gotta check out Molly's play-by-play of their escapades.  My personal highlight of this story might be that a police officer blasted holiday music from his loudspeaker so the group could coordinate music to the lights.  This whole thing is pretty much the Cutest Thing in the Whole World. 

Sara and Molly: please note that I will file my application shortly to become an honorary member of the Longfellow Lights Committee for 2012 - or possibly directly copycat this idea for my neighborhood next year.  Best idea ever.