Prelude: Things In Passing

Here I am, first post. This blog starts at an intersection of the end of one stage in my life and the beginning of the next. It has been a good and long year at UM School of Public Health (SPH), and now I'm ready for the next stage: med school at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).

I had been ready to leave UM and Ann Arbor since graduating last spring, 2008, with my B.S. in Biology. Now I find myself truly leaving and it's just a bit surreal. In the last 2 weeks I walk through Ann Arbor just one more time, taking pictures of the scenes I will miss.

How fast we move through life, and the older we get the faster time seems to flow. What have we missed in passing? If we could slow down, what would we do? What would we see? What might we notice?

Before I leave Ann Arbor, I would like to remember some of the things we don't really notice but that give Ann Arbor it's unique flavor - some of the things in passing:

The mural on the side of Potbelly's on the corner of State St. and E. Liberty.

On the ceiling of the alley to the back of MI Theater on E. Liberty.

Scenes in the alley behind MI Theater on E. Liberty.

Wall of the parking lot on Menard St. next to Nickels Arcade.

Nickels Arcade between State St. and Menard St.

A wall on Catherine St. between N. Ingalls and Glen St.

Random sidewalk art.

Gnome on the med campus near Med Sci II on Catherine St.

Wall art in the alley next to the Safe Sex Store on S. University.

Random spirits outside a store corner on State St.

A fire hydrant on the corner of State St. and N. University.

On a bench outside the Undergraduate Library (UGLi).

Yes, I will miss Ann Arbor. I'm glad I slowed down enough to see these scenes one last time before I leave. Who knows, the next time I'm in town, they may no longer exist - worn away by time or covered up by tomorrow's graffiti. All the more reason to remember these snapshots.

It is time to say goodbye, it is time to say hello, it is time to bring on the day.