Moving closer to home, and closer to today (as in last Friday): Lansing kicks off the holiday season a week ahead of Thanksgiving with ``Silver Bells'', a street market thing capped with a parade and the lighting of the Michigan State Tree. 
bunny_hugger had missed this for several years --- I had never seen it --- in favor of going to Midwest FurFest. But we'd decided to give that con a pass this year, giving us the chance to attend FurFright instead (and it turns out miss everybody because it turns out everyone we ever knew was at Midwest FurFest this year), partly because her parents wanted to see it again, and partly to do something different for the first Thanksgiving season I wouldn't be flying into town for.
None of the action was too far from our home, at least if you're comfortable walking long distances in moderately chilly weather, which her parents weren't quite. So we drove to the nearest parking lot and got the bus going to the city market, near enough the action and giving us the chance to accidentally confuse and vaguely insult some women who were waiting by the bus stop. They'd asked us if this was the bus for the Silver Bells, and sure enough, and, they didn't look like they were from the neighborhood. They wanted to know what that meant; it's just they looked more upscale than the local average.
We started off at the city market, which had the advantage of being open earlier; it's a modest-sized farmer's market sort of places where bunny_hugger's father was able to get cookies and bunny_hugger found adorable tiny orange cupcakes and we're pretty sure we saw deer walking outside. This was probably connected to their Santa Claus. This was my first stop in the city market, which started up a century ago and was recently renovated and brought rather upscale; it's a good-looking place and I'm sure to make excuses to visit in future.
Walking to the market we passed one of the floats we expected to be in the parade. Walking back, it was gone. Clearly, someone was stealing parade floats.
Trivia: Parker 51 pen nibs were initially tipped with an alloy of iridium and osmium, which was too scarce and expensive and difficult to import; in 1944, a redesign using a ruthenium nib went into production. Source: The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales Of Madness, Love, ANd The History Of The World From The Periodic Table Of The Elements, Sam Kean.
Currently Reading: The Uncertain Revolution: Washington and the Continental Army at Morristown, John T Cunningham.