Last night, my husband and I wandered around downtown in the crisp autumn evening air. With 25 minutes before the start of the high school homecoming football game, we left one daughter with the marching band and another with her friends by the stadium.

We considered having a little snack of a gourmet Hot Dog, and we tasted some street-side samples of “gelato hot chocolate” offered by cheerful college girls outside of the hot dog restaurant. I pulled off my maroon knitted mittens to feel the warmth of the cup. While we waited for our hot dogs, we played speed scrabble with the tiles housed in little glass jars at each table. There we sat, playing scrabble, eating hot dogs, and dreaming of more gelato hot chocolate. It felt like the old days of dating in Ann Arbor, nearly 18 years ago.

And it was fun.