Sunday will mark the 2nd anniversary of Capital City Sidewalks, which debuted in 2020 with a photo of an undated O&M stamp on Regent Street. Over the last year, as I have exhausted the interesting stamps to be found on Lansing’s east side (where I take my daily walks), I have increasingly covered adjacent topics like utility covers, odd or mysterious sidewalk arrangements, and old newspaper accounts of sidewalk construction issues. At this point I will likely have to continue to widen my focus if I am to keep the blog going, since I am close to wringing out the east side of the last interesting markings. I need to make more frequent trips to other neighborhoods, although it’s possible I will find nothing but the same contractors that are well represented closer to home. I may also need to reduce posting frequency again. A year ago I decided to drop to three times a week after a year of daily updates, which served me very well for a while, but is starting to feel too frequent again. I am considering going to two days, if not now, perhaps when my day job picks up again in a few weeks.

I don’t mean to sound downbeat, however, as I mark my second anniversary. Instead, I want to express my appreciation for the sidewalks of Lansing and how glad I am for having discovered I like learning about them (and about Lansing history, for which they have often served as a proxy). I have found this blog to be a highly satisfying endeavor, and if no one but my husband has been reading, that’s all right. Developing the habit of studying sidewalks so closely, and even having opinions about them, has enriched my life in a small but noticeable way. After all, they are nearly ubiquitous… except in Lansing Township.