I am in the right lane on I-20/59, motoring slowly south and  approaching I used to be over there, in the passing lane, angling to make that bold left-hand exit down the ramp at 22nd Street.

I don't do that anymore. Instead I take the right-hand exit toward Carraway Boulevard. As I swing around and descend into downtown my electric motor cuts on and I can glide up to the always-red traffic light at the bottom of the ramp.  I have discovered the zen of the hybrid vehicle.

I am about 41, maybe 42--not my age, my mpg (or miles per gallon) as measured by the handy little display on my dashboard. Bless its little digital heart for making me care, for making me a better man, for being a device readily readable by my wife when she enters the car.

I had a relapse and dropped to 38 one week, when my old automotive demons came screeching back-racing people to red lights, ignoring speed limits, scoping out state troopers, looking for an advantage in the mindlessness of other drivers. But that was the old me. Before the $3.19 gas, before the comfort of cruise control and speed limits, before that calm little voice inside said, "It's okay. You'll get there."

Look inside this month's issue and you'll find plenty to be calm about, too. There is something awfully comforting in knowing that you love someone or something. For us, this month, love lies in the idiosyncratic, quirky attributes of the city itself. We've put together 21 reasons this town has gotten under our skin.

  Visit our web site this month at www.bhammag.com and you'll find a link there that will let you compose your own love letter to the city. We'd love to read it. Then you can follow a link to nominate a favorite IN spot or two as part of the new IN Birmingham campaign the magazine is a partner in promoting. You can nominate your favorites at www.inbirmingham.org.