Chicago in the Springtime

I'll get back to posting about my "beginnings" as a writer... but right now, I'm happy it's finally SPRING in Chicago. And I'm not just saying this because it was my birthday yesterday, but because I love Spring, and I love Chicago, and the two combine wonderfully.

Why I love Chicago in the Springtime:

* People come outside, like crazy! Gone are the heavy coats and the scowls. Chicagoans (and those from the surrounding suburbs) really appreciate the weather when it finally turns from frigid cold to the springtime, sunny weather. The streets around my apartment were packed today.

* The best 'city entertainment' appears too. A block from my apartment, there was a mime, performing to some music. A little bit further up Michigan Ave. there was the puppet show that circulates the city in a cart.

* The warm lake breeze. 'Nuff said.

* The clear blue skies that surround a beautiful skyscraper-filled horizon. 'Nuff said.

* Being able to cook-out and not freeze my ass off. 'Nuff said.

* The art outside. It's easier to appreciate when it's not freezing. Like the ~50 foot statue of the "American Gothic" figures (which, today, had a homeless guy sleeping at the base of it; not surprisingly, this didn't stop any of the tourists from taking a picture and/or climbing on top of the large suitcase at the woman's feet). Or, finding that someone had spelled out, in chalk, the word "VISION," by placing one letter on the base of each of the six concrete flower pots. You can only notice it when walking south on Fairbanks/Columbus. Observation is rewarded!

Granted, it's only 52 degrees out right now. But that's Springtime in Chicago for you, and I'll take it!