Spring comes to Chicago in puddles of slush, dirty white snow, and that indescribable scent in the air that signals that Springtime is coming. Looking out my front window I can see that most of the snow has melted, there are just a few patches where the sun doesn’t shine full force during the day. The ground, where the grass will be a brilliant green in a month or so, is now a muddy dark pit of mud that clings to your shoes and the dog’s paws.
Downtown, the warmth and wind have melted most of the snow into puddles, but a few patches cling tenaciously to life along the shadows of the skyscrapers and buildings. The brilliant white of the winter’s snow has been turned a dirty gray with black flecks by the passing trucks and the footsteps of the thousands who trod the city’s streets.
The city’s hundreds of benches of stone, brick, and metal sit unused as pedestrians hurry past too chilly to stop and soak up the beauty of the city. While during the warmth of the summer, sitting on the benches allows tourists and residents alike to soak up the warmth of the sun, today they’d be soaking up the cold from the concrete.
Despite the still chilly winds blowing off Lake Michigan, more and more brave folks are walking along the lake and taking in the beautiful panorama that is the city of Chicago. The city feels vibrant as if it is shaking off the cold mantle of winter and preparing to embrace the beauty and softness that is spring in Chicago. The wind holds that indescribable promise of the warmth to come, but for now there is bliss in anticipating the warm weather to come.
Cairn by Cairn 