This is Springtime!

At this time of year it is sometimes difficult to know exactly how to dress.
I don’t mean fashion-wise [although fashion-issues also apply, that is, if one is fashionable per se, which I myself, am not] but I mean morseo, temperature-wise.
At this time of year, bright and sunny does not always mean warm!
But today I got it right.
As the door to my apartment building closed behind me, I breathed in the freshest air of 2008 thus far, and thought one thought:
This is springtime!

I walked across the street, and through the park. To the left of me, the impossible-to-exaggerate mountains of snow which had so thoroughly ruined neighborhood skating for the season, lay quietly melting within the boarded corral of the rink. Soon, all will be torn down and stored away, the baseball field in its place. Three birds on a fence seemed happy about it.
This is springtime!

As I continued along Parent Street, a young couple placed some light luggage into the back of their SUV at a Bed-and-Breakfast. I heard the woman ask him, “Is that it?” as he walked around to the driver’s side and she closed the door to their weekend getaway. Neither of them had a jacket on, honest to God, just sweaters. Because winter has officially gone out of style today!
A few blocks later, to the right, on Clarence now, the outdoor patio of the Empire Grill is bustling with people. Most of them are happily drinking alcohol and nibbling on some sort of appetizer and contributing to an overall babble of springtime chatter.
Just as I zip across the street, a man and woman [the man pushing a noisily-occupied baby carriage] see some friends at a table.
“You mean you’re not working?” the carriage-pusher asks, as he reaches over the railing and clasps hands with an unjacketed guy.
“One day off a week, and today’s the day,” his friend answers, laughing.
This is springtime!

A block further, on York Street, three buskers are singing “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder”, two on guitars, one on banjo. The closer I get, the better the harmonies sound. They’re terrific. And a crowd of people are waiting for hotdogs and sausages as the vendor, behind his barbecue and pointing with his tongs, tries to explain the various degrees of spiciness in a tone a notch louder than the gospel music.
I stop, listen, and get in line.
This is springtime!

In the Clarendon Courtyard I walk across the cobblestones. Here and there, little icy patches of snow still lie about, but with a look of defeat.
A girl, twenty-something, sits at the bench just outside Planet Coffee. As I pass by, I notice she is reading, and as always, I try to see the cover. It is Love In The Time of Cholera, the bright red cover of the movie-edition, and she is halfway through, and intent. I laughed to myself.
In my backpack, the same book is riding in darkness, on its way here, to the Starbucks.
This is springtime!

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