Spring’s assertions have been timid until now. There has been moisture in the air. There have been flashes of thunder. There have been splatters of rain and rolling masses of fog, blown in from the lake. There have been all manner of meteorological phenomena. Warmth, however, has been slow in coming. When winter fades in Chicago, many of the locals—as if in desperation—will hurl themselves into the open air, often in little more than shorts and flimsy tee-shirts. There may still be snow on the ground, and as you walk down certain North Side streets, avoiding snow-remnants in the urban colors of yellow and gray, you’ll see guys in shorts. If you’re near the lake, you’ll find the occasional sun-bather: skin tinged ever-so-slightly blue by the chill that remains in the air. You see this commonly, and know that spring is on its way. Chicago is a distinctly closed-toe city—at least among shoe-wearing men. When you start seeing guys wearing sandals, you know that the season has truly changed and that warmth is here to stay. It seems as if certain elements of the male population of Chicago are endowed with strange circadian clocks—something embedded in the hypothalamus, I believe. Though they’ll wear shorts in snow, it isn’t until Spring-Proper that they begin to wear sandals. I think this is due to the fact that sandal-wearing is the result of a subtle biological trigger: something in the air, something in the water, something in the food stocks available at Trader Joes or Whole Foods...something in the tenderness of Chicago Male feet. At any rate, sandals mean spring: a fact confirmed yesterday, as I took the el to visit Corey. I took this picture, while hunting for photographic pigeons on the elevated tracks in the Loop. The pigeons were skittish, as were a number of humans on the opposite platform. I focused on buildings: they were moderately cooperative, and as I moved, I caught sight of a lone commuter, reading something. The original picture I’d taken was good enough, but I was in the mood to tweak and twiddle, and this is the result. I saw a guy in sandals. Outdoors. Warm weather is here to stay. *** As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you're all having a great weekend...what's left of it.