Big City. Big Smiles.

I honestly am not sure where the readers of  “Snap. Shot.” live but I suspect most are located in the Midwest, and many are in or around, Chicago. At least I think.

If you have been to Chicago, then you know it is a big city and it does have what makes a big city just that, a big city.. Big buildings, bigger entertainment/food prices, bigger politics; but right now, as we head into spring, when the city is exploding with color and the resurgence of life, there is something we have not seen in a while in many of the faces of those either visiting or living in the Windy City.

Big Smiles.

People know the good weather is coming---it happens every year, we just don’t know when to expect it. Will it be a situation where one week we have winter and the next summer? Don’t laugh we have missed spring before. Or will there be a longer spring that allows us the luxury of having a nice enjoyable stroll into the warmer weather? My bet, it will be a combination, but then again, I am no meteorologist. So far this week, we have had snow, rain, and now the possibility of sun. It’s only “possible,” not necessarily probable. As I look outside, and hear the rain, I suspect it’s not likely to happen until next week or maybe the week after. But it will come. It always does.

Yesterday as I rode the train into the city, I heard talk of a Chicago Cubs game that had taken place the day before. I thought back and remembered the weather on Wednesday; I also thought, they must have been miserable out there. It was in the 40s, but not near the ballpark, it was colder, and it was just a very grey day. But like true Cub fans, as they rode down to Thursday’s game, they were sure it was going to be a better day for watching a game at the ol’ ballpark. They were right. It wasn’t grey and dreary, but it was colder. Whoo who.

But that’s about to change. The weather is coming around, the buds are budding, and soon there will be no coats, hats, or winter wear, it will be what we long for here in Chicago--warmth. I can’t wait.

The other day, as I was in between meetings, I walked down to Millineum Park to take a few photos. Unlike most times I have been down there, the crowds were sparse, the fountains not yet turned on, and the coolest site, the “Crown Fountain” had yet to begin its annual rite of spraying kids and adults as they brave the Chicago summer. I could not have been happier; it was a picture just begging to be taken.

So I did.

The photo above was taken in Crown Fountain. Normally it is not possible to stand in the middle, with patches of water laid out, and virtually no one in site. Today it happened. Just like the young man who is smiling, I could feel more and more Chicagoans doing the same as we all know what’s next, spring. 

Okay, maybe just summer.

Thanks for stopping by.