Welcome Spring! “First born of light and love.” This sentiment is written under a mural painted on the wall of the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. You can only see it if you’re seated in the balcony. Over the years of attending everything from Santana to Sade to American Ballet Theatre, I’d always look for it. Pondering new life as you squeak into your plush, albeit faded mustard colored velvet seat with wooden handles. The unending hope of Spring captures artists of all kinds across the ages. As I write this, the tall white lilacs spin in the sun right outside my window. For 3/4 of the year they are paralyzed by frost and ice or withered by drought. Today, spring has released their flowery freedom. They float. Don’t we feel this way after a moribund year of lockdowns, quarantines, masks covering our scanty smiles? My little friend James, pictured below is ready to kick off his shoes and crush petals under his feet. Aren’t we all!
