Chicago was bustling today! From my window, I saw the trees in Millennium Park now full of green. The glistening Bean waiting for thousands of summer hand prints that tourists will happily plant. The sailboats starting to moor in Monroe Harbor.

Instead of black coats scurrying along on the street below, I saw yellow, teal, deep pink. And fluorescent orange. I imagined smiles on faces. And cordial greetings between commuters.

I know I had a smile. My massage therapist said my right side was “cranky” as usual, but over all, my back muscles were more relaxed. This after nearly four years of pain having several diagnoses–I won’t bore you with them all (my fibromyalgia was only recently ruled out as the cause), and zillions of interventions. The latest hunch, though, is that the pain may be due to a spur on the spine. It feels like I have one of those rings you see in a cutaway of a tree trunk. My ring squeezes me around the lower ribcage. With a serrated saw.

Springtime, for sure, is a time to pack the Midwest winter “cranky” away. I’m so happy my back has agreed!