Sunny with No Chance of Pants

It's official: today was the first shorts-wearing day of 2012.

Doing my Grace Street constitutional was like strolling the Maymont Flower and Garden show.

Everywhere, something was in bloom.

Crocuses and snowdrops are supposed to be up by now, but there were daffodils nodding in the breeze, pink hyacinths (worth bending down to smell), magenta oxalis under trees, white mounds of Candytuft, neon pink straw flowers and the little blue blossoms of Periwinkle.

And that's just the ones I recognized. There were tiny purple flowers on something heather-like, too. The Camellia bushes are loaded with pink and red blooms.

A guy sitting on a brick wall told me, "It must be Spring if we're seeing those legs again!"

Another told me, "You look really nice" without ever moving his eyes above my waist.

A older man making an illegal U-turn stopped in the middle of Allen street and called out, "After you, young lady."

Warm weather makes people talk nice to strangers apparently.

VCU students joined me in embracing the warmth; everywhere were tank tops, spaghetti strap tops, flip-flops and, naturally, a couple of shirtless guys.

The door to The Village was propped open. People were eating on the patio at Ipanema.

Welcome, Spring weather, for as long as you last. My shorts will be ready when you are.