observation deck...

perched at the window-lined counter of my new favourite java spot, i gazed out at the afternoon's relentless sunshine... each day the minutes of light grow a touch more -- we're up to 12 hours and 45 minutes now of pure, gorgeous brightness...

skater kids take over the sidewalks... they all have a penchant for smoking... the elijah smith building is their personal skate park, while the real one down the street is still inundated with snow mounds... i watch as a melting snow sculpture becomes a student jungle gym... a piece of local art clicks and stirs beside me on the wall of the coffee shop -- kinetic art... its circular shape is home to twisting and turning wires and tubes, while a marble drops its way through the piece as though searching for the end of the steel maze... it sounds like a hamster casually running the wheel in a cage, or the echo of shopping carts as they smash together...

it is easy to stop traffic -- this is a city where pedestrians really do have the right of way... a truck grinds to a halt as i cross into the solid white lines painted below my feet... the caffeine stirs in my body as i begin my sunny walk home...