Tantalizing “fake spring” sunny morning. Spontaneous brunch with one girlfriend, then a walk with another. We stop by the tea shop where maybe another friend was going to be, and find her with two other friends, and a third who’s just randomly walked in the door.

The six of us follow the tide of people wandering northward through the neighborhood, all headed to Volunteer Park to soak up the rare early dose of vitamin D. There are crocus flowers and pregnancy announcements (no, not mine) and upon arrival at the park, we run into three more friends.

Eventually, the friend who I had brunch with finds her way to the park as well, and the ten of us loll in the sun admiring notorious neighborhood folks like the bearded guy in the skirt with the bells. He’s wearing nothing but pink panties while his boyfriend holds a mirror and brushes his long hair. The dogs roll in the grass. The sun slips behind the leafless trees and most of us pack up and head to a spontaneous dinner … as we walk into the restaurant, the friends we left behind happen to drive by and we wave. Afterwards, a few of us gather in sweatpants to watch a movie and cry at the happy parts.

12 hours of neighborhood wandering, happy accidents, unseasonal sunshine, expanding and contracting circles of friends and squinting and just being happy that right now I live right here with all these right people wandering around.

…Right!?