Flowers have pushed up from under the soil and blossomed for more than a week now. There's splashes of colour livening up the cityscape!

And today, I noticed leaves are starting to unfurl from their buds.

In another week or two, that means canopies. I love spring leaves because the green is so bright, vibrant and super-saturated. Combine them with a bright blue, smog-free sky and you're looking at a living painting.

Those signs that winter may well and truly be behind us for another year -- along with other harbingers of pleasantness, like full sidewalk patios and sidewalk ice cream trucks -- have me in a very, very good mood!