Summer

I sat outside this afternoon, talking on my phone. It's the first really warm day of the year, and I can still feel the slight sunburn on my face.

Earlier, while walking through a park downtown, I saw the first sure sign that summer has arrived in Edmonton. Every year the sign is a little different, but it invariably involves a guy going shirtless in a conspicuous way. Last year, a bare-chested skinny kid rode a rickety ten speed down a rush hour street and I knew that we were due for three solid months of warm-ish weather. Today it was a guy in tight shorts sunbathing in a busy park, tape deck beside him, bobbing his head to The Scorpions.