Chicago is ready for Spring before Spring is ready for Chicago. This has an upside. It inspires thinking about new growth. This may coax nice weather to feel free to show up sometime.

Here are three idea sprouts, unencumbered by frozen thinking:

1. Let’s just get goofy and ratify the EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT. Four decades after it was drafted to ensure equal treatment under the law regardless of gender, it sits alone like a geeky kid in the cafeteria, waiting for THREE more states to ratify it.

2. If we can implant a little chip in our pets so global positioning systems (GPS) can fetch them home if they are lost, why not implant a little chip in firearms? We can’t monitor each other or predict behavior but we can pinpoint where weapons are.

3. If schools must be closed for economic reasons, as more than 50 will be in Chicago, why not execute big plans for the empty buildings to compensate in some measure for the grief and fear felt by their neighborhoods?