As you may have deduced from the photograph above, it's that time of year when the cherry blossoms 桜 are in bloom. Outside of Japan there's probably no better place on this planet to see the flowers in all their finery than the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. I won't delve into the deeper symbolism of how the short but brilliant life of the humble sakura サクラ appealed to poets and warriors as they sipped their sake 日本酒 cups and pondered the fleeting nature of existence. Nor will I lapse into the depths of nostalgia by recalling those hanami 花見 parties in Ueno Park 上野公園 or the bike rides under the pink and white flowers of the cherry trees lining the Kabake River 鹿化川 in Yokkaichi 四日市.
Instead, I will write that when my family and I ventured down to the Tidal Basin last Thursday afternoon, the blossoms hadn't yet reached their peak of full blooming:
The advantage of living in the D.C. metro area is that we were able to return to the Tidal Basin on this Monday afternoon, when the sakura had attained their state of 満開, i.e. mankai or "full blossom" (and when the crowds were not as dense as they most likely were on the weekend). To paraphrase Chairman Mao, let a hundred cameras shoot:
The cherry blossoms will be gone very soon, but despite the title of this post, there will be no ruminations on the ephemeral nature of existence. For a couple of hours on this Monday afternoon, at least, all was good with the world.
P.S. Okay, so there have been some other things going on recently, like that Friday afternoon a couple of weeks ago when a sudden, violent hailstorm blew through our area. Fortunately, it only briefly interrupted the onset of spring:
Speaking of cherry blossoms, my daughter took part in the NOVA Go Club Cherry Blossom Tournament on Saturday, where she won all three of her matches. Spring is off to a good start...
Lunch break from Go at Seoul Spice
Post-tournament celebratory dinner at Elevation Burger
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