Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. 2015
The significance of the cherry blossom tree in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years. In their country, the cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It’s a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.
~Homaro Cantu
Every time I go to Washington D.C., I think about the hassle, the cost, the confusion of the Metro, the parking, the traffic, and I sort of grumble to myself what a bother it is. The instant I get there, I think to myself, “I live about 45 minutes from this National treasure, why don’t I come here more often???”
So in my trips to D.C., I’ve never been during Cherry Blossom time and I have wanted to for a long time. Laura did too, so we planned it…last year. That got interrupted when Mom fell and ended up in the hospital. A year later, we made a new plan. No we didn’t, we spontaneously decided to go, apparently it’s better that way.
Laura and I on the metro.
The festival was in full swing, and blossoms and people were everywhere.
The Washington Monument and cherry blossoms.
The extra bonus with this outing, finally testing the circular polarizing lens filter that mom gave me for Christmas, which then made her a special part of our trip.
Laura, in stars and stripes, in front of the Monument and blossoms.
I especially liked the pink blossoms.
I expected blossoms, I didn’t expect how they were so dense, and so EVERYWHERE.
Every scene was hard to find without the cherry blossoms.
We decided to walk around the Tidal Basin…
Which gave me another first for my day, I had never been to the Jefferson Memorial!
“for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
Everywhere we walked was like a dreamlike fantasy of color, spring, and warmth. We had a terrific day for the event.
Another first, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Almost 15,000 steps later (my daughter’s phone app said so) we were ready to go home. A perfect day.
