Cherry Blossom Fail

Last weekend we traveled to DC to see the cherry blossoms around the basin. I had put a lot of research into when the blossoms should have been in bloom, and even took into account the experts predicting a late bloom due to cold weather, but even after a lot of careful planning, we still ended up being too early, and out of the hundreds of sakura trees only about three actually had blossoms coming out. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I had planned pretty much my whole month around this trip and was so excited to see America's biggest population of sakura in bloom.

In Japan, people use the word 'hanami' to describe the whole experience of taking time to go and view the cherry blossoms. There are often festivals dedicated to the event, many people dress in traditional attire that is seasonally appropriate ( floral fabrics, pinks and whites and purples to reflect the petal colours). The fact that the blossoms are so fickle and difficult to predict, coupled with the fleeting amount of time they actually stay open, renders the whole experience very poetic, and there are countless works of art lauding every stage of bloom, from the tiny green buds to the full open flower, to the fallen petals carpeting the ground. Ryan kept reminding me of all the songs and poems written about this stage we found ourselves in, where the buds are just starting to open and show colour. Try as I might, I wasn't able to muster enough patient Japanese mentality to feel too excited about it...I really wanted the spectacular view of open blossoms in all directions. That's life, though! Still glad we got to see at least a few trees blooming, and the monuments were cool.

























dress/shoes/bag- vintage
glasses- uo
cardigan- zara
parasol- SF Japantown