The picture above was taken at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (but not by me). In my neighborhood the blossoms are at their peak now – for just a couple of short weeks each year – but it has been so hopeful just watching the buds gradually emerge and flower over the past few weeks while I’ve been walking around the park. For intrepid cherry-spotters the Gardens website provides a blow-by-blow photographic snapshot of the blooming and decline of the blossoms, arranged by type.
The collective sigh of relief in the city is almost audible as we shrug off our winter clothes and shed layers of coats, scarves, gloves and hats for a wardrobe of fewer and lighter-weight items. I have never valued the season of spring as much as I do now for the experience of a serious northern hemisphere winter to precede it.
