On the Way --- Days 9/336 & 337

 Walk: 1. de Young Museum (Calder-Picasso with friends/actual people interaction) 2. Presidio                             Pickleball, Hood

Distance; 1. 7.2 miles  2. 4.5 miles, a few games of pickle

Pretty soon this little girl or guy just down the block from Ciwt's home will be one of these (but in San Francisco of course):

And pretty soon the cherry trees around D.C.'s Tidal Basin will be in full bloom.  Three days ago the National Park Service reported the Yoshino cherry trees had entered phase four (out of six) of their blooming cyle.  So maybe even today.  You can't count on that, but you can count on the fact that there is enormous excitement around the NPS team.

And all over D.C. the annual Cherry Blossom Festival will soon begin.  The first Festival was in 1913 to commemorate the one year anniversary of Japan's gift of more than 3,000 trees to the United States.  Now, to honor the offering of good will and the renewal of spring the Festival continues when the trees bloom each spring.

Similar to D.C. Japan has a yearly flower-viewing celebration, hanami, a tradition that is over a thousand years old.  There cherry blossoms are especially meaningful.  Their short, but brilliant blooming season symbolizes the fragility and the beauty of life.  Additionally, cherry blossoms have long held an association with Japanese nationalism. A single fallen blossom symbolizes the brave sacrificial act of a fallen samurai warrior.

In either country this short time of feasts, games, celebrations, commemorations and comings together is breathtakingly gorgeous.

Sakura Tunnel, Tokyo, Japan