Cherry Blossoms in a Flash

I have lived in the DC area for more than 25 years and I never visited the cherry blossoms at night. Wow! I highly recommend it. We attempted to attend the cherry blossom lantern tour by the national park service, but it was all sold out. So we made our own with the light from the camera flashbulb. Wow, did it turn out great! These great trees were a gift from the Japanese Government many decades ago. While in Japan I was able to catch a few blossoms that peeked out early while I was walking through the Imperial Palace Gardens in Tokyo. I remember them looking the same only fewer. What a treasure. I also like the way DC celebrates the Cherry Blossoms over 2 week period much like many festivals in Japan are celebrated over the course of a few weeks.

A bit of Japan in Washington

We are just at the tail end of Cherry Blossom season in DC. Dave and I went to the opening ceremony back in late March and wanted to share some of the wonderful photos from our blossom trek in the Nation's capital. We were greeted by some tiny Geisha performing for the crowd. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a Springtime celebration commemorating the March 27, 1912 gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Toyko. The trees were an effort to enhances the growing friendship between US and Japan.