Blossoms by Night

I have bad luck trying to visit the Cherry Blossoms. It seems like every year, I'm just a little bit off and I always wind up disappointed. One year, I was on vacation during peak weak. Another year, I helped a friend schedule a visit with her whole family, only for them all to bloom and and fall off extremely early before they arrived. Even this year, my grandparents visited last weekend, scheduled to be the "peak," only to find that most of the blooms had not yet arrived. But I was bound and determined that this year, I'd go see them in all their glory! 

Jason and I decided to go Friday after work, but a batch of loud morning thunderstorms that day had taken their toll. The ground was covered with petals like snow, blown off by the wind and the rain, and green leaves dominated most of the trees. As we approached the tidal basin, I also realized our timing was off. At close to 8 pm, it was dusk more than sunset, so already it was hard to see the expanses of pink and white in the distance that make the experience so breath-taking. 

"Ugh," I sighed. "We missed it. And it's dark. This is very underwhelming." 

"Just keep an open mind," Jason replied. "We'll just go for a walk, it will be nice up close." 

So we carried on, and decided to loop the trail and just enjoy an evening stroll since we were there already. But we hadn't gone far when I noticed a bobbling white paper lantern, and a small group gathered around the distinctive shape of a park ranger hat. My grandpa has always taught me to stop and listen to these kinds of things, since volunteers and tour guides will always know more and be able to tell you the inside story, so I tugged on Jason's sleeve to stop and listen, if just for a few minutes. 

Well, before I knew it, the park ranger, Doreen, had passed off her lantern to me so she could hold up photos as she told the incredible history behind the Cherry Blossoms in DC. I was entranced, right along with the rest of the tourists. Doreen was someone with passion and warmth, she loved her job and was such a good storyteller.

Doreen is in the background!

A few minutes quickly became more than an hour as we followed Doreen around the basin path, stopping every so often to learn about the people, history and science that lead to the amazing festival we have today. For example, I didn't know that the trees we see today were actually a second batch sent from Japan-- the first batch arrived to Washington infested with insects and disease and had to be burned. And I'd never heard about the society ladies that chained themselves to the cherry trees in protest over the construction of the Jefferson memorial (Sadly, their noble efforts didn't amount to much-- the memorial stands, as FDR wasn't interested in their environmental "flim-flam.") We also learned about the conflict the park rangers face each year as trees' natural predators, beavers, try to make a home by chewing down these diplomatic gifts! 

I love cheesy things like this tour, and couldn't have been more pleased that we had run into this group. I left the tidal basin skipping and smiling, and Jason teased me with a healthy dose of "I told you so." Running into that tour was a complete surprise for both of us, but proves that you never know what amazing things can come out of a situation if you refuse to write it off as a failure. Just take a walk and see what you find!

You can read the official history here: http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-history.htm

Peace and Love.