In Washington, DC, the cherry blossoms are in bloom. This is a rite of Spring that has come, perhaps, a little early this year but the blossoms are as beautiful as ever.
I spent the afternoon on the Tidal Basin today. As usual, when I have a camera, I was alone with an iPod. I don't remember what was playing, though. So, I created two playlists on YouTube.
So, it is "Choose Your Adventure" time. Choose The Red Pill OR choose The Blue Pill
There is no extra charge for the music. I hope that you enjoy it. For those of you who don't want to play in my jukebox, that's fine with me. Share some videos of your own in the comments.
Without further ado, I ask you to jump the Orange Squigglies of Spring ...
from Wikipedia,
In Japan, cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life, an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence, and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware.
The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality;
On March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first two cherry trees along the Tidal Basin.
In less than nine days, these trees will have been in the same location for exactly 100 years. To imagine it boggles my mind.
These trees have seen generations of visitors, two World Wars, endless marches, booms, busts, and half-cessions.
I view this blooming season as more than just a rite of Spring. i view it as a monument of its own, a testament to our power to survive. The Social Contract has not been severed yet and the ties that bind us together as US citizens.
Many lives have come before us, each doing their part to make this a better nation. Since these trees have been planted, we have seen progress in the march towards a more perfect Union.
Think of these trees as an ephemeral monument to those lives. Allow yourself to reflect on their predicaments and challenges and on the actions that they took to make ours a more just society.
I apologize for the fuzziness of this photo but I think that it is the most beautiful that I took today. The white marble is the MLK Memorial. The cloud-like cherry blossoms that surround it now buttress this memorial like the millions who fought to advance the wheel of change.
And change is a wheel, in the sense that it takes force to advance it. It takes the collective effort of a nation to march forward. As someone once said, each generation must do what it can to advance the course of Liberty and Justice.