Funny how a single tree can come to represent an entire season in one’s mind. And that must surely be as much a personal connection as it can be a cultural one—the Japanese, for example, uphold a traditional vernal embrace of the cherry blossom tree, with the fleeting pink flowers representing both the passage of time, and the aesthetic of the moment.
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At the risk of cultural appropriation I’ll second the Japanese—their tree of spring is my spring tree too.
But as I said, it’s as often as personal choice as it is a culture’s imperative. In my case, it’s just because this beauty graces my side yard.
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When we first moved here, nearly 16 years ago, I had no idea what kind of tree this was. Don’t think I even much noticed it. So try to imagine my surprise when, just a few months later, it exploded into life. For nearly every year since, that time of blossoming has been my official notice of the arrival of spring.
(“Nearly every year,” I said. Yes, there have been two miserable years thus far when a late frost or some other conditional vagary deprived us of Cherry Blossom Time. There were seasons those years that somewhat resembled spring, but they weren’t bona fide Springs in my book.)
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It’s happening now, which makes this, right now, my favorite time of year.
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And it’s fleeting—a thoroughly transitory phenomenon. Lasts a little over a week. The petals are already falling, and will very soon turn most of the yard into a carpet of soft pink tissue. Then those too will be gone.
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(Doubtlessly, it’s best this way. Would I appreciate this gift as much if it were a longer lasting one? Also, there’s some utility in the timing: the Google Streetview of our house shows the tree in bloom. It’s strangely comforting to know that although I have no idea what year the Google car drove by, I know which week.)
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It’s also good to know this arboreal appreciation is being passed on to another generation. This ↑ is the view from my daughter’s bedroom window. For that storied one week per year she has the best view in the house.
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Cherry Blossom Time is upon is. Spring is here. Life renews and all of us find our ways and cues for shaking off the fallow season, and for reemerging.
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One gnarly old cherry blossom tree, necklaced with a creaky wooden swing, is this fam’s tested and proven way for ringing in Spring.
What’s yours?
