Cherry Blossoms & Marble
Cherry blossoms and marble...
...That is what I think of when I think of Washington DC in the spring. The bright clear sun, cherry blossoms at peak bloom, and the clean look of polished marble on the federal buildings.
I used to travel to the DC area regularly for work for more than twenty years and I vividly remember the spring taxi rides from Union Station. I'd watch the buildings roll by in dappled sunlight. I'd see the school buses emptying hundreds of kids onto the Mall for the annual spring field trips. I'd see cherry blossoms merging with daffodils merging with tulips and all kinds of color blurring together under a clear blue sky as the taxi crossed the bridge into Virginia.
For the last five years, we have also made a spring cherry blossom pilgrimage to DC while visiting our daughter. Forget about politics... Washington DC in the spring on a sunny afternoon is hard to beat. It just may be the nicest city to spend a spring afternoon!
This year, we timed it perfectly… a very warm spring weekend in DC at exactly peak bloom. We joined a hundred thousand of our closest friends and all tried to squeeze onto a narrow footpath around the tidal basin ringed by perfectly blooming pink and white cherry trees.
I made many unremarkable postcard images that day. But the one that stands out for me is this simple scene of cherry blossoms against the back of the National Gallery of Art. The pink of the blossoms is echoed in the pink of the granite and I love the contrast of the organic shape of the cherry tree branch against the rigid marble wall.
Happy Spring... finally!