Waiting for Cherry Blossoms

Thwarted! Our excellent Sunday plan was to wake up early and greet the sunrise at the Tidal Basin, followed by a “walk in the clouds,” an early-bird stroll among DC’s famous Yoshino cherry trees, all abloom. We came, the Sun lazily obliged–but the cherry trees? After days of delay, they are still taking a rain check, their pink buds shut tight and droopy in the bracing morning wind.

We did take that stroll, as dress rehearsal, of sorts. I am determined to get my annual sakura fix early next week. Meanwhile, here is the dashing bone structure that supports the spectacle each year:

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, asleep: Now an organic part of the scenery, this “pile of marble” displaced a number–88? 328?–of the site’s beloved cherries, igniting the great Cherry Tree Rebellion

The Jefferson memorial, basking in the day’s very first rays: The earth underneath these steps remembers the cherry-tree rebels, the 150 women who blocked bulldozers (chains and shovel seizure were involved). As one story goes, a treacherous lunch from Assistant Secretary of the Interior (lots of coffee, no bathrooms) aided negotiations

The multifaceted Mr. Jefferson

George Mason, the “defender of liberty,” relaxes at his memorial

The Lincoln Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial at sunrise: I am still on the fence about the MLK memorial, but it does fit in seamlessly right there, by the water’s edge

The Japanese Pagoda: This nearly 2-ton 17-century pagoda was a gift from the Mayor of Yokohama. It arrived in 1957, disassembled, in five crates, and with no instructions–the Smithsonian Institution had fun solving the puzzle

I always visit Eleanor at the serene FDR memorial

The find: Steps away from Ambassador Roosevelt, we  discovered several blooming branches, besieged by photographers

The beaver menace: Beavers occasionally get into the Basin and attempt a dam, felling cherry trees in the process

The 360-year-old Japanese Stone Lantern, another gift from Japan, is ceremonially lit each year to mark the National Cherry Blossom Festival

First cherry tree planting: Not far from the Japanese Stone Lantern is this plaque that marks the spot where the first of the 1912 cherries sent from  Japan were planted around the Basin. First lady Helen Herron Taft planted the first tree, and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador to the US, planted the second.

We got to enjoy the Tidal Basin in relative solitude because streams of runners blocked many of the roads around it: This was the day of the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. Captive audience at first, we soon joined the ranks of the race’s appreciative spectators.

Runners alert!

The front runners: Allan Kiprono (Kenya, #1) ended up second in this race, and Stephen Sambu (Kenya, #37) was fourth. As these men raced on, a wave of ovations rose from the spectators and the rest of the runners (crowding a parallel street, all still at a much earlier part of the track). These were celebrities.

Through the throng of runners, I paid my respects to one of my favorite overlooked DC memorials: The District of Columbia War Memorial, honoring the 499 Washingtonians lost in the Great War (it is the only DC-specific memorial on the Mall). Once the National Mall’s major tourist attraction, it is  a quiet place today. Come here when azaleas bloom, and bring a good book.

More about cherry blossoms: 

• The Cherry Blossoms in DC
• Farewell, Cherry Blossoms

Wisteria season (late April):

• Dumbarton Oaks: That “Chambered Nautilus of Gardens”

Waterlilies and lotus blooms (June/July):

• Water Lilies in Washington: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
• Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens: The Lotus Season

Spring posts:

• Family Matters at Dyke Marsh
• Spring on The High Line