Celebrate Spring!

Besides seeing the film Not Today when my boyfriend and I visited Washington, DC, this past weekend, we also got the opportunity to check an item off my bucket list.  The opening weekend of the movie just so happened to be the last weekend of this year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival!  So, when we left the dark theater, we stepped into the sunshine, hopped on the Metro, and headed into DC proper.  When we emerged from the Metro station, we could see the Capitol building.  We joined the throngs of people along the sidewalks and headed for the Tidal Basin.

metro ticket

the Capitol building

I had a lot of fun during our 10-minute walk observing all the different nationalities and cultures of those around us.  Of course, since I lived in India for a few years, I especially took note of the many people of South Asian descent and enjoyed admiring the ladies’ saris and salwar kameez suits.

While fall is definitely my favorite season, I do enjoy spring quite a lot, as well.  There’s something about the pleasantly cool mornings and warm, sunshine-y days that I find very refreshing.  The warmth of the sun on my skin after weeks and months of cold winter, the sudden colorfulness and pleasant aromas of nature, the blue skies and birdsong–these are all reasons springtime makes me smile.  I love being reminded every year of God’s creation and of the way he is constantly making all things new.  While I’m not an environmental guru or a very outdoors-y person (i.e., outdoor sports hold almost no appeal for me), I do enjoy sitting in nature and sort of soaking it up.  I like to see it and hear it and smell it and just BE in it.  So, for several years, I have wanted to visit Washington, DC, during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, not necessarily to DO any of the festival activities (parades, performances, etc.), but just to see the beauty of the blooming trees for myself.  And while the heat felt more like summer than spring and the crowds were bigger and more difficult to maneuver than we anticipated, being able to stand in front of those cherry trees and see the others all around the Tidal Basin was definitely worth the little inconveniences.  What a beautiful way to welcome the new season!

Enough commentary….I’ll let the pictures do the talking…..

My accomplice: I put him in charge of navigation because I’m so hopelessly directionally challenged!

Look at that blue sky!

So excited to be checking an item off my bucket list!

Beautiful!

Although most of the buds had already bloomed, a few were just beginning to open.

Gorgeous!

Yay, cherry blossoms!

Lovely

While we were in the area, we also took a peek at the Jefferson Memorial.

A big “Thank You!” to this guy, who made my dream happen!

Hello, Spring!