A Week Early

3/16/15 DeAtramentis Document Brown ink, watercolor, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

Last year I waited until March 24 to sketch the cherry trees that line both sides of a street in the Sunset Hill neighborhood, making the block look like a pink fairyland. I remember the trees being very close to peak that day. I might have done better to wait another week, but since rain and overcast skies are predicted for the foreseeable future (in my world, that’s weather.com’s five-day forecast), and another high wind like last Saturday’s might take all the petals down overnight, I decided that I’d take my chances on this afternoon, especially since the sun was out.

Today, many trees still had buds nestled within the huge clusters of blossoms, but that didn’t take away from the amazing show these trees put on for such a short time each year. As a Japanese American, I’m generally not very Japanese, but seeing cherry blossoms does evoke the bittersweetness of their brevity – and that does make me feel Japanese.