Cherry Blossoms, Washington DC

“People give flowers as a present because flowers contain true meaning of love. Anyone who tries to posses a flower will have to watch its beauty fading. But if you simply look at a flower in the field, you'll keep it forever. That is what the forest taught me. That you will never be mine, and that is why I will never lose you.”

- Paulo Coehlo's Brida

I said that mid-March to early April was the best time to see the famed cherry blossoms in our nation's capitol, Washington DC. Perhaps that would be for a typical spring.

Yet this sequestered spring's unusually cold temperatures held an unforgiving grip into April, until a few days ago.

Here's a few photos (click each thumbnail above for a full page slideshow view) from a few years ago on the Potomac River Tidal Basin.

Related links:

• Cherry Blossom Cam, a live web camera.
• As the cherry blossom trees live on a National Park - the National Mall and Memorial Parks - The National Parks Service's website has plenty of resources for visitors, including maps and a super cool mobile apps page that includes tours. It's all free, that's your taxpayer dollars at work! Meanwhile, don't forget to file income tax with the Internal Revenue Service by April 15.
• A PBS feature on the history of and the cultural significance of cherry blossoms in Japanese society, "For Hundreds of Years, Cherry Blossoms Are Matter of Life and Death."