Saying all of that, if you happen to be in Japan RIGHT NOW and would like to see some cherry blossoms up close and personal, the Japanese 2021 Cherry Blossom Forecast should be your guide; for the rest of us, these photos of the 2021 season thus far are nice, and here are some cherry blossom haiku, to set the scene... have a wonderful Easter everyone!
It's hard to believe that we have now officially been living under some form of COVID-19 restrictions for over a year - and what a year it's been! However, despite the difficulties (and not to underestimate the hardship endured by people), we have also seen the emergence of a thoughtfulness and resilience, that spark of humanity, which has caused us to reach out to each other and try and make things better, even in a little way (for example, check out this virtual world tour through other people's windows!) - I honestly feel that so much good is going to come from all of this, even though there's a lot of hurt and pain and damage that also needs to be addressed. I'm convinced that this pandemic has brought out the very best in people, and it has shown us what is really important to us. At the same time, it has exposed areas in individual lives and in society in general that we had always pretended not to notice or would prefer not to see, which has been traumatic in its own way. It has been a reckoning of sorts, uncomfortable and even unbearable for some, but perhaps this realization can be used to improve those aspects of our immediate and wider environment that we had previously tried to hide or ignore - this experience has been a real eye-opener for all of us and it's up to each individual not only to acknowledge the suffering, but also, to take the good from what we've had to endure. It's not an easy process, for sure, but it could be a very worthwhile one And now, we've entered Easter week and it's nearly April and the cherry blossoms are making an appearance and the clocks have gone forward (remember, 'spring forward, fall back') and it's bright again in the evenings, and oh!, how wonderful are the seasons?! I love Easter; as a Catholic, this period within the Church year represents the central tenet of my faith, and it's a time of renewal, hope and great joy. I always associate Easter with the colour yellow, which is undoubtedly the happiest, sunniest colour of them all... we could all do with more yellow in our lives at the moment. Of course it's hard with the restrictions and the uncertainty - it's been a demanding 12 months and we're all a tad frayed at the edges - but we have to hold fast and be proud of how far we've come. And! Cherry blossoms! I've been meaning to head out with my camera to take some photos the last few days but the weather has been kind of grim, so I'll have to be patient. In the meantime, I've cheated and included a photo above from a previous blog post itemizing all the lovely things I encounter around my house on a daily basis (this actually pre-dated the coronavirus outbreak and I guess everyone could have a similar list nowadays; these roses were taken from my parents' garden during a post-/pre-lockdown visit last year and they smelled so beautiful for a good week... I do love roses) - there's no cherry blossoms but plenty of yellow to cheer us all up.
Saying all of that, if you happen to be in Japan RIGHT NOW and would like to see some cherry blossoms up close and personal, the Japanese 2021 Cherry Blossom Forecast should be your guide; for the rest of us, these photos of the 2021 season thus far are nice, and here are some cherry blossom haiku, to set the scene... have a wonderful Easter everyone!
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About my blog
Really, it contains a little bit of everything, from a celebration of science and the English language to the joys of travel and the Shipping Forecast. The title ('Meanderings') is a fairly accurate description of its content: I write about different things as the mood takes me, but hopefully there's something in here for everyone... Categories
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