Cherry Blossoms

It's that time of year again. Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. The Cherry Blossoms were a gift from the Japanese in 1912 to Washington, to cement relations between Tokyo and Washington. It eventually turned full circle when the Japanese took some cuttings from these trees to regenerate the cherry trees back to Tokyo.

The kids and I headed into DC on the Metro (between the cherry blossoms, the National Marathon and the Nationals Opening weekend traffic was a nightmare), and emerged into the Mall which is the crowdest I've ever seen it.


Did I mention that the Smithsonian Kite Festival is also on today? As you can see, there were kites everywhere.

And so on to the Cherry Blossoms. They are primarily located around the Tidal Basin which has the Jefferson Memorial on one side. They are in full bloom today, as are the crowds.

Later today there will be a ceremonial lighting of this pagado by some women of Japanese descent.

Here's the first of the Cherry Trees that were donated and planted back in 1912.

And I did some experimenting with the depth of field settings on my camera.