Spring

We've really enjoyed spring here this time around. I don't know if it's that we're determined to soak in the natural beauty while we can, that we're outside so much more (no car, walking the kids to school, visiting various parks), or that it was a particularly good year for flowers this year. Whatever the reason, spring here was glorious!

It also felt like spring took its time arriving, regarding when the fever pitch started about cherry blossoms relative to when they actually came into full flower here in our town. This led to a few early cherry blossom picnics - it was still exciting to be outside, but the cherry blossoms weren't much in evidence. 

The photos below were taken at Ueno Park, an epic cherry blossom location, but we were about a week early. We still had fun - and it was still plenty crazy!

The thing about hanami (cherry blossom viewing parties) is that it isn't actually all that warm in April in Tokyo. Picnicking outside in the cold isn't really all that fun once you've taken in the beauty of the flowers, which is probably why liquor is a big part of most cherry blossom viewing events. Unfortunately, daytime drinking with kids: not recommended.

But, finally, we reached peak blossom. And it was amazing, truly worthy of all the art and praise that spring inspires. 

Those last two pictures above really aren't all that great - except that they show a neat side of our lives. On the left is the cherry tree that was blooming right outside the kids' bedroom window. Isn't that amazing? I've heard that on a clear day you can see Mount Fuji in this direction from higher floors in our apartment building. On the right is the street in front of our building. I love the contrast of palm trees and cherry blossoms.

The first few days of my mom's visit in Japan coincided with the last bit of cherry blossom season. She was very happy! (More on my mom's visit in a separate post.)

(My mom: "I must look like such a tourist." Me: "Taking pictures of cherry trees with your cellphone? That's, like, the most Japanese thing ever.")

The cherry blossom frenzy is totally about brevity. It's also really hard to capture the beauty of the blossoms in most photos because it's early spring and skies are still frequently cloudy; the blossoms are such a faint pink (or white) that they blend with the background unless the sky is perfectly blue. Tricky!

On that note, we don't actually let rainy days deter us. Here we are at the local farmers market:
 

And here's Natalie at another park on a cool day. She's eating what might be the most perfect non-chocolate croissant ever. It's filled with kabocha, a Japanese squash sort of akin to acorn squash. The squash is just the right kind of creamy to blend deliciously with the buttery croissant layers. And the toasted squash seeds on top take this croissant (baked in a muffin shape) right over the top. Seriously, these are life-changing. I will miss these. Greatly.

Now that it's getting warmer, we're popping to the park across the street from our house more frequently, including after school while we wait for Natalie's bus. I never imagined myself meeting a school bus, certainly not in Japan, but, well, there you go. Anyway, our nearby park is pretty nice and it's gotten really green in the last few weeks.

I also feel compelled to share a few other flower pics since it sort of seems like Japan is all-cherry-blossoms-all-the-time, but spring here is actually gorgeous for so many reasons.

We know we have this narrow window while the weather is nice - before it gets too rainy or humid - to really enjoy outdoor things. Certainly, when we arrive home in late July, there'll be no outdoor fun to be had (unless a pool is involved). So we're determined to grab the panda by the handles and take note of these brief, perfect weeks.


We're helped along in this quest by the fact that the kids are mostly off school this week owing to a constellation of national holidays (or what I call Spring Break Part II - again???). Let the fun begin!