Because the famous cherry blossoms are at their peak, we planned to shoot downtown as soon as school was out this afternoon. The day was overcast with the possibility of light showers, so we hoped the crowds might be lighter than usual. The traffic was not lighter than expected, however; even though it was not yet 3:30, the bridge was extremely congested, and as we inched along, I spotted the entire eastern seaboard of license plates.
We lucked out when we got down there, though, and found parking right away, and entered the stream of fellow blossom watchers. Although there were many, many people circling the Tidal Basin, we could still walk, mostly, and the scene was postcard perfect: the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and beautiful cherry trees in full bloom lining a Tidal Basin dotted with blue paddle boats.
As we were jostled about, I turned to Heidi and shrugged. "I guess it's good to come down here during the cherry blossoms every year, or so, to decide if it's worth the hassle," I said as I sidestepped to avoid photo bombing a family portrait.
She nodded. "What's the verdict?"
"Undecided," I sighed, stopping short to avoid running into a couple making out on the bridge.
About halfway around, we looked into the oncoming stream and spotted a couple of familiar faces. One of the teachers from school and her husband had the same idea as we did, and we stopped to chat with them for a few minutes. "Don't you just love this?" our friend asked us. "All these people from all over the world speaking all these languages and we're all here for the same thing-- to enjoy these beautiful blossoms for the short time they last."
"Wow!" Heidi said. "You are so positive!" Then she laughed and added, "Things must look better coming from that direction!"
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