Cherry Blossom Time - Wiser Now Wednesday

The Salient Quote
“Donated by Japan, cherry blossoms grace the paths where a wall once stood in Berlin. Walls divide. Flowers unite.” ― Khang Kijarro Nguyen
(True, read more: https://www.tripsavvy.com/cherry-blossoms-in-germany-4021762)

The Basic Facts
Washington, D.C. has been celebrating the gift of cherry blossom trees from Japan for more than 100 years, but getting them here was complicated. Here is a vastly abbreviated history according to

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/history-of-the-cherry-trees.htm.

When world-traveler and diplomat Mrs. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore returned to Washington from her first visit to Japan in 1885, she proposed to the proper authorities that Japanese cherry trees be planted one day along the reclaimed Potomac waterfront. Her request fell on deaf ears for more than a quarter of a century, but she persisted.
In early 1909, Mrs. Scidmore wrote to then First Lady Helen Herron Taft, with a plan to purchase the cherry trees and then donate them to the city. A year later, 2000 cherry trees arrived in Washington, D.C., but unfortunately, it was soon discovered that the trees were diseased and infested with insects and nematodes. They were destroyed by burning.
By March 27, 1912 (now known as Cherry Tree Day) things were sorted out again, and Mrs. Taft and the wife of the Japanese ambassador ceremoniously planted the first two of 3020 new Japanese cherry trees.
Three years later, as a gesture of gratitude, President Taft sent flowering dogwood bushes to Japan, and that began a series of reciprocal assistance and gestures of goodwill between our two countries, interrupted by World War II, but continued since then for nearly 75 years now.
Since the 1930s the official D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers every year. Have you ever been to one of them?

The Quirky Facts

What you may not know:
Although the Washington, D.C. festival is the best known in the U.S. there are cherry blossom festivals in at least 15 U.S. states, throughout Canada, and also in England, Australia, South Africa, and most famously of all, Japan, where they are called Sakura and reign as the national flower. The custom of picnicking in daylight while viewing the flowering trees is known as hanami. Doing so at night when the trees are decorated with paper lanterns is called yozakura.

However, neither D.C. nor Japan hold the title of "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World." Rather, it’s Macon, Georgia, which is home to more than 300,000 Yoshino cherry blossom trees.

You’ve got to be quick. There are about 200 varieties of cherry blossoms, but each tree blossoms with the pink or white flowers for only about a week.

And they smell, good, too. The top perfume in the U.S. is Bath and Body Works' Japanese Cherry Blossom.

Above info from:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g3393/cherry-blossoms-facts/

The Quirky Observation
While we hope you enjoy this week’s pictures of flowering cherry trees, pictures touch only the mind. To BE at a cherry blossom festival is visceral, like walking in clouds. Get there if you can.

The Questions
This week’s quiz is about being moved by fleeting beauty. Whether at a cherry blossom festival or somewhere else, when have you been deeply touched by something beautiful? And exactly what is happening when you see life as just a bowl of cherries?

The Quiz
The Japanese language. like its cherry-blossom-rich landscape, is obsessed with aesthetics. Below are just six Japanese words related to beauty that cannot be translated with just one English word. Can you match the word to the definition? You can probably only guess, but learning another language is good for your brain.

Aware (pronounced as 3 syllables)
Komorebi
Shibui
Shinrin-yoku
Wabi-sabi
Yugen

a. the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, modest
b. beauty that is revealed with age
c. forest bathing, used to express the experience of immersing yourself in the beauty of nature, fully experiencing forested surroundings with all of your senses
d. the mystery and subtlety that lie beneath the surface of things; often used to describe emotionally moving works of art
e. a recognition and appreciation of the passing, transient beauty of the world
f. sunlight leaking through trees

The Shameless Request

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The Resources