When a cherry tree starts to give up its petals, it does so in great bursts and flurries. A puff of wind will come along, and every darn petal will spring into the air in a veritable supernova of off-white pink that becomes a localized blizzard as it swirls and dissipates in all directions. Gravity eventually wins, and the ground becomes a thick bed of blossoms sometimes several inches thick.

It's beautiful and mesmerizing, but the most amazing thing about it is that after every petal has been lost to that breeze, the tree remains as heavily laden [...]

Anthony is now a "big boy", having started preschool today.

Yesterday was the entrance ceremony, which although short, was a lot to ask of a three year old. Luckily, Mommy's shoulder was available.

Yesterday, Fumie and I went to an event at the Heian Shrine where they had live viola/guitar music while you could stroll around looking at their cherry blossoms, all lit up by hundreds of flood lights. I didn't have my camera with me, but most of the tens of thousands of others who were there did. It was very crowded, unfortunately, just this side of oppressively so. (At about $15 per person, it wouldn't surprise me if they grossed at least half a million dollars just this weekend alone.)

It was beautiful. I'd been inside the shrine's huge [...]

It's a lackluster cherry-blossom season this year in that for whatever reason, the trees are not blossoming all at once but each at their own pace. Looking out the living-room window, for example, I see one tree that has been in full bloom for almost a week and the one right next to it just barely starting.

Yet, similar to the popular bumper-sticker adage "a bad day at golf is better than a good day at work", it's still a pretty darn lovely week. This morning I needed something from the convenience store, and when I stepped out [...]