Cherry Jubliee

 Since spring came so early this year (breaking all temperature records day after day), the famous cherry blossoms of DC peaked a full two weeks early.

 To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the planting of the trees and to celebrate two of the girlfriends' birthdays, five of us biked down to view the blossoms.

 They did not disappoint. I've never seen them fuller or more dazzling, with each and every flower in the cluster fluffed out to it's full glory.

It was a perfect place to meditate, soaking in the sun, gazing at the water of the Potomac River and basking in the pinkness of the trees.

Someone had shown their affection for the blooms and created a heart out of the pale petals
on the lawn.

 Some of the old timers are a century old, with burls and gnarly bark.

 They stand sentry over the new whipper snappers that are planted to take the place of the ones that have died.

 We parked our bikes at the MLK Memorial and walked from there. I hadn't seen this memorial yet and it is quite powerful. I thought that he looked a bit stern for as compassionate a man as he was.

 We meandered through the extensive FDR Memorial with its many waterfalls, rock outcroppings and copper plaques.

 The Tidal Basin is surrounded by the cherry trees, with many of the famous monuments gracefully showing themselves in the background. Washington, DC really is a beautiful city and I feel lucky to live close enough to visit.

 We parked at the Roosevelt Island lot, biking from there. We had all brought food and wine for a picnic. We walked across the foot bridge to the island, on a short path through the woods to the center where there's a huge promenade with stone benches, monuments, all very civilized for just being in the woods. I had never been to the island in all the years I've lived here so it was a treat to finally see it.

We filled our glasses with wine, toasted the birthday girls, nibbled on brie, hummus, sandwiches and talked and talked. Looks like Teddy is raising his hand to add something to our conversation.

With full tummies and a satisfied smile on our faces, in the setting sun of another beautiful spring day, we crossed the foot bridge once again, looking up river to Key Bridge near Georgetown.
Thank you, cherry blossoms, for bringing us down to the city and to girlfriends for making it all worthwhile.