This is not a cherry blossom- I think its apple...
Sakura Matsuri... Celebrating the Cherry Blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens is one of my favorite things to do in Spring. But, as with most New Yorkers of the single variety- I like to start early on a Sunday.. say 2 pm. We tell folks that we like to relax with a cup of coffee and the Sunday NY Times in some quaint Village bistro and then head out midday- furthering the "city that never sleeps" image. Truth be told I personally like to spend the earlier part of Sunday in flannel polar bear pjs with my face smushed in a pillow. Hey- I make this look cool. (OK, I tell myself that as I examine the drool patterns on the pillow for signs of a Jackson Pollack influence. So far, no dice.)
HOWEVER, if you invite people from outside NYC who maybe don't have such a big paper to get through on Sunday- or polar bear pajamas- or delusions of abstract expressionism, You may find yourself on the 2 train headed to Eastern Parkway with two post adolescent kids in full anime costume at 9 blankety-blank a.m. trying to figure out why ANYONE wants to see this much Sunday so early in the day.
(look closely in this photo and you will see Chris, Rich and Fred- looking like he wished HE'D brought a costume- in the background)I met Fred and Chris and Rich just inside the gates of the garden. They were busy being frightfully cheery about being in line. Yep- being in line. I have found that people from Connecticut seem to like lines in NYC... I guess they enjoy having the line experience without the burden of 8 items or less. I ran (read here: limped fast) to greet them. As I approached them I realized they had never seen me in my home town, on my turf- I was owning it- I was strutting- I tripped on my shoelace. Like I said- it was kind of early.
We took a guided tour around the Japanese Hill Garden. Gorgeous and built in 1915- I should look that great at 92. As I listened to the tour guide, a Brooklyn native- NO doubt here. I wondered- do I sound like this? Can it be fixed? Answer- yup I do sound like that. Can it be fixed? I would need a Brooklyn-ectomy and I think in the process I might lose some stuff I NEED- like my sweet disposition which is especially evident early in the morning.
No joke about the early thing. Even the ducks were asleep!
And even though the sun was not quite shining- Fred and Chris were. And I noticed that like pets, plants can resemble people too. Wherever I saw Chris and Fred I saw other pretty pairs as well.
And Rich seemed as tall as the trees. and seemed to be growing new green leaves in his new city-tude.
And I thought of other friends I had viewed the blossoms with each year- and the ones who could not come this day...
needing to tend to the gardens of their lives. (Look, My Dove... these are for you)
We ate- we laughed- we got lost and found, we got in trouble (ok, *I* got in trouble... I did not know leaning JUST a TEENSY bit to get a photo was sooooooo upsetting to the local plant police- I stepped on the ornamental pebble border- they nearly shot me).
Someone told me when I mentioned my weekend plans that the weather had basically guaranteed there would be no cherry blossoms. It was cold-ish but we hugged the trees (see Fred below hugging one)
And they hugged us right back. Happy Spring.
:) X
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