TIME FOR A CHAT

It's Cherry Blossom season...and time to get back to the blogging... I have missed you all and decided that our chat sessions were way overdue. SO close your eyes and think of the most magical place you could visit. Where did you go ?

Japan, imagine that!!!! I'm here too, enjoying the beauty of the Sakura trees  in full splendour. Every year the Japanese track the ' sakura zensen" cherry blossom front  as it moves northward. The blossoming begins in Okinawa, in January and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or beginning of April. A few week later  Hokkaido experiences the  transience of blossoms,"mono no aware", the extreme beauty and quick death of the Japanese cherry blossoms which  has often been associated with mortality  .

The Japanese eagerly await  the forecasts and gather in large numbers at parks, shrines and temples with family and friends to hold flower viewing parties.  It is a sight to behold.. definately  the stuff that dreams are made of.

" Hanami" festivals  celebrate the beauty of the cherry blossom and for many it's a chance to have a relaxing picnic under the shade and beauty of the cherry tree...  I love this reverent celebration of nature, where households, poets, artists, singers and all people gather 'en masse ' to  breath in , an enduring metaphor for  the ephemeral nature of life.

The Sakura is an omen of good fortune , an emblem of love  and represents the regalia of Spring. I'm keeping my eyes closed so that all the cherry blossoms can flutter and  flurry, on and around me for one more day.  It's  a glorious experience....That's the "ZaaArt" of  enjoying nature here in Japan.