Sakura Part I

As soon as the sun gives real Spring warmth and the chill in the late winter air subsides, the skies beckon and the trees sigh. There is a magical romance to impromptu mid-week picnics and close sakura bud inspection for it's estimated time of 'mankai' (full bloom). Everything needs to be done outdoors so as not to miss the ephemeral promise of its beauty. Drunk on anticipation, I draw and sew under the budding blossom. I eat under a Sakura each day the weather allows determined to be floored by it's lure. I observe silently, dogs dressed like their owners, organised refuse sites piled high with empty plastic o-bento boxes and wooden chopsticks, selfie sticks at every corner memories chockfull of moments, kawaii peace-signing girl troupes giving it their prettiest all, blue cloudless skies punctuated by tiny luminous petals and pink buds in waiting, 'shidare' (weeping) sakura and sakura that causing weeping. It's all as heart expanding as it gets.