The other fantasy of mine is connected to my love of all things Japanese, and that is to partake in hanami - the viewing of cherry blossoms. All the images I've seen over the years of spring in Japan have me wishing I could jump on the next plane there, and follow the sakura (cherry blossom) trail from south to north as they bloom.
Van Gogh's Almond Blossoms (source: Wikipedia) |
In a strange little hybrid twist, I even bought myself a print of Van Gogh's Almond Blossoms, after being captivated by it in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, way back in 1999. Wanting to save it until I had the spare cash to splash on getting it framed properly, I carried that damn print (along with another Van Gogh print) - rolled up in its special box for travellers - from home to home. London to Brighton, to Melbourne, then to Sydney, when I was finally feeling both settled and flush enough to give those prints the frames and wall space they deserved... only five years later. I'm not kidding when I say I procrastinate. This print followed us to the US, and has a special place on our bedroom wall.
I don't know when I'll get to Japan, so yesterday we did the next best thing and visited the University of Washington campus to see the cherry blossoms in their Quad. Of course, we didn't realise at the time, but arborists had declared that weekend to be the best time to see the cherry blossoms, in bloom at 100%. I think every second person in Seattle had the same idea as us - it was insanely busy.
It was also insanely beautiful.
Wow! Those photos are beautiful! I too carried posters from place to place around London, back to Oz, back to London, back to Oz. They mostly ended up totally dented and ratty looking. I am yet to convince Cam that their 'vintage' look is part of their charm.
ReplyDeleteMy posters would have looked pretty crappy too, but thankfully they were rolled up in a nice thick triangular shaped carton - made for much easier transportation, but were nearly left behind at Heathrow on our final way back to Australia - had to do a big dash back through the airport to recover them! Cam doesn't know what he's missing xx
Delete