Now that (climatological) Spring has sprung, they’re finally finishing up the reconstruction work on the DC Tidal Basin seawall, which was rebuilt to withstand the high tides better that the 100+ year-old wall. The old wall was constantly being eroded from beneath, because they didn’t know how much the tides ebbing and flowing would affect the rock and soil underneath, This caused it to subside, leaving the cherry trees along the wall exposed to brackish salty water as it flooded higher and higher during each high tide.
Under construction
They had to completely dig out the old wall and support, as well as remove the old cherry trees, which couldn’t really be saved due to age and damage. They finished construction on the wall earlier this year, and finished laying new sod along the new walkways just before the snow fell.
Fresh sod, needs to be watered when first laid down.
Now that the snow has finally completely melted, they’re planting new cherry trees along the seawall. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the US, the government of Japan donated 250 replacement cherry trees, which more than replace the ones we lost. The original trees were a gift from Japan, and there are several different species that will bloom at different times during the spring, and have different types of blossoms. Some of the trees already have blossoms, although I’m not sure what species of tree they are.
Ready for plantingEarly bloomersReady to go!Next, the flags locate
Only a few more weeks, there are already a few tiny buds on the old trees, I’ll be checking back every few days till then!
Well, after walking and walking and walking, I made it to the end of the parade route, where I was able to finally cross Constitution Avenue to the side where the matsuri was taking place. Then it was another 4 block or so walk to get to the nearest entrance to the matsuri, where I stopped to rest for a few minutes. I decided to pace myself after looking in on the huge crowds of people milling about (or trying to!) inside the matsuri fence, because there would be no sitting inside! I managed to spend about 4 hours there, got to see some interesting booths, inflicted my Japanese on some poor folks, and basically had fun. I saw a very high-energy J-Pop band called “M’sh”, and watched some friends perform in a cosplay “fashion show”. After that was over I decided it was time to start the long walk back to my car in the Potomac Park, so I headed back to the Tidal Basin, taking a few more photos along the way. I did stop at the Jefferson Memorial to buy a soft drink and take another short rest, but since I was so close to the car I figured it would be better to keep going. Finally I got to my car at about 5 PM, after starting at 8:30, drove home, unloaded my SD card, and promptly went to sleep!
So, one week later I managed to upload some more photos here! As always, click to see the full-size photo!
Enjoy!
[one_third]There were a few people at the matsuri…[/one_third]
[one_third]… just a few…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]… thousand…[/one_third_last]
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[one_third]And you thought DC *traffic* gridlock was bad…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]Dancers performing a traditional Hokkaido fisherman’s dance[/one_third_last]
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[one_third_last]DC Japan Model Railroad Club[/one_third_last]
[one_third]Some cosplay friends at the NHKWorld booth[/one_third]
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[one_third]A couple of Cherry Blossom Queen candidates[/one_third]
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[one_third]I have a bag, it’s a pink bag, others may have other bags, but this one is mine. Any questions?[/one_third]
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[one_third]M’sh![/one_third]
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[one_third]Rock Guitarist Face #1[/one_third]
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[one_third]ValNika vlogs![/one_third]
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[one_third]Chillin’ at the Tidal Basin…[/one_third]
[one_third_last]It was… a little crowded…[/one_third_last]
So, the last of the cherry blossoms are dropping their petals, and the primary colors are turning from pink and white to green, after a seemingly endless Winter. Here are photos I took during my walk from the Tidal Basin to the DC Sakura Matsuri (street festival) on Saturday.
I’ll have photos from the matsuri itself in a later post.
Here we go, a batch from Tuesday evening (the only time I can get down there is around 5:30. Dang job!). I got some pretty neat pictures of the blossoms, and especially pictures of people enjoying them! I also got some eerie effects by photographing cherry trees at night, lit by streetlights!
So, here are some more, and even more to come later! Enjoy!
Here is another batch of photos taken in Washington DC near the Tidal Basin. The cherry trees aren’t quite in full bloom, which is surprising given how many flowers there are, but there were still quite a few unopened buds. As you can probably tell, the sun was starting to come out of the low clouds, and so some of the photos are much better lit, with deeper shadows and brighter colors. I may have one more page to put up, just in case you all are getting just about “cherry blossomed out”!
Here’s the first batch of cherry blossom photos that I took over the weekend, these were taken around noon on Sunday. It was a cloudy day to start, so some of the pictures may be a bit dark. You can see a larger image if you click on the picture after clicking a thumbnail, or if you want to see a really big picture, you can right-click on the image. I’ll be posting more, later on.
