This afternoon...
the sakura have enticed us to attend a celebration of living. We are strangers, not acknowledging one another at all on this still slightly nippy spring afternoon, but today we are gathered under a common canopy of pale pink blossoms against a clear blue sky.
A baby boy reaches for a pretty handful of petals as his daddy tosses him in the air and mommy tries to capture this first hanami on film. Young sisters take turns giggling and gyrating with a hula hoop, happy that spring has freed the hoop from its hook on the garage wall. Grandma plays tag with her grandson as the real contest seems to be for who can laugh the hardest while in pursuit.
A circle of high school boys spends this spring break afternoon in a marathon game of charades, the sakura snow making each scene surreal. A young couple pauses to watch a round, exchanges an adoring glance and strolls on hand in hand.
Strollers with babies, strollers with puppies, wheelchairs pushed by badge-wearing nurses who have brought the elderly and infirm to the celebration of living.
Balls, frisbees, bicycles, skateboards, and badminton birdies aid in our afternoon fun. Cameras capture petals windsurfing in the breeze. Birds add their cheerful announcements to the yipping of dogs, the sleepy cry of a baby, and the increasing boisterousness of the beer drinking office workers.
A young teen finds a fallen cluster of blossoms to adorn her hair while a kaleidoscope of bubbles is birthed by a nearby toddler's breath.
A graceful but aged woman dances to a silent soundtrack, transfigured by the falling petals into the maiden of sakura seasons long past. She is alone, but for an instant I see her companions, gone but in her remembered steps.
We are strangers, beckoned to gather in this pink fantasy park for this one day celebration of life. Strangers, but today we share this place, this breeze, this subtle symphony of spring.
