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Where I (Jaelithe, T Ching Managing Editor) live in the northern hemisphere, the cherry blossoms have just majestically burst into flower. The city where I attended community college had 100 shirofugen flowering cherry trees gifted by their sister city of Joyo, Japan. They were planted on campus; so there were long, ambling pathways lined with them. During cherry blossom season, it was like the most wonderful and beautiful snowfall I had ever seen – seeming even fantastical in appearance as delicate pink petals fluttered everywhere. I have many very fond memories along those tree-lined paths, and have been utterly captivated by them ever since.
Thus, please enjoy this collection of articles from our archives featuring cherry blossoms: From a lovely comparison between tea people and cherry blossoms, to a dessert recipe to elicit memories of cherry blossom tea, and finally a discussion on cherry blossom appreciation.
Hello, Chajin!
By Guy Munsch
…In the Washington, DC area, the cherry blossom trees bloom in late March and early April, putting a smile on the chajin. Blue skies appear more frequently and light winds are refreshing and fragrant with spring flowers and grasses. The heavier teas of winter – malty, roasted, and smoky – seem weary from carrying the burden of winter and are ready to give way to lighter more enchanting teas…(read more)
Life is a Bowl of Cherries … and Sencha
By Robert Wemischner
When I think of the following words – fragrance, evanescence, and seasonality – I think of the many special teas sold fresh, capturing their season, but I also think of fresh cherries whose season seems so short that if you blink you miss it. So in celebration of cherries’ fleeting moment on the produce stage, I have created a cherry-based dessert to honor the highly seasonal Japanese cherry blossom tea…(read more)
Cherry Blossoms, Tea, and “Mono No Aware”
By Guy Munsch
Few things can distract residents of the Washington, DC area and attract throngs of tourists like the arrival of the cherry blossoms. …the annual blooming of thousands of trees provides a billowing canopy of white and pink flowers…(read more)
Photo “CIMG0263” is copyright under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License to the photographer Jeremy Eades and is being posted unaltered (source)
