桜、桜、花盛り。/ Cherry Blossoms, Cherry Blossoms, Flowers in Full Bloom.

桜、桜　　　　　　　　  
の山も里も                           
見渡す限り                        
霞か雲か                            
朝日に匂う                    
桜、桜                                 
花盛り。

Sakura, Sakura
no yama mo sato mo
miwatasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
asahi ni niou
Sakura, Sakura
hanazakari.

Sakura (cherry blossoms), Sakura
On the mountains, in the towns
Blooms as far as we can see
Like the mist, like the clouds
Fragrant in the morning sun
Sakura, Sakura
Flowers in full bloom.                              

The above is one of the few Japanese songs I have memorized (and am therefore actually able to type out using my laptop). It is a traditional song, indicative of the beloved cherry blossom season, which begins in mid-March in southern Japan and continues throughout most of the month of April, as the blooms slowly work their way north over the early spring weeks.

In Japan, the cherry blossom is viewed as a symbol of the beauty, frailty, and brevity of life. The delicate blossoms explode into bloom all at once, and last only a few short days before being blown to the ground by the spring breeze or falling all on their own. To the Japanese people, the arrival of the cherry blossom season also signifies the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring. The Japanese school year ends on March 31st and begins again on April 1st, so this is also a season of exams, stress, impending graduations, and the launching from one school year right into the next. Amidst all of this educational worry and work, the presence of the blossoms and an afternoon spent admiring them can be a welcome period of relaxation and relief.

Here in Sioux City, the Morningside College campus boasts several beautiful cherry trees of our own, though we'll probably have to wait several more weeks to be able to see them in bloom--southern Japan, after all, is quite a bit warmer than northwestern Iowa this time of year. Even so, as the first few photos of cherry blossoms tweeted out by winter-weary, spring-eager Japanese accounts scroll across my Twitter feed, and the weather here finally slowly starts to grow a bit more decent, I find myself growing excited and eager to see the cherry blossoms here once they've bloomed in a month or so. Even more, I find myself growing especially excited to see the cherry blossoms in Japan next spring, when I will be spending a semester studying abroad. In the meantime, though, it sounds like for now I'm going to have to deal with a bit more snow this weekend. Hopefully one of these days soon, things will start really warming up for good, but for now, at least I have photos of freshly-bloomed cherry blossoms (which happen to be my favorite flower) to look at and daydream about until spring finally showers her gentle graces upon us poor Northern Plainers as well.

This week's challenge is to learn a bit about a flower or plant you've had an interest in for awhile but haven't ever really looked into. You might be surprised by the significance a seemingly-innocuous plant or flower might hold for another one of the beautiful cultures that also calls our marvelous Earth home. Keep your eyes out for the first signs of spring, my winter-weary fellow Observers, and I'll see you again soon.