I see these trees every morning on the drive to school. They’re in the distance, on the downtown side of the Willamette River, and I catch them for a few seconds as I drive 50 miles an hour on the freeway. I’m often running late and a little bit frazzled and sometimes (more often than I’d like to admit) I’m yelling at the kids to stop yelling at each other in the backseat of the minivan. But I always take a moment to look across the river and see if the trees are still in bloom.

When I lived in Japan (many, many years ago) I was surprised to discover that Cherry Blossoms only bloom for two, maybe three, weeks. I suspect that why I love them so much. They appear only fleetingly as a promise of Summer to give those of us in the NW a little hop that the rain will eventually stop and we’ll remember why we live here.

This morning, I could see flecks of green in the trees across the river. If it rains this weekend then I suspect the blossoms will be gone by Monday. Still, despite the anticipated rain and cold, I know that Summer is on the way.