BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin (2006)

DC -- Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin (2006):

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Description of Pictures: I visited the blossoms twice this year.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CHERRY_060327_065.JPG: Kutz Bridge. It's historic but it's also very cramped for pedestrians.
2. CHERRY_060327_068.JPG: Japanese Stone Lantern: The Gift of Light: Presented to the city of Washington on March 30, 1954, this stone lantern symbolizes the enduring cultural partnership that re-emerged between Japan and the United States after World War II. The lantern is one of two memorializing Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, or military lord, of the Tokugawa Dynasty, under his posthumous name Daiyuinden. Carved about 1651, it stood for over 300 years on the grounds of the Toeian Kan'eiji Temple which contained the remains of the Tokugawa Shoguns. The temple was located in the ancient city of Edo, present-day Tokyo, in Ueno Park, a place famous for its cherry blossoms. Its twin stands there to this day. The stone lantern is part of a gift giving cycle that began in 1912 with Japan's donation of cherry trees. The lantern commemorates the 100th anniversary of Commodore Matthew Perry's historic mission to Japan and stands as a gesture of everlasting peace and friendship. It also represents the concept of healing wounds and moving toward universal understanding. A Commemoration: Matthew Calbraith Perry, Commodore of the U.S. Navy, opened the doors of trade with Japan, ending the country's 200 year policy of isolationism. Perry made two treks, first in 1852 and again in 1854, in an effort to secure safe entry of American vessels to Japanese ports of trade, obtain supplies for the commercial whaling fleet, and ensure a safe return of shipwrecked sailors. In March 1854, improved relations with Japan became reality when representatives of Japan and the United States signed the Treaty of Kanagawa. Lighting the Way: The National Park Service and the National Conference of State Societies (NCSS) have conducted the Lantern Ceremony since 1954. Every year, the lantern is lit by the Embassy of Japan's appointed Cherry Blossom Princess. The audience will count down from five, and like the Olympic torch, the lantern is lit in an exciting traditional event that signals the arrival of spring and represents one of the most beautiful times in the Nation's Capital.
3. CHERRY_060327_072.JPG: The 1912 Cherry Tree Plantings: Inception and Early Promoters: Born in Lansing, Michigan, David Fairchild was employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was instrumental in the earlier plantings of Japanese flowering cherry trees in the Washington, D.C. area. Upon his 1902 visit to Japan, Fairchild, so impressed with the picturesque beauty of the cherry trees lining the waterway and streets, left determined to plant these trees on his Chevy Chase, Maryland estate. Four years later, Dr. Fairchild brought his idea to fruition by planting seventy-five flowering and twenty-five weeping cherry trees on his estate. Please with their hardiness, he ordered another three hundred trees for the Chevy Chase area. In 1908, Fairchild donated cherry saplings to each District of Columbia school for Arbor day. At the time, he expressed his desire to see a procession of cherry trees planted along the "Speedway" (present day Independence Avenue) in Potomac Park. The cherry trees help transform the capital city into a cloud of white and pink blossoms during Washington's week-long rite of spring. The hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals who come to view the blossoms should thank early promoters such as Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, an American travel writer and photographer. Upon her return from a visit to Japan in 1885, Ms. Scidmore petitioned the Superintendent of Public Parks and Grounds to advocate planting cherry trees throughout portions of Potomac Park. Her appeals failed, yet she persevered for twenty-four years. Culmination: In 1909, Mrs. Scidmore, in her quest to beautify Washington D.C., decided to raise the money required to purchase and donate cherry trees to the city. She sent a note to First Lady Helen Taft who responded with great enthusiasm by saying: "Thank you very much for your suggestion about the cherry trees. I have taken the matter up and am promised the trees." As the wife of President William Howard Taft, Helen was very active in working to beautify the undeveloped Potomac River. Mrs. Taft, who was born and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, traveled with her husband to the Philippines and Japan. Upon returning to Washington, she instructed the White House gardener to plant ninety Japanese cherry trees near the Lincoln Memorial. Hearing of the plantings, the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, offered 2,000 cherry trees as a gift of friendship. On January 6, 1910, the cherry trees arrived in Washington, D.C. from Japan. To everyone's dismay, inspection of the trees found insects and nematodes (worms). President Taft ordered the trees burned. Letters of deep regret circulated among the President, Secretary of State, and the Japanese Ambassador, and staved off a diplomatic setback. Mayor Ozaki immediately arranged for replacements, and on March 27, 1912, the first plantings of some 3,020 cherry trees commenced along the Potomac River, Rock Creek, and the White House grounds. Today, perhaps fewer than 200 of the original trees sent by Mayor Ozaki still survive. The two Yoshino trees planted by Mrs. Taft and Viscountess Chinda remain as a true testament to all those who persevered to create an attractive setting for Washington's cherry trees.
4. CHERRY_060327_254.JPG: This is where the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial will be going. You can see the ground-level commemorative marker near the far sidewalk.
5. CHERRY_060327_344.JPG: Japanese Pagoda: The Japanese Pagoda: Admired by thousands each year, the Japanese Pagoda arrived in Washington, not as a gift from one nation to another, but as a gift from one man to another. In 1957, Ryozo Hiranuma, the Mayor of Yokohama and a visitor to Washington, D.C. four years prior, gave this pagoda to former District Commissioner Renah Camalier. However, Camalier felt the gift belonged to the people of the District of Columbia and placed it among the Japanese cherry trees. A year later, on April 21, 1958, the pagoda was dedicated as a gift from Japan to the United States. The 3,800 pound pagoda arrived in five crates, without assembly instructions. Reconstruction required assistance from the Library of Congress staff, Though its age is unknown, the design and four seated Buddhas carved on the base are consistent with the Kamakura period (1192-1333). Origins: Pagodas originated in India as a stone or an earthen burial tomb, or stupa, consisting of a dome with a pole in the center, which extends through the top. The bones or ashes of the deceased are placed under the pole, which represents the center of the universe and collects energy from birth and creation. After Buddha asked to be buried in a [sic] one 2,500 years ago, stupas acquired a new religious significance and generally stand in or near Buddhist temples. As Buddhism spread into China and Korea, the stupa changed slightly and became known as a pagoda. In the 6th century, Buddhism was introduced into Japan where pagodas were usually several storied wooden structures with deep multi-tiered eaves. Japanese pagodas retain the central pole, or shinbashira, and have beautiful stones buried under the pole to represent the bones of Buddha. Pagodas of Japan: The unique Japanese construction of wooden pagodas exhibits beauty and surprising endurance. Though susceptible to fire, Japan's pagodas are remarkable resistant to earthquakes and typhoons. The 104 foot tall, 5-tiered Pagoda of Horyuji, in Nara, still stands 1,300 years after it's [sic] construction and shows no sign of instability. The Pagoda of Toji, in Kyoto is the tallest in Japan, at 180 feet. However, the Pagoda of Shokokuji (before it burned down) was nearly twice as tall, at 355 feet. Garden pagodas: Essentially models of the multi-storied wooden pagodas, stone pagodas retain religious significance. They represent the philosophies of Buddha and console the spirits of the dead. Although found near temples and shrines, they also frequently grace public and private gardens. The Zen Buddhist reverence for nature heavily influences Japanese gardens which tend toward balanced symmetry, rather than the geometric symmetry of European gardens. In Japan, gardens look natural and incorporate elements of water, stone, and plants. Thus, a stone pagoda provides the element of stone while also indicating the underlying philosophy of the garden.
6. CHERRY_060330_233.JPG: The previous year, there had been a nesting duck in a tree by the Tidal Basin. I checked out the tree this year and found an abandoned egg in there.
7. CHERRY_060330_735.JPG: This was a local (I presume) news reporter. I asked him if he enjoyed his job on days like this. He said yes but then he had to hop in the truck and write a story and get it on the air within an hour. In this news-all-the-time world, it's a continual struggle to stay current.
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