The Washington D.C. National Cherry Blossom Festival- A Guest Post

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I recently got an email which gave me a start. It was addressed from the National Museum of Crime and Punishment. Hey – It’s really not that funny. I thought to myself – “Oh, boy, it’s that mattress tag I ripped off!!!!  They finally caught up with me!!” 😉  With a slight trepidation, I peered inside the mail, wondering if I should give “Three Fingers” Yarmi a call from my speed dial.

Instead, to my ultimate surprise and satisfaction, it was a very gracious guy, Erik, who asked me more than kindly to perhaps host a guest post right here on my very own blog, dedicated to the Cherry Blossom Festival, with some special attention paid to this excellent and fascinating Museum.

Just the same, as I read the following: “The museum displays excellent depictions of historically famous crime scenes along detailed information concerning past wars, forensics, organized crime, and more. Currently, we’re promoting 98 years of tradition with the annual D.C. Cherry blossom festival, which remembers the long lasting friendship between Japan and the U.S.”, I have to admit, I was still on the nervous end of the crime pole. (Maybe it was the Santa I lifted at Santa Claus Land, Indiana as an 11 year old?). Nevertheless, I held off calling “Slats” Hennepin in Chicago or my West Coast Buddy, “No Nose de la Vega” for some extra work and just acted as if it were a normal letter – which it was. In the end, I was flattered. I said “Yes, I would be delighted.”

Below is the guest post, written by Erik:

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“Springtime, perfect for having picnics, wearing shorts and admiring the Cherry Blossom in DC. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an two-week, yearly event that celebrates springtime in Washington, DC as well as the 1912 gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan.

DC Attractions include multiple festivals, museums, monuments, and more. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) organization that coordinates, produces, and supports creative and diverse activities promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty and the environment, and community spirit and youth education. It’s also begins peak season for an influx of tourists to Washington, also brought in by the thousands of historical landmarks, museums, and other buildings, The National Museum of Crime & Punishment, located in Washington, D.C. is one of those such buildings, with excellent depictions of historically famous crime scenes along detailed information concerning past wars, forensics, organized crime, and more.”

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I have found out that the National Cherry Blossom Festival is actually the biggest annual event in the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C. It takes place every year to celebrate the beginning of spring and has grown into one of America’s premier celebrations of the springtime season. It is honestly pretty cool, with eye candy to absolutely die for.

The Festival commemorates the March 27, 1912 event where the nation of Japan gifted the United States with 3,000 cherry trees. On that day Tokyo mayor Yukio Ozaki donated the trees for the purpose of enhancing the budding friendship between his nation and America. Today, nearly 100 years later, the leaders of the world’s two largest economies use the Festival as a way of recognizing the continued spirit of friendship between the U.S. and Japan.

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The Cherry Blossoms tend to bloom between March 28 – April 12. Every April along the Tidal Basin that nearly surrounds the Jefferson Memorial, millions of people from around the world walk along a pathway that glows with an unmistakable pink hue. The sea of pink is a photographer’s paradise and best of all its COMPLETELY FREE. (Yayy!!) The festival, which lasts two weeks, is opened with a ceremony that is usually attended by the First Lady of the United States and the Japanese Ambassador to the United States.

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Approximately 3,750 cherry trees are on the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Thousands of trees are located around the region as well.

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That’s a lot of Cherry Blossoms, man!

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“No Nose” gave me a call just as I was writing this. I suggest you all make sure and go and especially drop into the Museum of Crime and Punishment. “No Nose” has gotten into gardening recently, with an eye towards pruning. He says if you turn down this glorious Springtime opportunity, he might just have to prune your Cherry into something resembling this one:

Crystal Springs March 3 09 026

Thinkaboudit.  😉

6 thoughts on “The Washington D.C. National Cherry Blossom Festival- A Guest Post

  1. I had no idea those cherry trees had been given to our country by Japan – it makes total sense, since they are addicted to cherry trees over there.

    Actually it turns out our festival might be a bit more genteel, believe it or not. My Japanese friend tells me that the cherry festival in Japan is an excuse for hard-drinking salarymen to party, so often you see them passed out under the cherry trees, with the blossoms gently drifting down…perhaps “No Nose” would approve?
    .-= Pomona Belvedere´s last blog ..Sex Among the Daffodils: or, Good Breeding =-.

  2. Someday I hope to make it to DC for the cherry blossoms. Very cool, and the night photos of them–oh like wow, man…

    Is that final shot of the pruned tree an exhibit in the crime scene museum? Totally indecent hack job, as far as I’m concerned.
    .-= lostlandscape(James)´s last blog ..high spring (gbbd) =-.

  3. James, I hate to disappoint you but it is not connected to the Crime Museum, in spite of its obvious criminal characteristics. My good friend “No Nose” offered his services to a local shopping center in Portland while vacationing from his normal home in San Quentin. He ‘made them an offer they couldn’t refuse’, if you get my drift. 😉

    He’s really taken to this gardening thing. Now that he had to go ‘home’ again for a couple of years, he promises to come back and ‘finish the job’.

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