STAND STILL, LOOK PRETTY
Spring is edging into the northern hemisphere, and for some parts of the world it’s time for the wondrous annual display of cherry trees, which burst into bloom for a few weeks each year from late March til early April. For sites from Washington DC to Tokyo to Cáceres, Spain, this is typically a time of increased tourism and festivals, when families turn out to stand under the blossoms and take in one of nature’s most magical manifestations.
This year, of course, such visits have either been deemed inadvisable or outright prohibited. The cherry trees themselves, of course, knowing nothing of our human crises, are getting on with the business of blooming. And thank heavens for that — the cherry blossom, after all, is a universal symbol of renewal, friendship and hope, good doses of which we can all use right now.
Just as myriad attractions — from theme parks to museums — have upped their virtual-visitation game of late, allowing locked-down wanderers to roam from their homes, so have the custodians of the cherry trees. Several web cams across the world are now trained on the soothing scenes of trees in bloom. Admittedly, they don’t do much but stand there and look pretty, but tuning in — in real-time no less — is curiously soothing and reassuring. Lockdown or not, the world still turns.
Some options: in Washington DC, the National Mall has a “Bloomcam” which shifts views every 60 seconds for various perspectives of the trees. The University of Washington (washington.edu) has a similar set-up. For more, head to earthcam.com and search for Macon, Georgia. live.ueda.ne.jp has links to cameras trained on several plants in Japan.
The university in Wuhan, China, meanwhile, has also been running live feeds from its cherry trees. The city will forever be remembered as Covid19’s ground zero, which underwent a stringent quarantine after the new coronavirus emerged there late last year, but like its blooming trees, it now also represents hope for the rest of us. Seven weeks after it imposed its stringent measures, restrictions are being relaxed. The lockdown, at the time of writing, was set to be completely lifted on April 8. Last week, trains went back into service. People are going back to work. And they are returning to the city’s wealth of beautiful sites, including the Moshan Cherry Garden, pictured. Like the fleeting nature of the blossoms themselves, this might remind us that the crisis — along with everything else — is impermanent. If you can, go look at some trees.
To stand a chance of winning R500, tell us the other name
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(in English) by which the garden is known. E-mail
travelquiz@sundaytimes.co.za before noon on Tuesday April 7. Last week’s winner is Mike Briggs of Warner Beach, KwaZulu-Natal. The correct answer was the Peak District National Park.