Cherry Blossom Festival

The weather has been incredible this whole winter and spring.  Now that spring is fully here, I have been playing outside non stop.  It starts with the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. 

Due to the mild winter, the cherry blossoms bloomed apx 2-3 weeks prior to normal (which is typically around General Conference time) it was a beautiful surprise for the middle of March. 

Due to unusual amounts of rain, I ended up going into DC on a Monday March 19th.  Weekends are always so busy this ended up being an excellent option.  I walked around for a little more than 1 hour around the tidal basin.  There were so many couples sitting on the benches and hidden back in the trees enjoying some alone time.that I could not keep track of how many I came across.

The blooms were just gorgeous.  The colors were vibrant, although my armature photography skills cannot capture what the eye saw.  The mild winter and consistent rain caused an excellent showing. 

While walking around, I stumbled upon the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument. It's interesting and I have mixed feelings about the monument itself, or at least the quotes they put for it. There is 1 quote in particular that struck a cord (b minor... ok really bad joke like dad's groaners.)

Martin Luther King, Jr. is astir.  His block of stone is cut way from a mountain side.  The crowds can walk through the gorge that Martin comes out of.  It is definitely larger than life.

There is a quote on the monument that is under question/fire.  The quote about being a drummer, etc.  It is a paraphrase of a much longer quote, and honestly does not have the best connotation. 

Now, the quote that I like the best is the picture below:

"I believe that unarmed truth  and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

Those words resonated with me and caused me to stare at the quote for several minutes.  I think this quote is applicable in many facets, including truth/doctrinal natures.  I will have to stop and ponder on this quote some more before I publish any insights or examples, but I do believe these words to be powerful.

Now, I must say, this was just the start of a month of enjoyable time outside.  The outside and the beauty of a new spring can do wonders for the soul.