Still blooming

The cherry blossom season is remarkably long this year, and although I was stuck at home with a cold while the blooms were at their peak there were still a few left to see when I recovered. Sadly my camera is acting up, yet again: it won't focus in regular (non-macro) pictures, with the middle of the frame especially blurry as you can see above. My lens is clean and the camera continues to work fine for close-ups, so I'm not sure what's going on. I guess I'll have to send it in for more repairs. Or is it finally time to buy a new camera?

Many of the cherry trees at our local park are not regular somei yoshino (the most widely planted variety of sakura), but a fruit-bearing type that bloom a little bit later and produce tart little wild cherries in June. They have more colour than somei yoshino and also have a bit of a fragrance, but because they bloom at the same time as their leaves sprout they are a wee bit less impressive. Still, a cherry blossom is a cherry blossom, and a park full of these is plenty beautiful.

But even though the sakura are almost gone doesn't mean they can't be celebrated. This is Japan, and there's always something to buy. This sake is produced by a local merchant's association just for this season and is called "Ooizumi", which is the same name as our neighborhood but switches the kanji around-- the first character is replaced by the kanji for "sakura".

I think it is brewed elsewhere but the bottle says it's made with local underground spring water. It's good to know that we actually have underground springwater here, because I've always wondered why our neighborhood was called what it was: Ooizumigakuen means something like "university campus of the big spring". And yet there are no universities here and I've never seen a spring, big or little. But in advertisements for this sake I've found out that the Shirakogawa, a local stream, has underground sources. So now half of the mystery is solved, and maybe someday I'll find out where the secret university is hidden.

I bought this sakura anpan at a local bakery. Anpan is a popular snack consisting of a bun filled with anko (sweet red bean paste); this sakura version is topped with a preserved cherry blossom.

Inside, instead of the regular dark red anko it stuffed with shiro-an (white bean paste) mixed with preserved cherry blossoms. The blossoms turn the shiro-an a lovely shade of pink and add a pleasant salty floral flavour.

And of course, the traditional two-toed cherry blossom viewing socks. Actually, I think those are ume (Japanese apricot blossoms), but close enough.

So there you have it. There is not a single holiday or seasonal event in Japan that doesn't involve commercial products for sale, so if you happen to miss the cherry blossoms themselves, don't worry. There's still plenty of stuff to buy.

Comments

[kat]

I'm surprised with the cherry blossom this year too, even with the wind and rain we had the past couple of days, the blooms are still hanging onto the tree! Enjoy them where you are!

[Marijoe]

I love your socks!!!! Soooo cute :)

[Jeannie]

The socks are really cute :) I´ve never seen something like that here in Germany.
P.S. it looks like on your left foot there are only four toes...?

[Charmaine]

I actually think the blur in the middle creates a really superb, surreal image! But it must be a pain for other shots ;)

[Sera]

Amy, your tabi are adorable! :)

Happy to hear you are feeling better and you got to see the blossoms. :)

[baboo]

excellent footwear. Glad you got your toenails back- looks like they're a pretty close fit.

Babs

[Okihwn]

Just a little comment of your camera. I have an older Fuji FinePix at least 6 years)and it slowly started losing functions - zoom wouldn't work, message window was all garbled, it wouldn't hold a charge. Only thing that worked good was the macro picture taking. But could only take a couple pictures. Was seriously thinking of buying a new camera. Then talking with someone they suggested just get a new battery. Guess lithium-ion baterries don't last forever. So got a new battery , put it in to charge and slowly ALL functions have come back! Saved a lot of money!

[JoeInVegas]

Pretty socks - with the toe for sandals?