Tag: Tidal Basin

Nuttin but Cherry Blossoms!

Published on by Cecelia Futch20 Comments

On my forray to the Cleveland Botanical Garden earlier this week, I was surprised to see Cherry Blossom trees! And they were in full bloom! While we don’t have the profusion of these lovely trees that Washington, DC has, the few we do have are just as stunning. Now that I’ve had a little time to process some of the photos from a few days ago, here are a few of the Cherry Blossoms for your enjoyment! 🙂

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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Trees in Washington, DC. As a gift of friendship, Japan sent 3020 of these beautiful trees to the US in 1912. The first two Yeshino Cherry trees were planted on the northern bank of the Tidal Basin by Mrs. Helen “Nellie” Taft (wife of President William Howard Taft) and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador. After the planting, Nellie presented a bouquet of American Beauty roses to the Viscountess. (Those two trees still stand on 17th Street near the John Paul Jones statue.) Today there are 12 species of Cherry Blossom trees and about 3750 trees now grow around the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument area.

The Cherry Blossom Tree connection with Ohio is that Nellie Taft hails from Ohio, and the National First Ladies’ Library is in Canton, OH, about an hour’s drive south of Cleveland. On June 25, the library is sponsoring an elegant high tea, known as Helen Taft’s Cherry Blossom Tea. Visitors will be able to enjoy tea and chat with  “First Lady Helen Taft” (historical re-enactor) as she reminisces about the Cherry Blossom Trees and tells her life story.

Helen Taft’s Cherry Blossom Tea will take place between 10:00am and noon on Saturday, June 25, at the National First Ladies’ Library at 205 Market Ave. S., Canton, OH. Reservations are required, and the cost is $35. For more information, call 330-452-0876 ext. 307.

I wish to acknowledge Pamela Martens, the Cleveland Travel Examiner, for the information provided here on the Helen Taft Cherry Blossom Tea.  http://www.examiner.com/travel-in-cleveland/helen-taft-s-cherry-blossom-tea-offers-history-and-elegant-refreshment


If any of you are able to attend the tea, please blog about it and let the rest of us know how it was! Have a glorious day, and enjoy the Cherry Blossoms! 🙂

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Spring is Sprung!

Published on by Cecelia Futch6 Comments

Last week my husband and I hopped the Metro into the district (as in Washington, DC) to enjoy the Cherry Blossom Festival.  I couldn’t wait to get to the National Mall but Richard would rather be doing a hundred other things than follow me around as I shoot photos of flowers (394 frames to be exact, but whose counting), so he ended up visiting the History Museum while I meandered around the Tidal Basin, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, etc. etc. etc.  We met up when I was done sight-seeing and photographing, and took in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  Following that, we strolled together to the capitol building before finally heading home.  I don’t even want to guess how many miles I walked but by the time I got home and after I had a nice chat with Mom, I fell into bed exhausted,  sleeping soundly until around 4:30am.  At that time, I awoke to the cacophony of birds tweeting, singing and chatting in the holly tree outside our bedroom window.  That is always music to my ears.  This truly is a glorious time of the year.  While every season has its beauty and “specialness,” the springtime of the year has to be my favorite season by far.  The earth is coming to life after its long winter slumber and I don’t want to miss a minute of it!

photo of seder, from Wikipedia

Spring is also the season of Pesach, known as Passover to most non-Jews.  Pesach is the most work-intensive holiday in the Jewish year.  Our homes, cars, businesses, storage areas ~ everything we own ~ must be rid of leaven, chometz as it is known in Hebrew.  Every nook and cranny is scrubbed, checked and double checked for even a crumb, and it must all be destroyed.  Refrigerators are thoroughly cleaned.  Stoves are scrubbed and koshered.  Ovens are scoured.  Every cabinet, drawer, surface in the kitchen is completely cleared off and cleaned, then koshered and covered.  The floor is continually swept and scrubbed until it is so clean one could eat off of it.  EVERYTHING ones uses for food preparation or consumption is cleaned and koshered.  If it can’t be koshered, it is sold along with all the consumable food items that might possibly have the slightest hint of chometz.  The kitchen and dining area get the most attention during this time of Pesach cleaning.  But the rest of the house or apartment must be checked as well.  Every pocket in every garment is checked for small crumbs.  We even look under the beds for half-eaten sandwiches or bag of chips that a child might have left (since our kids are no longer living at home, this is not a problem.)  Clean the chometz out of bathrooms (you’d be amazed at how much chometz is in toothpaste, mouthwash and other toiletries. . .it’s all gotta go!)  Carpets are vacuumed . . . repeatedly.  Cleaning for Pesach is a long, cumbersome process.  Once the chometz is gone, Pesach cooking begins! The seder is prepared.  Hard work, yes, but well worth the effort.

Pesach is about much more than house cleaning, however. Just as I must clean the chometz out of my house, this is the time to rid one’s self of inner chometz.  As I go through the extensive preparations for Pesach, I also spend time in self-evaluation assessing the things in my life that stand between me and Hashem.  Are there unfounded jealousies that eat away at me?  Have I spoken unkind or untrue words about someone?

Haggadah: the order of the seder.

Do I run with alacrity to spend time with Hashem in prayer?  Or have I become apathetic in my devotional time with G-d?  When giving charity, have I done so with gratitude and a desire to share Hashem’s blessings with those in need?  Or have I held back with a spirit of stinginess, not giving what I could?  Have I extended hospitality to everyone who entered our home this year?  What good is a spotless, chometz-free house if one’s life reflects unholy traits?  Perfection is not the goal.  If so, I would probably have given up long ago.  Rather, this is a time to recognize our shortcomings, our humanness, and to go about the business of “cleaning out the chometz.”  As we do, we are not only preparing our homes for the Passover, we are preparing our very souls for Hashem.  With that in mind, may we all live to celebrate a chometz-free Pesach, body and soul, next year in Jerusalem!