A sunny view of the flowering cherry trees at Tom McCall Waterfront Park

A scene I've missed getting to see up close for the last several years. Bound and determined not to miss it this year, I took advantage of the sunshine on March 24 and walked through Tom McCall Waterfront Park from the Saturday Market all the way to the Steel Bridge. I continued onto the bridge and took this photo looking south. I wish the trees had been in full bloom, but one can't be too picky around here, what with gray skies, rain, and wind impacting the span of time the flowers are actually on the tree limbs.

Springtime cherry blossoms

This gorgeous tree stands across the street, diagonally, from our kitchen window.

A dose of cherry-flavored optimism

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough.

A.E. Housman (1859–1936)

Spring, 2008, fallen cherry petals at the curb

Spring, 2008, cherry blossoms in the sky

Both, 2007

I'm already planning for spring, 2009.