More cherry blossoms

Alongside the little river, the cherry blossoms are still looking good today.



They are past their best, though, and are shedding petals, which are falling into the river.



Nearer home, in a little park, I stopped to enjoy the trees there, too. They are also past their best. From a distance they still look good.



But closer up you can see the green coming through. This has its own beauty.



The ground under the trees is covered in petals.



I watched the children for a while. They were gathering fallen petals. "How Japanese!" I thought. "Even so young they are already developing the delicate appreciation for the beauties of nature the Japanese are famous for."¹ Then I noticed what they were doing with the petals.

They were making mud-and-petal pie. The girl in red was the boss cook. She was ordering the others off to gather petals for her, and then stirring them into the revolting goop in the tin.



I wonder if there will be any cherry blossoms left by next Monday, when I pass this park again?

^{1. Yes, even when I'm alone I have the occasional attack of sarcasm. This particular attack was brought on by the fact that when I was trying to get a picture of the trees by the river I had to choose my spot carefully to avoid also photographing a floating plastic bag or other piece of rubbish.}