Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, Korea Rep.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
I think I've missed the opportunity for the best pictures of cherry blossoms. Last weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Yeouido, but the blossoms hadn't opened yet. They've been in their glory all week as I walked around in Dongtan and on a mid-week trip to the yarn store in Suwon. I was planning on going to see them at the Suwon fortress yesterday after the jjingjilbang experience, but it was raining pretty hard. So it comes to the fact that I have missed the best of the blossom season, except those I saw on a wet walk around Dongtan this afternoon. Yesterday's heavy rain and winds have finished off a lot of the flowers, but I found some that still express the true beauty of the season. The dark purple blossoms in the woods especially catch your eye because you aren't expecting colour in such a brown landscape that you do a double take. It looks like a sepia toned photograph where someone has gone in and painted a few branches mauve. While wandering around town, I found a trail that goes up into the woods behind the school and leads to a beautiful little park. It's secluded just enough from the rest of town that you can feel like you're not in the middle of a busy city. The sounds of the woods are very soothing for this forest-loving city-dweller. If you can't find me while I'm in Dongtan, it's probably because I'm here listening to the birds, reading a book under the cherry blossom tree.
