Sprung

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This morning I made a mistake.  After a really challenging week that included a transcontinental flight, leaving the family, launching registration, getting through an absolutely wild number of emails about registration, another transcontinental flight and then putting the family back together… this morning I had an appointment that didn’t go my way and I briefly felt crappy.  It was very brief, because seconds later I realized that I was riding my bike home in the sunshine and not wearing a stinking winter coat and the thrill that is spring just came over me. When I got to spot where I should have turned for home, I turned the other way and rode into High Park, where the cherry trees are in bloom.. 

It is beautiful. 

There are crazy crowds, even on a Monday morning.  Yesterday when Ken went, he said that the crowds initially bugged him, then he realized that there really should be a million people in the park, because the trees deserve the attention for the effort.

If you live in the city, leave wherever you are now and go to the park.  Tell your boss you’re sick. Tell your kids to get on their bikes or on the subway and go. 

Go now, because this will only last another day or two, and the pictures here don’t even begin to do it justice. Not even a little bit. 

When you’re there, you can smell it, and it knocks all the bitterness off of a crazy long, cold winter.  It’s made even more beautiful by the fact that the other trees aren’t really out yet – so the cherry trees are the sole stars of the show.

I got off my bike and walked a big loop of the park, stopping only to take a picture of the Jacob Damask shawl in progress…

It’s going very well, thanks for asking.

Then I rode home- filled with one perfect thought. 

There’s no way it’s going to snow again… Maybe ever.
Happy Spring.

203 thoughts on “Sprung”

  1. Absolutely WOW! The trees and blossoms are gorgeous! Haven’t been to High Park in years. Cold, damp and windy here today. Good heavens, am I first comment today. Take care, Stephanie

  3. how ABSOLUTLEY gorgeous. We enjoyed our new plum tree blooming in our front yard (also pretty white flowers looking an awful lot like those) but it is a tiny tiny baby tree all on it’s lonesome.
    Of course, that was way back when in our spring, three months ago (in February), and here in Texas we’re already starting to curse the summer, which is starting to arrive (it seems too early every year). All the leaves on the plum tree are starting to show signs that the heat is getting to them and it’s time to start watering.

  4. Spectacular–thanks for sharing and cheering us all up! Best, randmknitter

  5. Ever? No snow again, ever? Oh girl, you’ve been smitten by spring.
    The park is gorgeous – I think you should take the Jacob Damask shawl back to the park, sit under a tree and treat yourself to a few rows.

  6. You’re a few days ahead of us here in Waterdown. We have redbuds, though! Magnolias are about to be briefly beautiful. In a bit the lilies of the valley will bloom and the entire town will smell amazing. We have a cherry tree across the street under a streetlamp, and it glows day and night. Or it will, soon. Happy Spring.

  7. I’m so happy for you! Beautiful pictures and I can live vicariously through you. I’m looking at wind blowing through our trees and leaving frost. We’re white as can be without snow on the ground! Hope your not-so-good news can be easily fixed.

  8. Wow. Very very beautiful photos. Makes me wish cherry trees grew down here. 😐

  9. My husband and I were in Toronto this past weekend, and we really enjoyed that the trees are already blossoming for you. It’s beautiful indeed.

  10. Wow, that is so beautiful, you’re making me wish I were there to see it in person. I love that the shawl tones match the flowers.

  11. Absolutely gorgeous. Now, if some of that spring could come to Wisconsin, it would be wonderful.

  13. BEAUTIFUL! Even someone from N.California can appreciate that! It looks like snow! It’s gorgeous here too, so I can’t complain. My relatives ‘back east’ say that spring has finally arrived.

  14. AMEN, SISTER!
    This is my favorite time of year – when some of the trees have nothing, and others have blossoms or those little bitty “leaf green” beginnings of leaves. I can’t get enough of staring at it, whether it is sunny or not (it has been a lot of gray around here lately, but the trees still look terrific).
    And the shawl looks like another blossom in the party. Just awesome.

  16. Spring is a wrap here in Atlanta and we are heading for the 90’s for the rest of the week. So happy you are feeling a “spring” in your step!

  17. Wow, there is something almost mystical about the way once there was cold snow and now there is white blossom. And trust you MsHarlot to have the perfect backdrop for your Jacob shawl …
    Absolutely lovely!! (Everything)
    x

  18. Thank you very much for reminding me that the crazy-busy stuff that makes us insane does not define us and that nature and knitting replenish the spirit whenever we let it.

  19. These photos are awesome. I loved going to DC during the cherry blossom season, but it doesn’t make me love it any less seeing it again now.

  20. I am impressed…your spring looks better than our spring in Milwaukee right now! I’m still waiting for my saucer magnolia blossoms to open! And I miss the lilacs that perfume my hometown at this time, but no one in my neighborhood has lilac bushes, that I can tell. I open windows behind my couch so I can breathe the fresh air while I knit or cross-stitch, and it is two weeks to Victoria Day and three weeks to Memorial Day and the official start of tourist summer and festival time here. Your shawl looks gorgeous, too!

  21. Isn’t it amazing how cherry blossoms can change a person’s mood entirely? I think they’re even more special because they are so short-lived. Everyone ought to get out and walk in the park today.
    Damask is looking beautiful.

  22. I wish with all my heart that I was in Toronto with you to walk and ride through the wonder. Thank you for sharing.

  23. I’m in Toronto twice this week so maybe I’ll go take a look. I’ve never seen it but would love it. Thanks for the photos!

  24. Reminds me of Washington,DC, only better, ’cause you deserve it so much after what you went through last winter and spring (weatherwise)! Lovely here in Kingston too, with the magnolias coming into bloom. The shawl is gorgeous too.

  25. Wow! I felt so much joy seeing those trees, knowing that somewhere in the world it is spring, as I watch the snow fall in Central California! Thanks for sharing!!

  26. In Calgary, that last statement about it never s***ing again would be considered heretical and would bring a storm in the middle of July…..but the blossoms sure are pretty.

  27. Cherry blossoms are done here in NJ, but lilacs and dogwoods are blooming. Mother’s Day is when I consider it safe to plant my flower garden. It’s all sunshine and warm breeze this week.

  28. Thank you for another beautiful blog post! The cherry trees are gorgeous. Here in Atlanta, we’ve had spring now for more than a month. And yet one never gets tired of singing praises when there’s glorious blooming everywhere.

  29. If only you were right about no more snow ever! I don’t mind if it gets a bit cold, because I need to wear my handknits, but I can do without the snow, thank you very much.

  31. I must say, that shawl is really one of my favorite things I’ve seen you knit. And it goes without saying that I’ve seen a LOT of things you have knit! Which of course makes it a VERY special shawl…. from my point of view!

  32. “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
    is hung with bloom along the bough
    and stands about the woodland ride
    wearing white for Eastertide.
    Now of my threescore years and ten
    Twenty will not come again
    and take from seventy years a score
    it leaves me only fifty more.
    And since, to look at things in bloom
    fifty springs is little room,
    about the woodland I will go
    to see the cherries hung with snow.”
    good old A. E. Housman — he can count on being quoted at least once a year.

  33. The shawl echoes the flowers!
    I grew up with cherry trees nearby that arched over the roads like that for a mile, at least, along a route we drove through three days a week. Flower tunnels! Breathtaking. I miss it–I’m so glad you went that way and took the time and saw and breathed it in!

  34. thanks for sharing the glory of a long awaited spring! i truly believe NO ONE appreciates spring more than those who endure winter…
    today while outside supervising the students, i was counting in my head how many months of good weather we can expect before winter/pre-winter comes around again!
    i figure we’ve got about 5 glorious months to savour..

  35. Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
    is hung with bloom along the bow,
    and stands about the woodland ride
    wearing white for Eastertide.
    Now, of my threescore years and ten,
    twenty will not come again,
    and take from seventy years a score,
    that only leaves me fifty more.
    And since, to look at things in bloom,
    fifty years is little room,
    about the woodlands I will go
    to see the cherries, hung with snow.
    A. E. Houseman

  37. Beautiful Stephanie. You are lucky to have such a nice park to stroll through. We don’t have cherry trees here, well, actually we do, but not bunched together, just one here or there in people’s yards. The shawl fits right in among the blooms – lovely!

  38. What a gorgeous view!!! In my part of the world the purple lilcas (our state flower here in NH) are just bursting into bloom. it looks AND smells good here…and there’s no *&^ snow !!!

  39. I was starting to feel very heavy under the weight of all that simply must be done today and tomorrow and…
    And then I read this post. I feel a little lighter now as though I was able to put down my burdens for a moment so that I might have the time to breathe and the strength to pick them up again. Thank you.

  40. Life is worth living when you have something to look forward to.
    Thank you for that uplifting post Stephanie. Lovely.
    Here in New Zealand we are a little autumnal, I could go outside and ‘gather nuts in May’ from our walnut tree. But unusually for this time of year it is not yet cold, a bit cooler in the morning and evenings, but we haven’t had a fire yet – this is unheard of for us.
    Enjoy the spring. I’m pleased you took a detour on your way home, I enjoyed it.

  41. I know exactly that feeling. It’s like being set free. And wow – that Damask shawl looks luscious! Nothing beats knitting with handspun, particularly in the spring.

  43. Beautiful! I think spring is over here in South Central Kansas. Today is suppose to be 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Right now it is 93 so maybe we will be lucky and it won’t make it.

  44. I’m so glad you got the “spring awakening” that took the sting out of the doctor’s appointment and lifted the cares of a VERY hectic week.
    And I LOVE the shawl so far!

  45. Congratulations! The photos are stunning. It looks as if the shawl was meant to be photographed in that way and posted with pictures of the blossoms. Kismet.

  46. Awesome pictures. How beautiful..and I would have done the same thing..Stop and smell the flowers!!!

  47. Nature’s way of saying she’s sorry about the winter…those trees are lovely. I can just about imagine how wonderful they smell. The shawl is coming along beautifully!

  48. How breathtakingly beautiful! I guess that’s a fair tradeoff – your horrid winters in exchange for these amazing blooms!

  51. That is so gorgeous! It reminds me of a street back home that is like that. Its so amazing.

  52. I am glad you were able to turn your negative thoughts to positive ones. The cherry trees are absolutely gorgeous! And I think that we as a people, and by “we” I mean Canadians, are allowed to believe in the month of May that there will not be snow again in the month of December.

  55. Do you know about Jane’s Walks, held on a wkend in May near Jane Jacobs’s b’day? I heard there were ten in Toronto this past wkend — appreciating those cherry trees, I hope. They’re actually held all over the country; I went to my first in Cambridge, Mass., the third year one has been held here. Perhaps you can tune into it next year if knitting adventures don’t compete.

  56. Oh, the optimism that spring brings! Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos.
    I love spring and how much it reminds me of what good lays ahead in the year. It’s wonderful to cast off the chill and gloom of winter and embrace a brand new chance that is the year.
    I think it’s silly to make resolutions in January when the world is cold and sleeping…I think it makes far more sense to make resolutions when everything is waking up and cheerful and full of promise of beauty and better things!

  59. Cherry blossoms are my favorite.Thank you for sharing.I came home early from work and noticed how green everything is getting and how wonderful it smelled when I was outside.Beautiful shawl on a beautiful backdrop!

  60. I’m too far from Toronto to see Hyde Park, but I enjoyed our local bike path in Michigan, and got some neat pictures of a pair of Canada geese, if that counts. 🙂

  61. Thank you for sharing such a special moment. I could almost smell the blooms with you! (It’s a bit early for our crab apples, yet.)

  62. I’m so glad you got to enjoy the cherry trees. Good choice, zigging when you should have zagged. Have a lovely rest of the day.

  63. There are tulips blooming all over the area around Robarts library, and they’re so beautiful they made me smile!
    I’m not even remotely an outdoorsy person, but I do love this time of year.
    Also, I’m with you – let’s not have any more snow ever!

  65. So So very pretty. Our tulips are just coming up so we are probably 3 weeks ahead of you. To hear you talking about riding your bike is very cool since we live it just really isn’t flat enough to ride my bike.

  66. Just gorgeous!
    Enjoy your long-awaited spring!
    I remember visiting McMaster University at about this time of year – I experienced 2 springs that year. All the spring blossoms and buds were in their full glory at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton.
    Great memory!

  67. Gorgeous! As one who lives in a cold place too I can totally appreciate this. Your cherry blossoms look so…fluffy!
    Glad you got a chance to stop and enjoy them.

  69. Thank you for sharing all the beautiful pictures! I’m glad the shawl is going well, though I’ll admit all the cherry blossoms didn’t have me thinking about your shawl at all.

  70. Yeah for cherry blossoms! Don’t they just put on the most spectacular show? Here in Vancouver they are almost done having come really late this year. Last year they were in full bloom in February for the Olympics. It is still cold as heck here – that is, cold for this particular part of the county – we had hail on Saturday – what’s with that… And I had to wear my socks to bed last night to keep warm. But we can all take the loveliness of the blossoms and hold them close to our bosoms and be so grateful – there is warmth in that.
    So glad you got to enjoy the magic that is cherry blossom time.
    Blessings

  71. Beautiful!! Thank you so much for sharing the incredible lightness of spring with us!

  72. I really love that last picture with the close-up of the cherry blossoms.
    Our spring has been very rainy and windy, so sadly a lot of flowers got blown off. But now the sun has come out, and it’s magnificent.

  73. Oooooo…gorgeous! That’s what it was like for the Washington DC area a bit ago but it’s already gone (booooo!)
    Lovin’ the Jacob! Inspired me to tell everyone I ran into at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Fesitval this weekend about the blog… (the Jacob fleece vendors were MOST appreciative!) ended up buying a lovely hank..YUMMMMM!

  74. Lucky you to knit on a plane. I had to leave my knitting home because the airline said I could but TSA said I couldn’t knit with circular bambo needles but they let a woman on with metal crochet hooks. It was a bummer. Your photos are wonderful and the shawl is spectacular.

  75. Actually it WILL snow – flower petals, when those trees are done with the flowers. And that will be a sight unto itself. 🙂
    Hurrah for Spring!

  76. Absolutely breathtaking! Thank you for sharing the pictures. (And the shawl doesn’t exactly suck, either.) We sheared the alpacas here this weekend – definitely a different aroma from cherry blossoms but just as sure a sign that Spring really is here.

  77. We still have plenty of cherry blossoms here in Vancouver, too — late for us. The ‘pink snow’ is blanketing the parked cars in my neighbourhood. I haven’t enjoyed them in a setting as nice as your pictures this year, though…I should try to catch them. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

  79. That is a lot of cherry blossoms. They’re beautiful, and just think, every blossom is going to try to make a cherry. That’s a lot of cherries.
    Your shawl is beautiful too. I love the grey to white progression.

  80. It’s Spring here, about an hour outside of Toront., I can tell not by the trees but the sounds. The Birds are SINGING and in the background tractors are humming as our Farmers are back on the field!
    Yeah!

  81. ZOMG. I want to go to there.
    Barring that, I would love to take a break from my day and write haiku inspired by your pictures.
    Oh, what the heck, I’ll write just one:
    Those cherry blossoms.
    I could be there by Wednesday
    That shawl… all perfect

  82. That’s wishful thinking for you!!
    There should also be a million bees with all those flowers. Here’s hoping your beekeepers haven’t been having colony collapse syndrome. I bet cherry blossom honey is awesome!
    If you could, would you address how to be sure a particular skein of laceweight wool will be sufficient for a particular shawl pattern?? Thanks a million.
    Absolutely love your blog and your books!!

  83. No pretty flowers here yet, and the trees are only starting to bud……So enjoy it doubly for me!

  84. Ah yes, the cherry blossoms. Ours in DC peaked back in April. So beautiful. What a nice day for you.
    Deb.

  85. Fabulous photos. Beautifully captured springtime. No wonder the bad feelings all melted away. Glad you had a chance to enjoy it. Shawl looks lovely, too!

  86. Thanks for posting another reminder that Spring has come. I wore a dress today, without leggings, for the first time all year. It was glorious. I’m loving the return of pleasant temperatures.

  87. Here in the southern hemisphere we’re into Autumn and heading for Winter. The leaves are turning gold and forming carpets on the pavements. And I love it. But seeing those cherry blossoms suddenly made me want spring to hurry up. Absolutely beautiful pix!

  88. Pamela: Amen. That is my favorite poem, and I was planning to slip in a quote but you beat me to it.

  90. That’s just lovely. Hooray for spring! Also, before I saw the caption of the shawl photo I thought it was a slightly blurry picture of cherry blossoms, which is pretty awesome.

  91. I will definately take your suggestion and go to a park! The pictures are simply stunning!! Thank you so much for showing us the lovely pictures!

  92. We don’t have any cherry blossoms in my neighborhood, but we sure do have lilacs. I love to cut a few bunches and put them in the bedroom. One year we went north to Maine for our June 3 anniversary thinking everything would be open as it was after Memorial Day, but nope. Nada. Nothing. Except we got a second lilac season as their season turns out to be exactly 1 month behind Connecticut. Not so bad.
    The colors on the shawl photo are such a perfect match to the shot of the flowers/tree branch. Did you plan that or was it just serendipity? Of course you planned it.

  93. Just beautious!! the day, the trees, your beautiful shawl. Was gorgeous here in Pittsburgh, too. So glad you had a lovely day too. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

  94. In late winter I planted three apple trees in the back yard of our weekend cottage. This weekend, upon arriving, I went to the back yard to say hello to the garden and I was so surprised — the apple trees have wee buds, about to be blossoms!
    When I’m feeling sorry for myself, I just recall the psalm — “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. This is the day. I just have to look for the wonders.

  95. So beautiful!
    I’m still waiting for blossoms here, but the pussy willows are out, the frogs are singing like mad and the grass is turning green. Spring!

  96. The park is beautiful. However, you do know that by saying it will never snow again you’ve doomed yourself to a big snowstorm tomorrow.

  97. Amen sister. A lovely spring walk with the dog, a little knitting on the porch. A lovely Monday.

  98. It’s the White Way of Delight and the Lake of Shining Waters from Anne of Green Gables!

  99. Spring is such a wonderful season – so full of hope and new life and promise.
    Your shawl is looking fantastic! It looks like one of those projects that you might get warm tingles every time you pick it up to work on it because it’s so satisfying to make! Keep enjoying it 🙂

  100. Ahh! I to am filled with the delusion that keeps people living in cold climes! The temps still are in the 40s in the morning and don’t break out of the 50s all day but the Magnolia trees here in Boston have convinced that we will should cherish last winter because it may never snow again!
    good onya!

  101. I have two apricot trees in my yard in Minnesota, and they are in full bloom. The sights and smells are intoxicating. There is nothing better after a long, cold winter.

  102. Gasp!!! You just tempted the weather gods!!!
    Hey, that shawl is absolutely divine!
    I’m glad you are back. I always miss you when you’re gone.

  103. Oh wow, how lovely. I have never seen so many cherry trees in bloom at once, thank you for sharing. My baby cherry trees are not yet blooming, but my lilacs are threatening to any moment… this is a really good reminder that these things are fleeting and should be enjoyed while they are on!

  104. your shawl looks like the photo of blossoms just above it….
    lovely!

  105. Our cherry tree out front was spectacular this year, first time I’ve gone out and taken pictures of it. It’s now starting to fade, but it’s gorgeousness will live on in my mind. So glad you got back in time to enjoy yours!

  106. How incredibly gorgeous. My chokecherry is the only thing around with little green buds.

  107. Thanks much for the beautiful pictures. Living in Alaska I am beginning to wonder if the trees will ever turn green!

  108. I don’t know which is more beautiful, the shawl or the beautiful, blooming trees! I think I’ll stare at these pics for a while to see what spring is like. Spring is just refusing to arrive here in Seattle… I’ve been calling it “The Spring That Wasn’t!T

  109. i’m in north carolina, so we sprung a few weeks ago, but i noticed the weeping willow in your pictures. it is one of my favorite spring markers because it’s just a gorgeous bold haze of the perfect spring green at the end of winter. i’m so glad you got home to enjoy these days!

  110. So beautiful. Here in the southern hemisphere we are having an equally awesome show, but its the other way- the leaves are turning, the trees are more like sculptures than bowers, and everything is slowing and luxuriously curling up for a winter sleep.Lovely.
    Enjoy the warmth. Sounds like you had a really rough winter. 🙂

  111. We here in the formerly frozen over northeast part of the US ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOU AND welcome the sun back into existance the way the sun is welcomed on the edge of the north pole each and every year after it has been gone for 8 months!
    bjr

  113. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures. We had clouds and rain today, but your pictures made me feel like spring was here at last.

  115. I love when the beauty of nature makes me feel better. It reminds me that everything is really okay.

  118. Could you send a little of that gorgeous sunshine to Portland, OR? We are getting teased by the sun and then more rain! Those pictures did my heart good.
    At least the cherry and pear trees have blossoms and we have flowers for color. Otherwise, I think I’d be completely batty.

  120. So beautiful!!!!! I had that kind of a morning and then I was able to go outside and play on the swings with my kids and enjoy the sunshine!!

  121. Yes, Nature always brings us back to what is truly important.
    Thanks for sharing.

  123. The weather may have finally changed here in Alberta but your lovely pictures make me miss Toronto so much.

  126. Ok, now I’m feeling seriously guilty for contributing to the SS11 email. Sorry ’bout that…

  127. As a former “Maniac” I remember how long the endurance was for the winter. I would say to my kids it builds character, helps us endure relationships, jobs, etc. But too many times we forget to lift our head from the endurance mode and smell the flowers. Every year for those who endure the winter, there is a miraculous reward in Spring —a sense of amazing wonder! Beauty!
    Thank you —loved your miracle.

  128. I was sitting here stewing over something stupid that I have no control over when I clicked on your blog. So happy to see an entry for today, but more importantly you just improved my craptastic day! Beautiful photos and a reminder of all that is good! Thank you!

  129. The Jacob pix seemed it was going to be another pix of the blossoms – it is beautiful. Yes, I am stunned with this spring.

  130. There’s nothing like cherry trees in high bloom. It really does make it seem like all is right with the world. One of the great joys of living in the Baltimore-Washington metro area (which we now don’t, alas).

  131. Truly breathtaking! A journey through that park makes winter seem worthy.

  134. The cherry trees are beautiful. Congratulations on having achieved Spring!
    Washington has cherry blossoms like that. Same crazy crowds, too. When I worked downtown, i used to hike over to the Tidal Basin and walk around on my lunch hour. I always came back late but feeling a bit better about Life in General. I’m glad to see the cherry blossoms have that effect on you, too!

  135. My mom always said that the spring flowers were Mother Nature’s reward for having made it through an aweful winter. Our flowering trees are just budding now, and a few tulips and daffodils are showing color. Mother Nature has been truely kind to Toronto this spring!

  136. I didn’t read the comments due to lack of time, but holy MOLY did your Jabob shawl look like more cherry blooms….
    My sister in law is from Japan, and every year she and my Torontonian brother travel to her home town to see the blossoms. I get it now.

  137. That is so very beautiful… I want a High Park here in Michigan. All the white in the blossoms made me think twice. And then I wanted smell function on my computer.
    Today it was cloudy and rainy. So I wanted to stay inside and knit.

  139. Oh, how wonderful was that! So glad you noticed – and let in on it. Just beautiful.
    And the Damask is coming along nicely, too.

  140. Beautiful! Makes me wish I lived closer to Toronto! I’ll have to settle for the crabapple trees on a street near my house, that should be blooming soon. They are gorgeous, too! Glad it made a crappy day better!

  144. Color me confused – where’s the mistake you made? Was it that you briefly felt crappy?
    Glad you got to enjoy the cherry trees. Ours bloomed a few weeks ago, and now we’re getting to enjoy spring in earnest.

  149. Boy, that is breathtaking. Asolutely gorgeous. oh, the shawl is looking beautiful…by the way. I’m so glad to hear that people can still enjoy the really important/simple things in life. Good for you, Stephanie!!!

  150. Beautiful! Beautiful!! Where is High Park? My husband and I will be in Toronto overnight and I would love to see the cherry blossoms!!
    Your shawl is gorgeous, Stephanie, both the spinning and the knitting, as is everything you do!!
    Also, for those of you who live in Toronto, is there a good veggie restaurant near the Hampton Inn on the west side of Toronto on Sheridan Road? Please let me know at spinwool7@aol.com and thank you!!!

  153. How lucky you were to have that appointment, you might have missed the wondrous cherry tree show!
    Glad you got to enjoy it.

  154. I am sure that my comment is buried amongst the masses but I just had to add that your picture remind me of a great time. The husband and I lived on High Park Avenue when we were first married before jobs took us away from the city and spring in “The Park” is one of our best memories.

  155. An open-air roof of blossoms. That just made my day, as I sit in my windowless office.
    I have no High Park, but I do have the afternoon off…and it’s finally spring here too, as of the last 2 days. So I am going to go find my own cherry blossoms, somewhere. Or the local equivalent.
    Good on you for turning the bike, and thanks for sharing.

  156. Wow, those trees are AMAZING!!! Your shawl looks kinda like the blossoms, the way it’s laid out there. *wistful sigh* I want to come to Canada!!!

  159. So beautiful! I feel the same way as you down here in Boston. Over the weekend, the trees really leafed out and I can feel myself relax a little more each time I look at them. Winter is over! It may end up being a cool summer, but at least it won’t snow anymore!!

  161. Hanami!!
    Perfect timing, since that is the shawl I’m trying to finish right now.
    (would add link if I knew how)
    Thank you for sharing the gift 🙂

  163. I just went outside and glared at our poor, inoffensive little palm trees. It’s not their fault they can’t bloom, poor things and they do their best.
    Darn…I want me some cherry trees too….

  164. It briefly snowed here, on Mother’s Day, but I feel your Spring. 🙂
    Thank you!

  166. Isn’t it amazing how when the heavy is super heavy it makes the high that much higher? I’ve been reading Spiritual Midwifery, and as a fairly young person I have never been exposed to hippie verbiage. It really speaks to me. Those beautiful blossoms are your cosmic reward for creating and putting on Sock Summit. You go out and enjoy them!

  167. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous….I wish Oklahoma looked like that. Down here, we’re already sweating and slathering on the sunblock. I love the shawl!

  168. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my Mom wants to move up to Canada because of the blossoms. She’s a new beekeeper, and her bee’s love blossoms. Need I say more?

  169. Beautiful! Reminds me of Washington, DC. My family and I visited during the cherry blossom festival a few years ago, and it is the kind of event everyone should experience. Just nature being beautiful.

  170. WOW! Thanks for the pictures. I was raking my flower beds and noticed that the herbs are sprouting and so are the hollyhocks. We have some tulips and daffodils sprouting up north, here, but nothing as spectacular as those cherry trees.
    Being still not completely sure it’s not going to snow again, the trees here are still being tentative… But if there are blossoms in Toronto, they should be here in a few weeks!

  171. YES to everything you said about the beauty of being outdoors on a Spring day. I love just standing under those trees, looking up and feeling enveloped by the blossoms.
    I’ve finally realized that taking my dog out for a walk is a big priority. Puts everything in perspective…

  174. Thanks for sharing the beauty of your surroundings. Canon has a plant near my office, and they maintain roadside cherry trees on the road to that plant. And, so, like you, we get a day or two of spring’s best effort!

  176. Glorious pictures – I especially love how your Damask shawl looks like a cherry tree in bloom. Lovely! We had this day last week here in Portland, OR. And we were all depressed when it rained the very next day. Enjoy Spring!

  177. I’m down in Philadelphia and spring has been here for a while, but I missed the cherry blossoms because I was traveling. And then things started going all pear shaped today, so I took a break to read about someone else’s day and I opened your blog. And breathed deeply and instantly relaxed. Those are positively gorgeous. 🙂 Thank you!
    And the shawl is looking lovely, too. I like the way you draped it to echo the arch of the trees. 🙂

  178. Thanks for reminding us to stop and smell the cherry trees. Really spring is very well dressed and she reminds us we have much to be thankful for and there is more beauty to behold coming our way. Hugs and happy spring.

  180. That was absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing that. We currently have all our windows and doors thrown wide open and I plan to take a very long walk later. It is supposed to be in the high 70’s (F) today and hopefully the temp won’t drop too much tomorrow. Thanks again for sharing those pics.

  181. Heard about your blog from blogging for dummies. Just recently saw cherry blossoms on yahoo and fell in love with them. these pictures are awesome! Makes me want to move north! (i live far far south;P).

  183. The most beautiful cherry tree in our scruffy neighborhood is at the entrance to the Big Lots parking lot. It’s huge, and perfectly shaped, and when you stand under it and breathe – ahhhhhh. I have been walking my dog there every day just to get under that tree, and assure it that even though it is in an awful ugly place it is beautiful, and this person appreciates it.

  185. Oooh! I’m currently knitting a Damask too and your photos make me want to go sit next to some flowers and knit. 🙂

  186. Stunning tree blossoms and the shawl is gorgeous too! just left Fairbanks Alaska where the daily high is barely creeping up to 50F, which is cold for May even in Fairbanks. visiting near charlotte NC this week and it is getting into the 80s here and already humid! ugh! i don’t know how people live where it is this hot so much of the year but the countryside here is very nice! I’m an arctic girl. but loving the greenness here in North Carolina. ahhhhh no more freezy cold,for a little while 🙂

  187. That totally reminds me of lovers lane in Anne of Green Gables. Our cherry trees blossomed in Victoria quite a while ago, but the weather still sucks. You guys have been way warmer than us. And I’m just a little jealous of it. 🙂

  189. Happy Spring!
    The white in your shawl looks just like the cherry blossoms. How appropriate (and beautiful)

  190. Fantastic photos! So glad spring has arrived for you at last. It’s been a wonderful (and very dry) spring here in the UK, but now it’s raining….

  191. thanks for the photos. My allergies make it impossible for me to enjoy scenes like this in person – its nice see photos.

  193. Wow Spectacular! Living in very rural Tennessee I forget that cities can be filled with natural beauty as well. Thanks for reminding me.

  195. OH! Your cherry tree photos just brightened what has otherwise been a trying and somewhat traumatic day. Makes me think of happy times in Washington DC. Thank you for sharing.

  196. Thank you so much for sharing these photos. They are so beautiful, they made me cry. (I’m in that weird kind of crying because of beauty mood. 🙂
    Oh beautiful Spring!

  197. Thank you for sharing these pics. I hope you don’t mind but I copied one to my desktop background at work because I sit in an office with no window….I really should call in sick and enjoy some spring.

  198. Oh my! Is it me or your shawl’s colors look like the cherrie blossoms???

  200. beautiful!!! I’ve missed it, obviously… where is the pattern for this beautiful Jacob Damask pattern? Please oh please, someone tell me!

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