I lived in Washington, DC for a semester in college, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival was one of the highlights of my time there. Something about those beautiful, blushing flowers, after the dreariness of the winter months, makes people so happy and hopeful. This year's festival begins tomorrow and runs through April 10, and according to the folks who track these sorts of things (the first sign of flowers in spring, optimum leaf-peeping conditions in the fall, etc), the trees will be in full bloom from March 29-April 1. Inside the Beltway, hundreds of adults and children will share in the collective joy that comes from knowing that the long stretch of winter is mostly behind us and warmer days are ahead. 

Like a lot of Southerners, I never get tired of sifting through old photographs. Particularly photos of all the women in my family. There is something artful and inspiring about the snapshots. Every time I go back over my favorites, I find it fascinating that I'm a product of all the women that came before me.