Our Nation's Capital

Here in Our Nation's Capital things are a little different: the buildings aren't as tall, the taxis use an arcane meter system, and instead of making lame jokes about banking all the time, people make lame jokes about politics. Also, the climate is quite temperate.

As a result of this temperate clime, the season changes are for the most part unspectacular. Summer is notorious for swamp-like heat and humidity. Fall is a slightly less hot and humid version of Summer and lacks the crispness of its New England counterpart. Winter is sort of cold but is generally nondescript. Occasionally during Winter it will snow about an inch and all the people from the South will freak out and all the people from the North will talk about how good they are at driving in the snow and say things like "you know in Boston we never got a snow day unless there was at least 6 inches of snow on the ground."

Spring, however, is the exception--the arrival of Spring in DC is the tops. Starting in March, Our Nation's Capital becomes an Oasis of decently warm springtime weather the likes of which are unknown to the Granite State. Besides reauthorize the Farm Bill every five years (lame politics reference!), Spring might just be the most important thing we do in DC.

Central to the springtime experience in DC is the cherry blossom. A gift from Japan in 1912 as a gesture of friendship between the two countries, cherry blossom trees are dispersed throughout the District and come into bloom for about 2 weeks in late March/early April signifying the beginning of Spring. A clever observer will note the irony that some 30 years after receiving this friendship gift we would be engaged in a vicious war in the Pacific against our once benevolent benefactors. The whole situation was so awkward, in fact, that they had to cancel the annual Cherry Blossom Festival from 1942-1946. It's okay though because we eventually won the war and rewrote Japan's Constitution so that they aren't allowed to have an army. Now we are friends again, and everyone can enjoy the cherry blossoms sans irony.

Anyway, the point is this: the cherry blossoms are out, and they are lovely.* Spring has sprung in Our Nation's Capital.

*Some people might say that writing about cherry blossoms is "stupid" or "not masculine," but that is false. In this instance they are being referenced for their symbolism so it's fine.