Out with the selfie sticks. Not that long ago, tourists could be spotted from a mile away by Acela Corridor Americans (from Boston to New York, but mostly in D.C.) because they would slow down foot traffic, stopping in the middle of sidewalks and streets to take pictures with dead-giveaway selfie sticks. And while much remains the same — and we still have not established lanes on sidewalks so that commuter pedestrian traffic can resume in the way we are accustomed — this year, for cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital, tourists were so serious about their vacations that they had actual cameras. As I tried to maneuver between meetings in my usual last-minute style, the difference in the visitors to the East Coast (this, too, was obvious) was unmistakable. I wondered if the cameras had something to do with nostalgia or, perhaps, an attempt at a Lenten fast from excessive screen time. Maybe the cherry blossoms and Washington, D.C., were being taken as the serious mortality checks that they are.
Try to wait out the crowds and the cherry blossoms will be gone. I got to D.C. for a few events during what was still peak-ish time for the bloom, and by that evening, heavy rain had done them in — creating showers of pink around the tidal basin. Time is short. You have a few mornings to attempt to beat the crowds — which, in my experience, is nearly impossible. And then they are dying. You might pass by longingly, wishing you had taken the time, when there was still time, for a few perfect shots for your social media timeline. Isn’t that a bit like life? Spring is a good time to reset and try to avoid regrets. And even if we — inevitably? — will have some regrets, there’s something about new life that — if it doesn’t get your allergies going too intensely — inspires a new outlook and challenges us to begin again.
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