Note: Bill Poss took all of the photos in this story.
While friends in warmer places told us temperatures were in the eighties and their Easter was sunny, our Easter in Langley was overcast, drizzly and sported temperatures in the mid forties. Originally invited for Easter dinner by a neighbor, she texted early Sunday to let us know her husband had COVID and had visited the ER the night before. He is doing better now.
We decided to drive to Seattle and walk among the famous cherry trees at the UW quad. A gloomy day was brightened by the venerable trees that lined the walkway. International visitors speaking many languages, smiled and held their cellphones to take photos and remember this Easter. Walking beneath the branches of Yoshino cherry trees, which were planted planted in 1936 at the campus, we were filled with joy. The trees’ moss and licorice-fern-lined bark is knobbled and dotted. They are a hybrid borne of Japan, originating in the 18th Century.
According to the UW website, the trees are: “Internationally famous, the white blossoms of these trees attract massive crowds of visitors each spring as they line the quad with a cloak of snowlike flowers, which appear on the trees before the leaves and are mesmerizing and surreal to look upon. The Quad’s signature Yoshino cherry trees are nearly 90 years old and were originally set in a grove at the Washington Park Arboretum. In late 1964, the University transplanted the trees to their current spot.”
It’s peak season now and worth a visit to the University District. Nearby is University Village, where we enjoyed excellent lunch at Pasta & Co., and locally made strawberry ice cream at Molly Moon’s Ice Cream.
