A Hanami in Boston's Back Bay

Cherry trees along the Charles Esplanade

It's been a cold and rainy April in Boston. We even broke records. It rained 21 days in April—the most rainy days in any month since 1872. The cherry blossoms made it through the daily downpours though, and the end of the month brought beautiful flowering trees. If you're ever in the Greater Boston Area mid- to late-April, you should go to the Charles River Esplanade in the Back Bay and enjoy the blossoms and sailboats.

I may know a lot about Japanese cherry trees, or sakura, but I had never seen one before moving to Boston. I'd also never experienced a hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, until just this April. I first saw a hanami on Noragami Aragoto. Thank you Adachitoka (あだちとか) for that introduction. So, with Suzuha's cherry tree in my mind's eye and my last post's cherry blossom research in the back of my brain, I planned my first hanami.

I was so excited. My mind was full of cherry blossoms as I thought about all the options for the cute bento I would surely make and the meaningful poetry I would surely bring. I knew it would be perfect if I could only find a clear day and an extra moment. My husband and I were moving to a new apartment late April, and the weather had been consistently dreary. We needed a relaxing escape acutely, and my hanami would be rejuvenating, romantic, peaceful, and fun all in one. I waited for a sunny day for two weeks, checking the weather app and channeling Ryuuji Takasu as I watched YouTube bento-making videos on the daily.

Finally, the day came. It had rained in the early hours of the morning, but it would be sunny by late afternoon. I'd ruined dinner the night before, turning a salsa chicken and rice meal into a crème-cheese swamped chicken pâté. My already fragile confidence in the kitchen was cracked, so I left my potential bento-making prowess on the backburner and opted for my signature no-bake cookies instead. My husband suggested we bring the accidental pâté and use it as a cracker spread along with some special cheeses he'd gotten for his birthday. It wasn't a cutesy, anime-inspired bento, but it was still pretty great. With a few friends and many other delicious foods, made a break for the Back Bay. We found a beautiful, albeit windy, picnic place. We snacked and talked by the cherry trees till twilight. It was lovely, quiet escape from the rush. And it was only a little bit wet.

A hanami wouldn't be complete for me without some poetry, and since I realized too late that I'd forgotten my stash of haikus, I'll share a few I love with you here.

From the Four Great Haiku Poets of Japan,

Sakura, sakura

they fall in the dreams

of sleeping beauty

-Yosa Buson

The cherry blossoms:

Being ill, how many things

I remember about them

-Masaoka Shiki

Without regret

they fall and scatter…

cherry blossoms

-Kobayashi Issa

A lovely spring night

suddenly vanished while we

viewed cherry blossoms

-Basho Matsuo

I hope you all got to enjoy cherry blossoms this spring, too. If not, I recommend watching Noragami OVA 2: "A Promise in Spring" and Toradora! OVA: "The True Meaning of Bento" for a slice of the hanami life.

Take care and be kind.

うぞお元気でそしてみんなに親切にする,

Natalie sensei

ナタリー先生