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Hanami and M Doll

As a prelude, this post was started on Sunday, April 12 but not finished until today.  A friend called yesterday to see if I was OK since I hadn't posted anything for over a week.  She had me, Paul or any one of my direct family members seriously ill.  (It is nice to have close friends who care so much.)  Nothing has happened except a bit of writer's block; a few posts were started during the last week and none finished.  So in order to avoid future calls about my health, I thought there should put some closure on these starts.  Perhaps the block has loosened.
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Spring hit the Vancouver region beautifully during the weekend of April 11 and 12th.  The temperature reached into the 70's F or about 17-18 degrees C.  The sky was clear and there was an ever so slight breeze.  It was time to get out and look at the lovely cherry blossoms or as the Japanese refer to this, do some hanami.  (Although the term hanami refers to flower watching, it seems to be applied to cherry blossoms watching as well.)

Here are a few photos that really speak for themselves.

The accumulation of falling blossom petals on the steps at our home

A view I drive by every evening on the way home from work

Just down the street from the view above.

And how about cherry blossoms and a bit of snow (on the peaks to the left) both in one photo

The snowfall of pink petals and the sweet fragrance in the air makes driving and walking around looking at these blossoms so much fun.  It was wonderful fun last weekend.  Then during the week there were heavy rains and wind.  The beauty of last weekend has passed, but I have these lovely photos to help me remember to take advantage of hanami when it is available.  Perhaps something philosophical should be said here, but I don't have the words.   Georgia O'Keeffe's comments below will do:

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.

Of course, Ms. O'Keeffe painted flowers, as for me I just photograph them.  So it was last weekend, I did take the time to really stop and look at the beauty around me.  I'm glad I did, because by this weekend, it was gone.

M doll face as of April 13, 2013
On another note, I did start to shape the M doll head.  Here you can see the eyes and mouth have been added.  The eyes are done with an embroidery stitch called spider web and yes, I did go with blue eyes.  The odds are not good M's eyes will remain blue, but at this moment they are.  I also wanted them to be especially big, because her eyes are that large in proportion to the rest of her face.  Finally, at this point in her life she is drawn to colour and shapes so I wanted those eyes to capture her attention.

The smile is purposefully crooked, it is exactly the type of smile I get from her; one that seems to indicate a certain amount of amusement.  It's just the look I want her to get all the time.  Next, I have to figure out the hair colour and style.  The hair cut will be short, but perhaps not as short as M's current style.  Got to love all these silly decisions.



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