私は桜が大好きなのですが、あの賑やかなというか騒がしい花見というのは実はとっても苦手です…。
桜は、咲はじめも良いし満開の時も良い。
人気のない場所で偶然にも満開の桜の下で時を過ごす幸運に恵まれたら、春の気候と相まって時間が止まったような不思議な感覚になるものです。

しかし、散りゆく桜も良いですね。
過ぎゆく時の流れを否応なしに突きつけられる。その儚さが良い、という人もいる。
散りゆく桜は儚げ、その枝先をよく見ると若葉が伸び始めている。
花の終焉を合図に、主役は新緑に染まる木々となり、生き物たちもいっせいに活動し始める。
桜は背景に溶け込んで、その存在を消す。

あれほど隆盛を誇った花をさっと散らす桜は、あまりにもあっけなく、見事で潔い。
薄桃色の柔和な花からは、想像し難いものがある。それ故、私たちの心を打つ。

I love cherry blossoms, but when it comes to viewings, which you might call lively or maybe noisy, I really can't handle them...
Cherry blossoms are great both when they first open, and when they're in full bloom.
Sometimes I'm blessed with the good fortune to find myself somewhere away from the crowds, passing the time underneath the cherry blossoms. When that happens, together with the spring weather, I have this mysterious feeling like time has stopped.

But scattering cherry blossoms are also great.
They're forcibly confronted by the passage of time. Some people like that transience.
The scattering blossoms are fleeting, but if you look closely at the tips of the branches, you can see new leaves beginning to grow.
The passing of the flowers is set in motion, and the trees covered in fresh green take the lead, as those living creatures spring to life all at once.
The cherry blossoms melt into the scenery, and finally vanish from existence.

The blossoms come, with little warning, from the sudden scattering of such proudly flourishing flowers. It's a wonderful and graceful thing.
The gentle pale pink flowers lead to something hard to imagine, and thus they strike at our hearts.