Spring has Sprung!

After 4 years in Oklahoma where the only transition from one season to another was whiplash, it has been wonderful to watch spring unfold in Korea....one beautiful flowering bush at a time.  The temperatures have moved from cardigan chilly to sunny enough for sandals, and the only thing I'm missing now is a backyard (or a front porch)...

Easter was beginning of spring here, so the morning dawned sunny and beautiful-- but still crisp enough to require sweater dresses and tights for the ladies of the house.  We celebrated Resurrection Sunday with our Korean brothers and sisters of the faith in a joint service at the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) chapel on base.   The service was breath-taking with readings done in both Korean and English, and a performance by the ROKAF traditional choir.  Even though we couldn't understand every word that was said, their love and passion for Christ was evident and the greatest blessing was experiencing unity among such a diverse group of believers.  God is good, and we celebrated that together on Easter morning.

Spring has brought new life to this base, where the bare bushes and trees are bedazzled with blooms and emerald green leaves-- and the air! Oh, the flowers make the breeze smell like the most perfectly balanced floral perfume.....  It is divine.

Probably my favorite transformation this spring has been to watch the cherry blossoms go from bud to full bloom in about 10 days.  Cherry blossoms are ubiquitous with spring in places like Washington, D.C. and Japan-- and we are fortunate enough to have a healthy population on the peninsula, too!
The while and blush-pink blossoms literally breathe spring into the air, and pop against any gray skies that linger while winter and spring make their exchange.  And, the appreciation of these beautiful trees is manifest each year with festivals across the peninsula celebrating the arrival of spring.  As the blooms open, first in the south where the warmer temperatures arrive in late March, the pattern of festivals follows in a proud seasonal march.  Warm weather and full bloom finally reached us about mid-April, and we made the trek to Seoul to take in a Cherry Blossom Festival on Yeoido Island.

We took in the festivities at night, when the trees were lit from underneath with bright, easter egg shades of blue, red, green, and orange.  It was a little like walking through an Andy Warhol painting-- where the everyday became somehow brighter and more unique than ever.

 On this little island in the middle of the Han River, we got to see the flowers that herald the beginning of spring surrounded by the lights of a city that thrives all year long.  So blessed to be able to take a moment to stop and smell the "roses"....