The 2017 Browning of the Cherry Blossoms

Ok, I get it. We had a winter storm and many of the cherry blossoms died. Depending on the information one reads, 50% of the blossoms died with the snow and cold and left us with brownish dried buds. An otherwise glorious display of pink and white was thwarted by nature. Well, at least that's one explanation.

As it happens, I saw the cherry blossoms on this very day in 2016 --- so my images from 2016 and 2017 allow for a near perfect comparison. (Forget that I cannot seem to get them right side up --- another symbol perhaps.) Ponder the 2016 images for a moment and compare them to the image above.

Now comparison really. Try this image:

It makes me wonder whether there is something greater at work here -- some symbolism perhaps. We seem to have lost our brightness, our glow, our full blooms. (OK, there are some trees that are blooming in 2017 -- offering hope for 2018.) Perhaps we are all muddy and brown from the DC swamp -- which is overflowing. Perhaps we are learning what price we are paying for half-truths and post-truths and a disregard for people and the environment.

In short, the brightness and natural glow of 2016 has left us and has been replaced with a muddiness and an absence of reflections. Self-reflections, external reflections, reflections on values we hold dear. Wonder how long we will stay muddied?