Joy is blooming in Portland

Welcome to Portland! The picture above is on the waterfront next to the Steel Bridge... one of the eleven bridges in Portland city limits.

I haven't been into downtown in a couple of weeks, but I knew that the Japanese cherry blossoms planted next to the waterfront had to be in bloom. My neighbor across the street has a tree in his back yard... it bloomed this week and turned into a little explosion of pink against the back corner of his house. 

I have lived here for three and a half years now. The one thing I've always wanted to do, but have never taken the time, is go down to the waterfront park and take pictures of those trees on a bluebird day. The shades of pink and white against the green grass and blue skies is truly breathtaking. I've never ventured out to go capture the moments on camera... until today.

I got Rowan dressed & fed, packed up the camera & a blanket... we made the five-minute drive into downtown. I parked near the Hawthorne Bridge, planning to take extra advantage of the extremely rare warm weather & walk the distance to the Japanese blossoms. It was almost 65 degrees in Portland today. Unheard of for this time of year, so it's more like a spring fake-out. It'll last for a day or two, then go back to cold and grey.

The warm weather brings everyone outside in this town. It's really amazing to see the walkway against the river completely packed with people, bikes and strollers. I'm a people-watcher, so this was pure gold entertainment for me!

I made the walk down to the other end of downtown, past the Saturday Market and past the children playing in the fountains in their underwear & diapers. We finally arrived at the blossoms.

Families were getting portraits taken, loved ones were laying on blankets underneath the pink trees. It was one of those days where you look around everywhere and you see joy around every corner. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with God's presence this afternoon. A good dose of sunshine and blue skies was exactly what this town needed this week, and you could see it in the faces of everyone at the park.

The blooms were spectacular. It created a full canopy of pink over the green grass. I've never seen anything quite like it and it was an afternoon that I'll remember for quite some time. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

I hope you experienced Him today, too.

Have a beautiful Saturday, friends.