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One of my (late) great-aunts was born around the time that Japan gifted 3,020 cherry trees to DC in an act of goodwill. I think about her quite a bit generally and more significantly as we've entered year two of the pandemic.

We're physically isolated—alone together. She experienced that during the 1918 pandemic. But now we have these amazing, frustrating, dry-eye-inducing technologies to stay in contact. In many cases, such connections happen in real time. Life, live from a screen.

And from there, the world – and beyond! – becomes possible.

Today in DC resembled the color scheme of the photo above, gray and rainy. I windowswapped (new verb?) to a sunny afternoon in Cork, Ireland. If you prefer audio, you can listen to air traffic control towers or the silence of a forest in Massachusetts.

Lots of aquariums host live cams too, and I prefer the jellyfish, but peruse the internet to satisfy your own marine wildlife preferences. Just as many universities maintain streaming camera feeds of quads or greens to satisfy that nostalgic tug from your alma mater.

With public health closures and travel restrictions, your best view of the century+ capital cherry trees and their delicate pink pom-pom reminders of renewal and resilience is the Bloom Cam. Next year you can head to Japan, where residents have maintained records of the peak bloom since 812 A.D.

Their "ancient beauty" described by Toi Derricotte reminds me of the scene I captured yesterday—a rare newsletter bonus photo.