Operation CHERRY BLOSSOM

If you watch my website, you may have noticed that the photo at the top of each page has changed. That's because right now is the peak time for cherry blossoms in Washington, DC and I took a morning to photograph the beautiful trees around the Tidal Basin.

The history of the trees dates back to 1885, when a local resident, who had admired the Sakura trees in Japan, proposed to the US Army Superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds that those same flowering trees be planted along the Potomac waterfront.

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It took many requests, almost three decades, and finally a letter to Mrs. Taft herself, before the project finally came to fruition with the City of Tokyo donating an additional 2,000 trees in a gesture of friendship. You can read the full history at the National Park Service website.

OPORD and IMINT for Operation CHERRY BLOSSOM follows...

SITUATION
Enemy Forces: Hordes of professional and amateur photographers, equipped with camera paraphernalia and no understanding of personal space or boundaries         
Weather: Sunrise at 0659L, azimuth 79°
Terrain: Hilly, lots of flowering trees, walking trails, Tidal Basin just sitting there, waiting for some unsuspecting victims to fall in
Friendly Forces: None - This is a one man (woman) job, just me against the hordes!


MISSION
Taylor will conduct imagery intelligence (IMINT) collection operations from sunrise until she is sick of the hordes or satisfied with her photographic efforts in the vicinity of grid coordinate 228058.


EXECUTION
Taylor will wake up at 0430; SP time at or before 0500 to arrive at Objective FREE PARKING NLT 0530 and set up command post (tripod) at 0545. No fewer than 200 photos will be taken along the Tidal Basin and memorials before Taylor's mission is complete and she can return to base.

Note:
The first five photos were taken about ten days ago when it was still too cold for the trees to bloom. What a difference some warm weather makes!