Come Take A Walk With Me

Come take a walk with me.

Let me show you the Japanese Friendship Garden on a warm February morning in San Diego. We’ll get there early, before the crowds arrive for Setsubun.

The sun is already climbing higher. Its light filters through the trees in long streams, resting where it chooses — on azaleas, on camellias, flowering quietly beneath the canopy.

Setsubun is the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional Japanese calendar. It marks a transition from one season into another. You don’t need to know that to feel it here — everything seems to be shifting.

We follow the winding paths down toward the koi ponds and rocky streams. Water flows steadily, fed by a waterfall tumbling from a hill in the distance. The garden reveals itself slowly, one turn at a time.

Magnolias are blooming, along with a few early cherry trees. Their petals are barely pink. When they fall, they drift across the path like snow, even though the air is warm.

I wish you were walking beside me. Still, I know we’ll see each other soon, when spring reaches Delaware. It comes later there — but it comes.

For now, this is a preview. A walk we can take together, even from opposite sides of the country.

I’ll lead you back up the hill, toward the waterfall. And just before the path turns back, there’s something I won’t point out. I’ll let you find it yourself, if you ever come here.

Something to notice.

Something to look forward to.