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| Cherry Blossom trees bloom along the National Mall following a rain shower March 28, in Washington, D.C. The Japanese cherry trees were gifted to Washington, D.C. by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912 and draw tens of thousands of daily visitors around peak bloom every year. AFP-Yonhap |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Spring came anyway. It survived the pandemic. Forsythias and azaleas signal the coming of the new season after a harsh, frozen winter. Cherry blossoms make us feel a season for life has just begun.
Spring is not the same it used to be in the wake of the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, spring was the season people looked forward to for gatherings and vacations.
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| A flower bouquet is laid out on rainy farmland in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, on March 28. Yonhap |
Cherry blossoms invited tourists from distant cities. Nationwide tourist attractions were crowded with overjoyed strangers.For trees and flowers, spring was the season to suffer. The coming of spring signaled torture.
Walking along the cherry blossom-lined street, careless people picked flowers and tree branches to keep them as souvenirs of their visits.
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| A man wearing a protective face mask takes a photo among blooming cherry blossoms amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, March 23. Reuters-Yonhap |
Over-tourism led the flower petals to fall from trees early. Tourists then walked all over the fallen petals.
The pandemic has enabled humans to put themselves into the shoes of other types of life.
Amid the pandemic, people feel uneasy as they are still locked down and unable to visit those places again. They are missing the good old days as they forgo traveling.
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| A bird's eye view photo shows a green onion field on Imja Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, on March 23. Yonhap |
The pandemic, however, is a blessing to plants. Mother Nature is intact, and so are her children.
With fewer tourists, flowers bloom and die in their due dates. Flowers fall when times are ripe. Fallen leaves are not tortured by passersby.
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| Climbers walk along a forsythia-filled trail on Seoul's Mount Inwang on March 29. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Spring has become a livable season for plants, thanks to the pandemic. Let there be spring for Mother Nature and her kids.
