Thunderbirds

The Thunderbird Marching Band from Timpview High School in Provo, Utah,
performing at the National World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.
(To see larger photos, click on the images)

I spent my childhood and teen years growing up in Utah. Provo, to be exact. Not that I have any plans to live in Utah again, but I do keep up on the news from the Beehive State by reading the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. It was in the latter the other day that I found an article announcing that the Thunderbird Marching Band from Timpview High School in Provo had been selected to march in tomorrow's National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. In addition to the parade, they're also performing at several other sites around the city this weekend.

Timpview H.S. marching band at the World War II Memorial
with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

I attended Timpview my freshman year of high school and likely would have graduated from the same if my family hadn't moved to Orem the summer of my sophomore year. While I made good friends at my new high school (Mountain View), my affections remain with Timpview mostly because all of the kids I grew up going to school and church with from the age of 3 until 14 were at Timpview.

Random shots of the Timpview High School Marching Band (click on images to enlarge)

That's a long way of telling you that this morning, I went downtown to the World War II Memorial on the National Mall to hear the Timpview Thunderbirds Marching Band perform! It was fun to see these young men and women, who were required to take a special history class at 6:15 in the morning for a semester and who had to memorize all of their musical numbers, play at this beautiful memorial. A special thanks to Dr. David Fullmer for requiring such high standards from these students.

Honoring and meeting the veterans of our armed forces.

A special hello to Kim Davidson, Julie from Bethesda, and all the other nice folks I met today at the World War II Memorial, as well as Parker Kelly and his mom, Kahliel.

Parker Kelly, who plays the baritone horn
in the Thunderbird Marching Band,
and his mom, Kahliel, at the end of the concert.

Congratulations, Thunderbirds! And enjoy your time in Washington and Gettysburg!


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 4/08

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival: Contents

I've posted five entries of pictures from this year's Cherry Blossom Festival. You can continue scrolling down to see all of the entries. Or, if you don't want to look at the more than 25 pictures posted here, pick one of the links below and see what you want to see!

To see larger versions of each image, simply click on it.

To see a view of Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Air Force Memorial from across the Tidal Basin, click here.

To see the Washington Monument with cherry blossoms, click here.

To see the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin with cherry blossoms, click here and here.

To see close-ups of the cherry blossoms, click here.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at Washington, D.C.'s, loveliest time of the year.

2008 Cherry Blossoms: Arlington National Cemetery & The Air Force Memorial

The Tidal Basin with Cherry Blossoms in the foreground. In the center background is the Custis-Lee Mansion at Arlington National Cemetery. To the left of the mansion, you can catch a glimpse of the many headstones marking the graves of America's honored dead.


The Tidal Basin with Cherry Blossoms again in the foreground. In the right center background, the U.S. Air Force Memorial.


Copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

2008 Cherry Blossoms: The Washington Monument

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

2008 Cherry Blossoms: The Jefferson Memorial

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

2008 Cherry Blossoms: Just the Blossoms

Copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

BLOSSOMS!

Cherry blossoms in full bloom with the Jefferson Memorial in the background.
Spring has arrived in Washington!
(P.S. This photo is not an overlay. This is pure, dumb luck!)

I looked out my window yesterday evening and noticed we were about to have a gorgeous sunset. I literally ran to my room, grabbed my camera, tripod, keys, and a jacket and ran out the door. Jumped in my car and drove from upper NW to the Tidal Basin via Beach Drive and Rock Creek Parkway in about 10 minutes. (No mean feat, let me tell you! It usually takes 20.)

These are just four of the 114 pictures I took of the cherry blossoms, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, Roosevelt Memorial, and a few sunset shots. Over the next few days, I'll post a few more pictures. I'm also going back tomorrow morning before sunrise to set up and take pictures of the blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial in the early morning light.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival signals the commencement of spring in Washington, D.C., as well as the arrival of trains, planes, automobiles, and busloads of tourists and high school touring groups from all over the United States and the world. More than a million people will pour into the city over the next two weeks to enjoy the blossoms and the festival.

In 1912, the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, presented 3,000 cherry trees as a gift to the peoples of the United States in an effort to strengthen relations between our two countries. (In 1915, the United States reciprocated and presented Japan with flowering dogwood trees.) The cherry trees where planted around the Tidal Basin and the first festival was held in 1935. All festivities were suspended in the 1940s while the U.S. and Japan were at war with each other.

In 1947, the D.C. Board of Trade and D.C. Commissioners resumed the festival as an act of reconciliation and it has continued to this day. Events include a parade, martial arts demonstrations, and the crowning of a Cherry Blossom Princess, among other activities. In 1965, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted an additional 3,800 trees from the Japanese.

Today, these trees have realized a full cycle of life when, in 1981, Japanese horticulturists took cuttings to replace trees destroyed in flooding in Japan. In 1999, a new generation of cuttings was planted from a tree in Japan reputed to be 1,500 years old!

To see larger versions of the thumbnails, click on them. And come back next week. There will be more! Photo thumbnail descriptions from top to bottom: Cherry trees in full bloom at the mouth of the Tidal Basin; pink clouds to match the pink blossoms: the Washington Monument from across the Tidal Basin; blossoms, tourists, and the Jefferson Memorial: our most popular and picturesque time of year!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08