A Tree That Blooms In The Middle of Winter

• Photographer
  Chin-Fa Tzeng

In January 2024, a tall weeping cherry tree stood on the roadside in Kakunodate City, Akita Prefecture, Japan, during a snowstorm. The tree trunks and branches are covered with mist of white snow. It looks like a cherry blossom tree full of ice flowers in the ice and snow. I stood under the tree and told the big tree that spring in April is when the pink weeping cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The weeping cherry tree bent over and breathed out to me; the flowers bloom in my heart but not in the season.