Walks and Trips with Sachiki-san: Visited Morioka Sakura-matsuri Venues before a Flurry of Cherry Blossoms Dances in the Wind 4.11, 2023

The cherry blossoms in Morioka bloomed on April 3rd, 15 days earlier than average, and reached full bloom on April 6th, 18 days earlier than average. The period from flowering to full bloom is 6 days in an average year, but this year it was only 3 days to full bloom. At this rate, it's going to turn into a flurry of cherry blossoms soon.

The Morioka Sakura-matsuri (Cherry Blossoms Festival), which is held in conjunction with the blooming of cherry blossoms, will be held earlier than usual this year, from April 7th (Friday) to May 7th (Friday). The venues are Morioka Castle Site and Takamatsunoike Pond. Both are places where Sachiki-san and I sometimes go out for a walk.

On this day when Sachiki-san was off from the dog school, Sachiki-san and I visited two venues of the festival.

First, we visited Morioka Castle Site.

Sachiki-san seemed to be more attracted by the petals that have fallen to the ground than the flowers blooming on the branches. And tries to chase them whenever the wind blows them. I'm glad we were able to come before a flurry oof cherry blossom dances in the wind.

At Morioka Castle Site, I was asked, "Did you come to Kakunodate yesterday?" It seemed that she had seen Sachiki-san in Kakunodate and remembered him.

Next, we moved to Takamatsunoike Pond. It is about 15 minutes by car from Morioka Castle Site. Although it is not clearly visible in the photo, Mt. Iwate looked beautiful.

At night, we visited the Morioka Castle Site again and enjoyed the cherry blossoms lit up at night.

We sometimes visit the Morioka Castle Site for a walk, but since I moved to Morioka in the spring of 2020 when the new coronavirus infection began to spread, I have never seen so many people.