On my one Sunday in Japan, I took some time off from disaster work. In the morning I went to church. In the afternoon, a local missionary couple invited several of us from CRASH to view the cherry blossoms at a nearby park.

There were hundreds of cherry trees. They were in full bloom. Thousands of people came to have lunch under enormous branches filled with clouds of pink cherry blossoms.

I leave with some difficult memories of the devastation caused by the earthquake and the tsunami. But, I also leave with this wonderful memory of thousands of people sitting under acres of cherry blossoms, enjoying a picnic lunch on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Bas