The strength of our resolution to have a reunion with our friends in Brooklyn was directly proportional to the inconvenience that making it happen entailed.  These friends were fearful of infection, and had a particular horror of contracting Covid.  It is not an irrational phobia among New Yorkers, especially those managing chronic illness.  So we agreed to meet the couple at an outdoor café in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

          A canopy of cherry blossoms arched above us as we entered the grounds.  We had not known that the Cherry Esplanade's blooming would be at its peak.  I felt almost ambushed by the beauty of the seasonal spectacle.  Nor had our friends been aware of the timing, so they shared our surprise and delight.  Petals drifted in the air like flurries of pink snow.   As we strolled on the shaded paths of the grove, I took many, almost identical, pictures.  I dare say that you would have done the same.

 When the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden opened in 1915, it became the country's first public Japanese-style garden. It remains one of the most popular parts of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

The Tuscan Temple to Nature also dates from 1915.  It was designed by McKim, Mead and White, one of the preeminent architectural firms of its era.