On a recent 'down day' I packed my camera bag and went on a follow-your-nose journey around the edge of Richardson Bay (very near where I live) just north of San Francisco. The only rule was to turn the wheel when I felt it, stop when I knew it, shoot what called to me. I needed this.

I had already stopped four or five times when I rounded a corner in State Park territory and happened upon the largest and most magnificent cherry blossom tree I have ever seen.

I quickly whipped to the side of the road. I began to shoot and got closer and closer as if pulled until I was standing right inside of it. Warm sun, cold breezes, magical cloud of branches and pristine flowers all around me - all the way to my toes.

This was one of those experiences that makes you breathe deep, calms you, connects you to the grander and oh-so-exquisite world. To Spirit.

When I returned home and first viewed these images I had this upside down but distinct feeling wash over me that maybe it had all been a dream. That if I drove back to that exact spot the tree would no longer be there.









And then,
the realization that it existed exactly where I needed it.
Right here within me.