Cherries in the Nick of Time

3/13/16 University of Washington Quad

Knowing that Urban Sketchers Seattle was planning to meet at Suzzallo Library on the UW campus today, I’d been hoping all week that we’d get enough of a reprieve from the rain to sketch the cherry trees on the Quad. On Tuesday The Times had reported that the blossoms were “still a week away from full bloom,” so I knew they would be close to peak by now.

3/13/16 Rainy campus from Allen Library

The morning started out as wet and gloomy as ever, so I spent the sketchout inside Suzzallo and the connecting Allen libraries, staying warm and dry. From one of Allen’s large windows, I captured a rainy scene, and from Suzzallo’s upper level, I caught Dan sketching the stairway.

After the sketchbook sharing, a few of us were chatting, when suddenly we all saw it, coming through Suzzallo’s high stained glass windows: Sunshine! I knew it was now or never. Kate, Michele and I dashed out to the Quad, where hundreds of people milled around, delighting in the nearly white blossoms. Stomping through puddles, posing for portraits with cameras on the ends of selfie sticks, this was our version of hanami, the Japanese tradition of celebrating the onset of spring.

As I put the last swipes on my sketch, a few drops of rain hit the page, and a minute later the deluge and high winds were back. Caught those cherries in the nick of time.

3/13/16 Dan sketching on one of Suzzallo's majestic stairways.

3/13/16 Suzzallo Library's stacks