[lefty-lie-spy]

Hanami (literally “flower watching”) season in Japan is when everyone goes out for a picnic in a park, along a river, etc and drink and eat a lot.

I never thought about it much until I read this post, so I dug up some Japan cherry blossom forecast websites. I even found this one in English for comparison. They take their cherry blossoms very seriously around here. It is a pretty awesome sight when you can walk along a river or creek and see dozens to hundreds of cherry trees in bloom and dropping little pink petals into the water. The creek near my house becomes literally blanketed in pink every year for about a week along a two kilometer stretch. It’s pretty cool.

Japanese Cherry Blossom Bloom Forecast
http://www.jnto.go.jp/sakura/eng/index.php

[Daffynition]

Fruit growers here, in Connecticut are concerned about a repeat of last years stone fruit crops; 100% loss here. And farmers can't sustain this kind of loss to keep the family farm. I know growers in northern midwest states are worried about the same devastating problem.

Connecticut Fruit Growers Fear Warm Weather Could Be Followed By Killer Frosts

Need to make it past Mother's Day, so bees will come out of the hives, to pollinate the blossoms. Tricky business. Crop insurance is very expensive; many can't afford it.