Plum Blossoms at Aoba no Mori Park (青葉の森公園)

After months of bundling up in heat-tech shirts and down jackets, I found myself wearing only two thin layers on a bright, warm Friday morning. Chiba is finally warming up and coming alive with new life.

I decided to bike over in the morning to Aoba no Mori Park, a large park in Chibadera, Chiba, which is very close to where I live. I haven't explored it much, which is my loss because it is such a large and tranquil park filled with interesting statues, neat walking/running trails, and beautiful plants.

There were many intriguing statues that didn't seem to relate to each other at all...

 This one below was an interesting one...

 Every statue is reaching up towards something!

I only had about an hour to explore before heading off to work, so I covered a very small part of the park. My main purpose was to see the plum blossoms, which were located in one area of the park. The combination of sunshine, warm breeze, and sweet scent of the blossoms was intoxicating. What a wonder to behold a sea of magenta, pink, and white!

I thought these were cherry blossoms, but cherry blossoms' petals usually have a cleft. They sure fooled me.

It's so wonderful to see such striking differences between each passing season in Japan. 春めいてきました！