Houston is HARU

There are so many flowers blooming in Houston.
TSUTSUJI, SAKURA, UME, everything is blooming all at once, and some of them smell shockingly good.
I say "shockingly", and I mean it.
Sometimes, I am working on a deadline, leaving the library after midnight, completely sleep-deprived.
And then I pass these flowers, and the smell is overwhelming, I have to stop walking.
They bring back many memories from Japan.
When I was in the elementary school, my family lived near TAMAGAWA.
One time, I got very sick, and was hospitalized, it was around the spring.
After two-three days, I recovered, and was sent home.
Maybe because hospital is such an artificial environment, but it was the first time I realized how beautiful SAKURA is. My mom was driving, and I counted all of the SAKURA trees that we passed by. She looked happy. I was happy too.
I hope spring will come to TOHOKU very soon, too.