Hazards of Predicting Blossom

I was going to post an item on the hazards of being in the cherry blossom prediction business in China, only to find that a recent media story actually applied to Japan. Apparently hundreds of thousands of people on the Nipponese archipelago plan their annual vacations around blossom season. They need accurate predictions of when to make their travel reservations. A week or two the wrong way and they will be greatly peeved. This year the main authority blew it and is now persona non grata. In China two years ago the first real brightness in the city I stayed in came mid April when the cold quickly transitioned into blossom time and mundane streets became colourful. Arriving in Lotus Land (Canada's West Coast) this morning, the first airliner to meet the eye when approaching the terminal was an Air China jumbo jet with an enormous cherry blossom on its tail. Then in the luxuriant burbs it immediately struck me that the blossom was full out, resplendent in the fresh liquid sunshine. The green sheen of buds is just making an appearance in Central Ontario but blossom is surely several weeks away. I will not hazard a guess as to when the tulips will be out in Ottawa but indubitably a couple of weeks either side of the festival. God forbid not during.