Washington’s 2009 97th Cherry Blossom Festival is winding down this weekend. And it has been celebrated by creatures large and small.

Let’s start with a small picture of Washington D.C.’s cherry blossom experience. National Geographic shares an “early bird gets the opening preview glimpse” of cherry blossom beauty.

Via National Geographic: A prothonotary warbler adds a splash of gold to a tableau of cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. The famed cherry trees were given to the U.S. capital city by Japan in 1912. More than 3,000 trees—and 12 different varieties—made the oversea journey from Yokohama to the District of Columbia.

I’ve put the Cherry Blossom Festival photos in Dolce Vita, not nature, because I believe that cherry blossoms have a subtle, but deeply sensual connection for women. They are an exquisite gift to our senses, an abundant rebirth of natural beauty.

2009 DC Cherry Blossom photos from raraujo at FlickrMore than a million visitors will enjoy viewing the 3700 cherry trees together, making it a large celebration and ritual of spring in Washington’s Tidal Basin. A visitor to Washington D.C. this past week enjoyed the parade last Saturday, followed by the first-ever Sushi Masters competition on the East Coast.