A personality responsibility

I ran into a high-ranking local official in the Third Street Park after lunch on Tuesday. She had some out-of-town guests with her and, of course, she was talking about the blossoms.

Or the lack of them.

“People in Macon feel personally responsible when the trees don’t bloom for the festival,’’ she said.

She’s right. We do feel a bit guilty. We have all these people coming from all over, and we want to strut our stuff. But it’s just not all there. Not yet, anyway.

It’s kind of like a painting without all the colors.

It’s kind of like a concert without all the chorus.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to put the best face on the bus tours I’ve been giving all week. But it’s tough without full cooperation from the cherry trees.

I did get a nice note from reader Randall Murphy, of Macon. He included three photographs of the full-blooming trees from a past festival.

“Just in case you have to conduct a tour of bare cherry trees, I’m enclosing a couple of pictures you can show your guests to prove they do bloom and how beautiful they are when they do.’’

Thanks, Randall, and happy first day of spring to you.

A picture is worth a thousand blooms.