By Sunayana Prabhu
HOLMDEL – Spring announced itself last week with a peek at sunny skies and higher temperatures that left the Two River community thawing. But if you haven’t already surrendered to the splendor of the season, then it’s time to take a walk along the blooming cherry blossoms at Holmdel Park.
A stunning reminder of Mother Nature’s bounty in the run-up to Earth Day, the cherry blossoms have hit their peak along the pond at the David C. Shaw Arboretum in Holmdel Park, offering an abundance of inspiration, recreation and the sheen of resurrection in a post-pandemic world. Washington D.C.’s famed National Cherry Blossom Festival returned this year after a hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions but – on an admittedly slightly less grand scale – these lovely blossoms can be viewed much closer to home.
“They (the cherry blossoms) make us happy,” said Robin Ostrowski, principal landscape architect of the Monmouth County Park System. Ostrowski protects and prunes the 50 different species of cherry trees in Holmdel Park. They are predominantly of the Yoshino, Sargent and weeping Higan varieties but, if a resident wishes to plant a cherry tree in their own backyard, Ostrowski suggests the Autumnalis variety “because Autumnalis don’t get too big, they flower in spring and then again a little in autumn,” she said. It might also help keep backyard birds around just a little longer.
The David C. Shaw Arboretum, located on 22 acres in Holmdel Park, was started in 1963 with plantings of crabapples, cherries and hollies. What started with 87 trees now contains nearly 3,000 trees and shrubs but the grandeur of the cherry blossoms is “one spectacular display that nature puts on,” said Andrew Sterns, assistant director of the Monmouth County Park System, who takes pride in keeping the parks running through the pandemic. “Except for a very short period during May 2020, park visitations have remained high because people wanted to stay healthy,” he said.
Health benefits of immersing oneself in nature have been well-researched and practiced. The park system is set to host “Forest Bathing” sessions in Aberdeen’s Freneau Woods Park April 22, and May 6 and 13. Guided by a park naturalist, “forest bathing,” also known as “forest therapy,” offers a way to walk out of the shadows of grief and loss by connecting with nature, instead of on treadmills or urban sidewalks.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by United States of America (PNAS) published a report by Stanford researchers showing brain scans of participants after a 90- minute nature walk. The results showed reduced activity in the subgenus prefrontal cortex, a brain region that’s active during rumination (repetitive brooding over negative feelings), which is a risk for depression.
In simple terms, explained Jennifer Mascolo, Psy.D., N.C.S.P., a licensed psychologist and nationally certified school psychologist from Middletown, “Nature can be a powerful tool for our mental health. It can gently lull our minds into a space of calm, mindful reflection that can serve to reduce stress, increase positive emotions and help us feel deeply connected to the world around us. It’s power lies in its ability to provide reflecting, healing and restorative moments that support our emotional well-being.”
“One step at a time,” said Ying, a regular visitor at Holmdel Park, the “chaos of the world fades away. The wind, the birds, the geese, the ducks, trout! Everything here is in harmony, even the water knows it must keep flowing.”
In addition to soothing the mind and soul, the beautiful pink and white cherry blossoms make a lovely and cinematic backdrop for everything from a simple family picnic to an engagement or wedding portrait session. Holmdel-based photographer Irene Keselman shared easy photography tips using a cellphone. “Portrait mode on the phone can be used to focus on one subject,” she said, “or shoot a wide-view looking toward the pond.”
Keselman suggests taking a bunch of photos and downloading a GIF maker app on your phone to design an album. Use another app like Adobe Lightroom to color-correct the photos to make the blossoms pop as much as they do in real life.
For the best times and angles she recommends getting out early or at the end of the day. “Sunrise and sunsets are the best times to shoot,” Keselman said. “There are cute benches in the park and even smaller cherry trees that are great to photograph children.”
The cherry trees on the National Mall were gifted to the United States by Japan in 1912. Their bloom is a celebration of solidarity. Their existence, a gentle reminder of how beautiful change can really be.
The article originally appeared in the April 21 – 27, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
