Four decades ago, ornamental Yoshino cherry trees stood in Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum on land destined to be plowed under for construction of the 520 bridge. Despite advice that the trees were too old to move, an intrepid group dug them out, pruned them, and brought our cherries to live in "the Quad" in the heart of the University of Washington campus.

Every March since, our 30 cherry trees have blossomed into a canopy of white and pink. University students and faculty are joined on the Quad by picnickers snacking amidst the blossoms and bridal parties in white and pink being photographed in front of nature's white and pink. The beauty of the blossoms is a glory of nature not made by man. But it was the far-sighted human intervention 40 years ago that kept the trees alive.

Fast forward to this spring. There's both a recurring part of the cherry blossom story and a new one. First, the recurring part.

My friends at the UW Office of News and Information have installed a "cherry cam," webcasting to the world the view of the blossoms from my office window. Last year's cherry cam brought responses from around the state and the world.

If you surf to www.uwnews.org/cherrycam, you can share our virtual blossoms. But great as the cherry cam is, no picture can be as wonderful as the reality of nature. So come to campus. Take a picture of your bride. Or of your kids. Or just a photo of yourself to send to someone far away with a "wish you were here" note.

Now to the new part. Even if it's true that "no picture can be as wonderful as the reality of nature," great man-made art complements the beauty of nature.

We're turning over the digital capture from our cherry cam to students in UW's Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS). DXARTS is a first-in-the-world doctoral program combining digital technology and fine arts. In the coming weeks and months, DXARTS students will be applying their training in technology to transforming nature's magic into art.

There's a reader participation angle here, too. We'll be posting parts of the capture from the cherry cam on the Web for you to download and use as a base for your own artistic creations.

Some 40 years ago, joining people and nature meant using shovels and flatbed trucks to save the cherry trees. Today, they can come together digitally in a way hardly imaginable in the 1960s. This new joining adds to--but doesn't replace--the old methods. There'd be nothing to point a Web cam at if it weren't for the skilled UW grounds crews caring for the trees with their old-fashioned pruning shears and ladders.

In the same way I hope you enjoy the cherry cam, but it doesn't replace seeing the trees in person. Come by if you can. Parking on campus is free Saturdays after noon and all day Sunday.