Stacey and I went hiking at the Baylands park today. The hike itself was nice enough but the really interesting thing was the Holi celebration that was taking place.
I confess I had to go and look this holiday up because I didn't know what it was, but it seemed pretty cool. Lots of indian people painted red and laughing and dancing madly.
Turns out I probably would have fit right in with this celebration. In fact, I think I may just outright adopt this Holi-day. Here's a brief description of it:
Holi (also called Holaka or Phagwa) is an annual festival celebrated on the day after the full moon in the Hindu month of Phalguna (early March). It celebrates spring, commemorates various events in Hindu mythology and is time of disregarding social norms and indulging in general merrymaking.
Holi is probably the least religious of Hindu holidays. During Holi, Hindus attend a public bonfire, spray friends and family with colored powders and water, and generally go a bit wild in the streets.
I wish I'd been a bit more brave about peeking in. This is totally my kind of celebration, and the music was fantastic! It also explains why they were grinning at me since blue is also a totally acceptable color for this celebration. :)
Curiously enough, just before we got to the Holi party, I saw a bird I've never seen before and he also fit right in with the party. A California red finch. Gorgeous creature!
Found a picture on the net so you can see what he looked like:
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