Today's weather was wet and rainy. I like when it rains -- everything is washed by the rainfall, and afterwards the world seems shiny and new. What is the phrase I always hear, "April Showers Bring May Flowers"? I sure hope so. Spring is a beautiful time of year.
Back home in Thailand, this time of year means one thing... The New Year is approaching. Traditional calendars point to April 13th as the start of a new year, and the country still celebrates the traditional new year as a national holiday. (Even though we use the "Gregorian" calendar used by most of the world these days, we still like to observe this tradition of our ancestors). In fact, April 13th through the 15th is when Thailand observes the Songkran festival. Songkran literally means "astrological passage," based on the astrological calendar.
This festival comes at the end of our dry season, the hottest time of year. Looking out my rainy window today in Salt Lake City, it's hard to imagine the sunny heat of Thailand... but I know it's there.
The funnest part about Songkran, especially when you're a kid, is that the festival celebrates water. Historically, water was blessed and poured on the shoulders of our elders as a way to pass on good fortune. Also, this was the time of year that images of the Buddha would be cleaned, as well as the whole house (not unlike what we call "spring cleaning" here in America). But as time went on, the celebration of water has expanded to the point that people pour it into our streets and onto each other. Kids play with garden hoses and water guns and soak each other -- and unfortunate passers-by. Anywhere you go on Songkran, you can expect to be totally soaked by the time you get there. This water represents cleaning and washing away the bad to get ready for the new. Sometimes, the elders get mad that kids take this symbolism too lightly and use the festival as an excuse to ambush the dry... but it's all in good fun.
So when I look out the window today and see that April's showers are moving in, I think to myself that the earth is preparing for Songkran. Spring is a new beginning for grass and trees and flowers. It makes sense that spring is traditionally the first season of the new year, because everything seems new again. I can't wait to see what the coming days will bring for all of us.