Flashback: Holi 2010

According to the calendar, the official first day of spring was over a week ago, but according to the weather and seasonal vibe in this part of the world, spring only finally sprung this weekend. To mark the occasion, the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork hosted their annual Holi Celebration, aka the Festival of Colors. Most non-Hindu types attend the event for its colorful celebration of the arrival of spring, but, more traditionally, the festival also celebrates the triumph of the good things in this world over the bad. Goodness. Light. Color. Kindness. Forgiveness. Renewal. That's what spring brings, and that's what Holi honors.

As cool as all of that is, the festival is one of those things that is appreciated most fully the first time around. The excitement of throwing colorful powders up and at thousands of strangers is fun and all, but once you've cleaned pink powder out of your ears and nose for a week and ruined a few cameras documenting the experience, there's really no need to repeat it. So, Lisa, Lori, Zach, and company headed out to attend the festival this morning without Drew and I, since we lived that colorful experience this time three years ago. In the end, I think revisiting these pictures was just as fun, and I know it was far, far cleaner.

I think we in the U.S. could learn a few things from those in India about how to properly celebrate. Most of our holidays are all formal attire and ceremony, but I can think of no better way to welcome spring and celebrate the good in life than a festival that equalizes everyone (social classes are difficult to detect when everyone looks like the same rainbow exploded on them) and splatters the world in vibrant colors. Let the darkness, frustration, fear, and harshness of winter go on the wind like that colorful powder. Spring is here! Today, bura na maano, Holi hai. Don't be offended (or mad or sad), it's Holi!