I stepped out my front door yesterday morning and off in the distance I could hear cars moving along a highway that is about three miles from our house. That sound struck me as odd. "This is a holiday," I thought to myself. "There shouldn't be much traffic."
Then I smiled, realizing that it was not a holiday here in America.
It was Losar, Tibetan New Year. I had plans to travel to Seattle and hang out with my friends from the local Tibetan Community. The day promised to be festive.
For those folks I could hear making their morning commute, it was just another work day.
***
Gathering outside their monastery, the Tibetans threw barley flower into the air, a traditional welcoming-in of the New Year, and my cameras got covered by the auspicious, white dust. The crowd lined the sidewalks to greet their head lama as he arrived. Then everyone went inside for Losar prayers.
This weekend we'll get together again, this time for a Losar party. There will be a catered dinner of Tibetan food, lots of happy conversation, even exchanging of gifts. I had a local photo lab make 60 prints of a photo I shot last summer of the Dalai Lama, and I'll give a print to each Tibetan household. There will be singing, dancing, and general fun-having.
I'll make photographs, of course, but I might also try, finally, to learn a dance step or two.
