Spring arrived in Portland this morning a few minutes after 4 a.m. which starts the celebration of Nowruz. The word "Nowruz" is a compound of two Persian words, "now" which has the same etymology as the English word "new" and the word "ruz" which means both "day" and "time", literally meaning the "new day", nowruz is translated as "New Year". The Nowruz celebration is neither religious or national in nature, nor is it an ethnic celebration. Jewish, Zoroastrian, Armenian and Turkish Iranians and Central Asians celebrate the Nowruz with the same enthusiasm and sense of belonging.
One tradition that is still honored is that the elders of the family should be visited by all of the younger members of the family. Since Roger lives in a different country, phone calls are acceptable so since early this morning the phone has rung with calls from the U.S., Europe and Canada. Roger's brother in Iran called yesterday because phone lines are overloaded the first day of Nowruz and it's difficult to make a call.
Our celebration is very low-key this year but Roger has promised to fire up the BBQ for kabab tonight.
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