Meskel has come and gone. It’s a fascinating holiday about the “finding of the true cross”. If you have time and interest, it’s worth the trip to google. In the cities, there are bonfires lit the night before Meskel but in the countryside the bonfires start in the early morning hours (I don’t know why…my guess would be to avoid the nighttime wildlife in the countryside). In the past, I’ve stayed in bed and let Jon and the girls enjoy but because we have up-before-the-crack-of-dawn babies, I joined in the fun this year too (and I was honestly felt like the supervision was maybe necessary…do you remember this blog post? Running with flames).
Adgo made us all torches.
Then, they are set aflame and we run around with flames, yelling, “Yo-hey, Yo-Ha” and then a lot more words I don’t know but the meaning is something like this, “I was scared of dying but now the New Year has come and I get to start over”.
Then, we together lit the pile of fresh branches. It needs to make a lot of smoke.
And then, away goes the smoke, it headed North, not sure what it indicated for us. :)
Listening to Adgo explain.
We went for a 6:30 am hike to watch the countryside…the wet mountain that has recently been deforested was a bit more treacherous than we bargained.
Smoke filled the horizon, as far as we could see.
This is the Meskel flower, it blooms later for us in the highlands but in the lower areas, the Meskel flowers are vibrantly in bloom before the holiday.
Daddy and his girls. We attempted to recreate the photo from this post.
Happy boy along for the ride as I tried to find somewhere steady to put my foot.
Smoke from every hut creating a haze in all directions.
( Thanks to Eliza for all the photos! She leaves next week. We have so appreciated her the last 3 months and will miss all she brings to our family.)
We did midday coffee and lunch with friends.
This was lunch. A thick injera smeared with a thick, spicy chickpea stew. Many times when this is made on a holiday, it’s mixed with a butter that isn’t my favorite taste. However, it was a fasting day (only vegan foods) and so YUMMY. It occurred to me it’s the equivalent to America’s PBJ.
Glad this year had no outcome of burned jackets or kids.
4 comments:
The smoky horizon photo is gorgeous!!!!
We prayed for your sweet family around the breakfast table this morning! That scenery is GORGEOUS!! And I love how your participate in the traditions of your people :)
Yes, I remember the torch episode from 2014. :-) Glad you could participate this year with your get-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn babies. Your writing style makes me smile. Love to all on Meskel!
What a blessing Eliza has been to your family. I suppose we will see less entire family pictures once she is gone.
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