I have been very busy -- and let the all important new Persian year go without notice. Spring is here. Let us hope that it brings more freedom and peace than shackles or unrest.

Today is the thirteenth day after noruz (literally, the new day) -- the sizdah bedar. It's a day of outing in the nature and the countryside, of being with family and friends and of cherishing the goodness of life. There is also a practice of having fun by making practical jokes or making false and outrageous claims, very much like April fools day jokes. It is interesting to note that the two days coincide exactly for some years including this.