Today is a lot of things! (kind of sounds like Dr.Seuss)

Today marks the beginning of the New Year for many people around the world –

• Cambodian New Year (Cambodia)
• First day of Songkan (Laos)
• First day of Songkran (Thailand)
• The first day of the Tamil New Year (Varusha Pirappu) – this new year is named ‘Nanthana’  (Nandana meaning contributor of happiness, female child)
• Baisakhi – the beginning of the solar year, celebrated in North India, mainly Punjab
• Vishu – celebrated in the state of Kerala in South India to mark the new year.

Today also happens to be, if you are superstitious, Friday the 13th. Friday, I realize has all sorts of connotations to it – so depending on where you are from, you might view Friday differently:

• Hindus observe prayers to the goddesses and many festive occasions fall on Fridays per the Hindu calendar. Friday is definitely an auspicious day for Hindus.
• Muslims also treat Friday as a holy day and a day of prayer, rest, peace, and mercy.
• In Christianity, Good Friday is celebrated to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ.
• The Jewish Sabbath is observed starting Friday sunset through Sunday.

And there is more:

• Black Friday – the nickname given most exciting day to shop for consumers in the US – the day after Thanksgiving
• This same name, Black Friday, also is used very differently when used to name various disasters that occurred on Fridays throughout history (though I think that is kind of unfair to Fridays)
• TGIF – Who does not use it? One of the more popular acronyms –  and yes, Thank God It’s Friday today!!
• Most movies around the world are released on Fridays – obviously a marketing ploy but then gives people something more to look forward to on Fridays as well!!
• And before I end this informative Friday post, have you heard of POETS Day – sentiments similar to TGIF used in the UK and Australia

Some Friday quotes to enjoy:

• “Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.” ~John Shirley
• “Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.” ~Thank Goodness It’s Friday
• “Make each day of the week like Friday and your life will take on new enthusiasm.” ~Byron Pulsifer

And of course, today also marks the end of my blog break.. 🙂 This post was just that, saying good-bye to my blog break and welcoming the New Year in my own way..

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday#Religious_observances

As a side note, we had just a fascinating, amazing display from mother Nature last night here in the Bay Area – a thunderstorm complete with blinding lightning flashes that lasted about four hours – per news reports today, there were over 750 lightning strikes during that time – I saw quite a few myself and was truly awed by the power that is nature.
Here is one of the amazing captures of lightning reprinted with permission thanks to David Jones who shot this

More photos of the lightning storm can be viewed here and  here