From the cold, windy and snowy weather of Northern part of United States and Canada, to the warm, sunny weather of Florida, in less than a week, Iranian citizens of Canada and United States are also welcoming Norooz 1387 into their homes.

A few days ago I began my part of planning for this Norooz. The memories of my past Norooz spent here in North America started to come back to me and I began to compare how my friends and relatives celebrate Norooz in Iran.

I started to remember that each year, as the month of March rolled around the corner, the excitement of Norooz began to kick in for me and my other fellow Iranian friends. It almost always starts with the Norooz Party. We were all busy with books, school and work, so that one night was a treat for us every year. We were really looking forward to that one special night of the year where we dressed up and partied until the morning.

In the past few years, after each Norooz party we all started to look forward to Chaharshanbeh Soori. As soon as the third Tuesday of March rolled around and it was time for Chaharshanbeh Soori, it used to be and still is a celebration mixed with a lot of cold weather, wind in the air and of course a load of snow on the ground. We had to dress warmly before hitting outdoors for Chaharshanbeh Soori and often we returned home coughing.

On the other hand, as I count down to the last Tuesday of Iranian calendar, I'm counting down to a different kind of Chaharshanbeh Soori -- a night under the clear sky, by the beach and palm trees, and surely in shorts and sandals. No more snow, no more cold weather and no more fears of catching the cold.

Every year as I remember it, the Chaharshanbeh Soori celebration was not complete without a visit from the Fire Department, Police Department or sometimes both. It doesn't matter where in North America we live, every year we get a visit from them and it's always the same story. They come thinking we are insane people and start asking us fo explanations for why we, in a big group, are standing around 2, 3, or 4 bon fires and jumping on them. Their biggest fear is always that we are going to set the whole place on fire!

After Chaharshanbeh Soori, even more excitement starts to elevate for Saal Tahvil and New Year. Cleaning the house to its every corner, even the rooms that no one is allowed to step in or sit on its furniture; shopping for new cloths, even if there were a closet full of new cloths that have not been worn yet and of course buy more pastry for eid that is supposed to sit in their fancy crystal plates on the living room table untouched for 13 days. We still do these rituals just like we had done them in the past.

And needless to say, what is Norooz without visits to and from friends and family that live close by. Even in this side of the world, with all the busy schedules that we all have, we still manage to find some time in our schedule for paying a visit to relatives and friends, during the thirteen days of Norooz. Weather it was after work during the week, or visiting ten/fifteen houses during the weekend, we would have still done all the visitations. One thing I remember was that sometimes these visits continued well through June but we still called them "eid deedany" even though Norooz was over 3 month ago.

At the end of the thirteenth day of Norooz, like other Iranians across the world, we tried our best to head out of the house. If it was a weekend it would be two thumbs up for us. Otherwise, if sizdah be dar fell in the middle of the week for us, we either tried our best to hold on to our sabzeh until the weekend. Unless our sabzeh had developed a bad smell that was taking over the entire house, then we would have found a river to throw them into as soon as sunset came.

At the end of the 13 days, I know we all had a great time either way! I wish each and every one of you a great Norooz 1387, beside your family and friends. I hope it's a year better than the last one with lots of big and small achievements.

Written by Shiva