Swinging, swatting and sunning

  • 1999-03-25
  • Katya Cengel
There was snow on the ground, but Latvians went ahead and welcomed spring anyway March 20 with a festive celebration at the Open Air Museum in Riga.The beginning of the festivities involved string, singing and bad luck. The drill went something like this: identify the bad feelings or thoughts you want to shed, then tie a length of string around a branch and leave all that negativity behind.Things heated up after that. An elderly couple got the swing tradition going by stepping up on a large wooden swing while a woman dressed in a long skirt and apron beat them with branches to ward off evil...
 
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