Kathara Deftera

Clean Monday, or Kathara Deftera in Greek (the catholic equivalent is Ash Wednesday) marks the end of the carnival season (Apokries) and the beginning of the preparation period for Orthodox Easter. By default it's a day of fasting, and cleansing of the body and the soul. They say it is a sort of detox day, right after the meat feast of the carnival celebrations.

Perhaps the most well-known tradition is kite flying and releasing it... symbolizing the freeing of the body from sin, or passing of the human soul to God. It's truly a family affair. It was a cloudy day, but windy.

On Tuesday, I found a perfectly good kite in Lidl parking lot. I thought I'll put it in the storage area in case folks are here next year....then I thought better of it.... No one needs whatever sins were attached to that kite!

This picture is taken at Filapappou Hill.