Running through a Rainbow

I would never eat something I wasn't supposed to.

      I ran my first race...a 5k through a rainbow. I'm pretty sure all 5k's after this will seem rather colorless and take more effort to complete. There is something exciting about having powered dye thrown at you while you run. Who would have known?
      (Alright, the Indians knew. Since these races, like the Run or Dye that I ran in, are inspired by Holi, an ancient Hindu religious festival celebrated in the spring and called a Festival of Colors, than being covered in color is not a new thing. Just new to Americans. But we're a bit crazy, because of instead of having a party with food and dancing, we like to add exercise to it.)
     I am not Hindu but I do like the thought of celebrating friendship, community, love, and the start of spring. (Even though, we're in the middle of summer. Since I live in a climate where every ounce of heat and sunshine is appreciated, I will take a Saturday morning to celebrate sunny weather.)
   
     My team decided to wear rainbow tutus for the event. You can see a bit of mine in the picture above. The night I finished mine, I quickly put it on when Hero Hottie got home from work and showed him. I'm pretty sure he almost started laughing but he turned away too fast.
      "What?" I demanded, standing there in a bright and poofy tutu, feeling much like an over sized ballerina but a part of me felt giddy and excited. It was like when I was little and dressing up in my Mommy's old clothes. Dressing like a princess. Or a princess explorer. I always tended to be a bit on the adventurous side with my imagination.
       But anyway, he finally turns around and gives me that look. That guy look that says- I'm not sure what to say because no matter what I'll be in trouble for it, but I'm going to open my mouth anyways and just get it over with-
       "You look silly." He pauses briefly and then rushes into more speech. "But that's what you want, right?"
        "Silly?" I fluff my skirt, liking the bright and bold colors. Red, yellow, green, purple. Bold colors that I don't usually wear because I'm not sure how to dress with lots of colors without looking like I stepped from the eighties. But this...this tutu...I can wear and enjoy and be silly.
       Because I can have fun and enjoy this community event that has brought a rainbow to our town.
    

     And because I have a team wearing tutus too...there will be no lone tutu wearing for me.

       He winces, waiting for me to be mad. But I just twirl, like the graceful ballerina I am, and tell him he should wear a tutu next year when he does the race with me.
     
        The look he gives me, says it all. There will be no tutu wearing for him next year. 

         I show up to the race, excited, and wearing my tutu, a white shirt and a white bandanna -a blank canvas.

        There is something joyous about throwing dye at each other before the race. It's fun and silly.
      
          At one point, when we're running through the green color station, a volunteer is holding out his hand, full of green dye, and yelling for a high five. I have to say I got caught up in the moment and smacked his hand hard, sending the dye flying everywhere.
         And I mean everywhere, because when I look behind me, my sister in law's face is covered in green dye.
        Whoops.

         My girls were waiting for me at the finish line and they were soon covered with the extra dye packets that I had saved in my pockets. Even Baby Blueberry soon had colorful hair,  but no smile as she wore her Daddy's expression of seriousness, trying to figure out why we were tossing colors at each other.

         Later that day, I come into the living room and Gibson is laying on my tutu, trying to eat it. I think he started with the yummy dye, and then in typical puppy fashion, decided that tutu material was an excellent source of entertainment. Luckily, he had only managed to munch one strand on purple before he was caught.
         I will simply add tutu to the casualty list, which is growing by the hour. Now it includes, 7 pairs of shoes, numerous baby toys, various bills and other mail (go for it Gibson), an X-Box controller (do you know how happy Hero Hottie was about that one?), a board game, the recliner chair, the corner of the piano bench, and now- a tutu.
     Oh, and lets not forget the pacifier, which for about ten minutes, I thought he had swallowed whole. And in my panic, I started wondering if we got on that show, My Dog Ate What?, would they pay for the vet bill, because I'm pretty sure I don't have the money for a pacifier extraction procedure. Then, we found it, behind the couch and I took a big sigh of relief. And oh, by the way, Baby Blueberry, you can't have that pacifier back, even if I boil it.


    So I ran through a rainbow. And while there was no pot of gold at the end of it...there was friends and family and celebration.
     And I got to look silly and had fun doing it!! 

     I even managed to save my tutu from busy puppy teeth, which Abu has claimed the rainbow for herself, once I fix it to her size. And I'm so glad she's still at an age where she wants to wear a tutu and feel silly.
     Even without teammates.