We Did It

Well we did it here in New Orleans. Yes, February 28th, 2006 we slapped the legacy Hurricane Katrina in the face by holding Mardi Gras day celebrations just as before. We had a wonderful, slightly crazy, happy, family, funny time and we didn't care that some outsiders shook heads and scolded us for being as we have been. After all, our Mardi Gras is a day of contrasts even when hurricanes don't destroy 80% of our city.
As Jane and I her friend and grandparents sat on the parade route Mardi Gras day we felt normal again. Yes, for the first time since the holocaust called Katrina ravaged our homes and people, we were able to forget and have fun. Mardi Gras as always was the day a banker could dress as a beggar, a beggar become a king, a housewife could be Wonder Woman or a plumber, Elvis Presley. Why the theme of our biggest Mardi Gras day parade was "A Tribute To Elvis Presley". Previously, I never liked Elvis much, but Mardi Gras day I adore the hundreds I saw on those floats in Elvis costumes. I had permission to suspend reality and enjoy the fantasy of it all.
The fun, laughter and sometimes, vulgarity all seemed to be the reality on Tuesday, February 28th. While you and the rest of the world had your usual Tuesday, we told all of you, told the world, that we were going to have fun again. And we did!
We caught quite a bit of "stuff", the throws from float riders, this year, and since so many people who have never witnessed one of our parades wonder what it is gown men and women battle with children over here are a few of the things we caught from the floats at the parades we attended: plastic beads, blinking beads, doubloons (metal coins minted by the parade krewe that look like coins but instead detail the parade theme), feathered boas in Mardi Gras colors, women's panties, plastic drinking cups with the parade emblem and art deco, candy, bags of chips, "moon Pies (two cookies coated with chocolate or other flavors and filled with marshmallow creme), stuffed animals, toys, small porcelain dolls, logo toothbrushes, bracelets in Mardi Gras colors, nerf footballs, fiber lighted beads, small bags of cookies, light-up wands, frisbees, plastic flowers, and......I didn't mention all the "stuff" we didn't catch at those parades. It may all seem worthless junk, but I have to see man woman nor child not dive for it when it is thrown toward them.
But then, Mardi Gras isn't a logical time, it's a fun one.