MARDI GRAS RETROSPECTIVE

This is my second visit to New Orleans, but my first Mardi Gras. What a difference a date makes!  In 2007 the city’s  struggles in the aftermath of Katrina were still raw and sore. What joy to be here during the Saints big win and the crowning glory of a great Mardi Gras.

Unforgettable memories forged, to take on the road with us. But, we aren’t ready to leave yet. Will the City seem drab after “the ball” is over? Will it somehow lose its luster?

Sifting through my pictures, I found gorgeous wrought iron work all over town. Beautiful buildings from the 1800’s preserved for posterity.

I can think of only one other city where music is like food, Vienna.  But New Orleans has a unique sound and  rhythm, the berceau of hundreds of great blues musicians. Not everyone can be a great musician. It tickled me to see guys on the street drumming on five gallon plastic buckets.

And the beads. I had such fun hanging them in the windows of the motor home. I figure they will lose their luster like Christmas trimmings do after Christmas and I’ll take them down eventually.

And then, there is the food for which New Orleans is famous. What bounty, the Mississippi River and the ocean at your feet. Fresh fish on every corner. Alligator sausage. Muffaleto Sandwiches, gumbo, crawfish ettoufe, jambalaya.  We hope to eat our way across the city.

The home cooked variety was pretty good too!

No, New Orleans is a World Class City, and she will never lose her luster, but shine on for succeeding generations. I only hope I get to return to one of my favorite cities.

SCARE THYSELF IF YOU CAN

 

Its Halloween, and I hope everybody has a blast at their party, or with their kids or grand kids. I liked the hanging apparition above at a neighbor’s house. I especially enjoy the moonlight at this time of the month and the weather is right for a crisp night-time walk.

 

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed memorable costume parties; enjoyed teasing the littlest kids at the door when they arrive with their bags for a treat. I admire the people who decorate with sound effects and scare the daylights out of kids. It gives them a thrill to remember forever. My adult children can still remember the addresses where they were terrified the most. As youngsters they looked forward to Halloween almost as much as Christmas.

But, scaring yourself is not easy, it takes a separation of logic. I was really scared only three times in my life as an adult that I can remember. Once, when I read a book on rape and suddenly felt insecure. Another when I read a book on alien beings invading our planet, posed as true stories, and rather credible. (I was much younger then.) And again when I chanced to meet Uri Geller and he read my mind. He could answer my questions, that I framed mentally, before I gave them voice. It took me a pause to realize he was answering my thoughts. It still gives me the chills to think about it.