Mardi Gras Dreams

I love Mardi Gras.  When I was a kid growing up in New Orleans, we'd go down to Canal on Mardi Gras Day and the entire family would costume.  My grandparents would get a dozen purple, green, and gold iced donuts from Lawrence's Bakery for breakfast and we'd eat on the parade route or in the parking lot where we parked the car.  I went to Endymion for as long as I can remember, every year, even after we moved across the lake.  My dad would load up my high school girl friends and I and drive us uptown to catch it, which seemed so scandalous to those who had grown up on the northshore.

The only time I would want to live in New Orleans again is carnival season.  The traffic and parking issues would seem less of a deterrent, if they'd exist at all, and enjoying the parades on a beautiful day like today would possibly be easier since all the prep and travel time would be minimized.  When I lived uptown in my twenties, I could walk 2 blocks to Napoleon or 5 blocks to St. Charles.  It was lovely.  

I miss being in a parade, too.  That emotion snuck up on me this year, actually.  When we have more space and I can make the time, I'd like to get back into the bustier beading and sashaying around the French Quarter with a fantastic group of women.  I've even got the visual for my future costume in my head. 

We've only been to one parade with our daughter this year - Abita Springs Push-Mow - which was perfect for her first true parade.  She's been to the dog parade in Mandeville the last two years, but it doesn't quite have the same pace as an all human parade.  She enjoyed it, but tuckered out before it was over.  

my Mardi Gras tree

My Mardi Gras dream would be to participate in Flyday again, attend parades like Nyx and Muses with girl friends - that happened with Nyx this year and was great - and go as a family to Little Rascals, MidCity, Okeanos, and Thoth.  When she's bigger, we can go catch the beginning of Endymion on Orleans and maybe even Tucks beforehand.  This year, I'm typing from my bed at home, sad because my husband goes to work in two hours for the rest of the day, and my daughter and I will be looking for things to do before and after naptime.  Sigh...