It's Mardi Gras Brah!

It's Mardi Gras.

A time of year when I have a perfectly reasonable excuse for my disrespectful tardiness......the parade barricades!

An entire week when otherwise inexcusable behavior can be rationalized by the simple phrase, ''But it's Mardi Gras brah!''

A time where packing my kids in our van and driving in near torrential rains and wind to get to Keller's Bakery for the blueberry cream cheese king cake I had been dreaming of devouring for the past 2 months.....seems like a perfectly safe and sane thing to do. (In my defense, the tornado warnings only started AFTER we were already half way there!)

The few days a year when bands throughout Acadiana can play the same song, over and over again, and still be adored and praised with loud applaud and approving cheers every single time....

Les Mardi Gras s'en vient de tout partout,
Tout alentour le tour du moyeu,
Ça passe une fois par an, demandé la charité,
Quand-même ça c'est une patate, une patate ou des gratons....

Where I grew up, there was no Mardi Gras. Well, that's to say there was no Mardi Gras celebration. The closest thing to a Mardi Gras a celebration we had at home was my mom baking up a storm in our kitchen (she makes the yummiest chocolate eclairs) and having pancakes with lots of syrup for dinner.

When I first moved here, I have to admit, it took me a while to ''get it''.

I was all like, ''But boo, what the hell do you do with all these beads after you catch them?''

After I finally understood that it wasn’t what you did with the beads AFTER the parade, but rather just showing off to the people next to you how many beads YOU were able to catch, I too started my quest to become the world's best bead hoarder.

I have yet to do a courir de Mardi Gras in the country, but I'm guessing it's going to happen soon since my 4 year old Luke will stop at nothing to get the chance to chase a chicken around.

So anyway, I'm wishing you all a safe and happy Mardi Gras. And, remember, Johnston street to Cajundome Blvd is impossible and you have to take the back way to Keller's bakery because of construction on Jefferson street!

Cheers!