Winding Down the Blog

I have been thinking that this blog will probably be coming to an end very soon. I have been writing on it for about 9 months now and began upon leaving California.

The purpose was to educate, inform and entertain any one who was curious about my perception of life on the west coast vs. life on the east coast.

I have enjoyed writing on this blog so I may begin a new one when this one ends. The new one might be called "All About Me"....lol..lol... hey I don't know if I am just kidding about that title. I just threw it out there. The new blog will contain more information about my travels as I anticipate doing that quite a bit more.

Well, yesterday was Mardi Gras. I have been to about 35 Mardi Gras celebrations in my lifetime and they were all in New Orleans. So I never feel that I am missing out. Mardi Gras has changed a lot and since Hurricane Katrina and it will never be the same. I am glad that I got to experience it when it was in full force at the height of it's existence.

Okay thinking back to Mardi Gras when I was a child really makes me feel super old. When I was a child and we went to parades at Mardi Gras time there were these guys walking with big sticks with fire on them to light the parade way. They were know as flambeau carriers. The first flambeau carriers were slaves.

And what else makes me feel really old is that my uncle had slaves and I remember seeing them and feeling sorry for them when I went to his house. He said that he treated his slaves better than most because they got to eat the same food that he ate. One of their jobs was to polish the nickle plated motor in his Rolls Royce. I remember going to his house and telling him that it was illegal to have slaves and he would say, "They can leave. They won't leave." And I would look at them and they would say, "Where are we going to go? He is good to us." It was sad it tell you... just real sad.

And here's another thing that makes me feel really old when I think back to Mardi Gras as a child. I would see these groups of people covered in white walking down the street. You know who I am talking about right? The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK. I can remember pointing to them and asking my Dad what are those? I didn't know if they were men or women under the sheets and my Dad would say that they were there to protect us. Hummm.....life in the deep south....

Since Hurricane Katrina, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is celebrated on a nano scale as compared to what it use to be. The parades would begin right after New Year's Day and there would be lots of expensive Mardi Gras Balls that took place. As a child my mother was a professional seamstress and she would make those elaborate kings and queen costumes. Our house was always full of colorful satin fabric, sequins and feathers. You were really someone special if you had an invitation to a Mardi Gras Ball. Those were coveted events.

Today there are fewer parades, fewer participants, fewer balls. People who live there still want to carry out the tradition and I can't blame them, minus the flambeau carriers and KKK..lol..lol..

I am sure it is still fun and everyone should experience at least one Mardi Gras in New Orleans in their lifetime.

Ciao