A young Cajun girl reminiesces on the times she went to the Cajun Mardi Gras in Lafayette, Louisiana, when she was younger.
Happy Mardi Gras! Or as they say down there in Louisiana (particularly in the French regions), "Laissez les bon temps rouler"! (Which means "Let the good times roll"!)
I have been fortunate to have attended several Mardi Gras celebrations when I was younger, but I haven't gone for the past several years. Hopefully next year we can get back to the swing of things and go back to Mardi Gras. I hope so; Mardi Gras is always a lot of fun, particularly to a kid! Heck, it is fun for adults and kids! Everyone has a great time!
I have been to the New Orleans celebration (probably the biggest and best known of all the Mardi Gras celebrations) once, but I have also been to Mardi Gras celebrations in Lafayette, Louisiana, Church Point, Louisiana, Biloxi, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama, as well as the Mardi Gras celebration in Port Arthur, Texas. I have been to at least eight or nine Mardi Gras celebrations, and I enjoyed them all!
For those who have never been to a Mardi Gras, you are missing a lot. You get to see parades, see people dress up in elaborate, fancified costumes that would make a peacock jealous, eat crawfish, gumbo, or jambalaya until you are ready to burst open at the seams, dance to zydeco, jazz, or Cajun music until you fall over (either from drinking too much or from pure exhaustion), and act the fool. At Mardi Gras, people will scream, "Throw me sumpin', mister!" (it doesn't matter if the bead thrower is a man or a woman; this is what you yell!), and you hope to get a whole bagfull of beads, baubles, or other goodies. You see amazing floats and hear the best marching bands (and hopefully catch a glimpse of someone famous).
At the Cajun Mardi Gras, you get something extra: people there ride on horseback, doing fancy tricks, and sometimes they are so drunk they fall off (but get right back on!). I am always scared someone is going to end up getting hurt, but they are so loaded with alcohol, I don't see how this is possible. (Personally, I think it is a little sad.) Anyway, you also get to contribute something to the gumbo pot, and in the center of town, you attend a Cajun fais do-do (Cajun party or dance), replete with lively Cajun music guaranteed to get your feet a movin' and groovin'. You also eat gumbo and crawfish or jambalaya (depending on what's available or what the cook is in the mood to cook).
When I have gone to Mardi Gras, I have made a hauling of stuff, and I still have all my Mardi Gras beads, doubloons, pins, pens, pencils, stamps, stickers, and shirts that I have collected. Every Mardi Gras season, I dress up on Mardi Gras day and celebrate my Cajun heritage. I wear my beads to school, and people are always interested. They say "Where you get the beads?", and I tell 'em, "At Mardi Gras", and they are like, "Cool!"
Tonight, our city is having a Mardi Gras celebration, and you can bet I am going to be there, playing my Cajun accordion, singing, and partyin' until late at night! This is the first time we are having a Mardi Gras celebration; hopefully this will be the start of an annual tradition, although Nashville, Tennessee, is as far removed from New Orleans, Louisiana, as you can possibly get!
(At least there is one good thing: you don't get hurricanes here! :) )
You capture the joie de vivre that is Mardi Gras. Th'ow me sumpin, mister! Love this bouncy little number. Well done, and laissez les bon temps rouler!!
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