A Yankee's First Mardi Gras Ball

As you know, it’s Mardi Gras season in this part of the world. It never occurred to me that I might want to go to a Mardi Gras Ball. Until we were invited to one. Well, I’m all about new and interesting experiences. Last night we attended the Krewe of Mystique’s 41st annual ball.

Since our arrival to Louisiana over five years ago, Mardi Gras has been a source of curiosity, mystery, and bemusement for me. I’ll be the first to admit that I “don’t get it.” I thought maybe going to a ball would help enlighten me. But no, I still can’t say I completely grasp the concept. But a few words come to mind. Grand pageantry. Giddy merriment. Indulgence. Aching feet. Kind of felt like a prom for grown-ups. I daresay, Bob and I hadn’t been that dressed up since our wedding over 20 years ago. I loved having an excuse to wear some vintage jewelry that had belonged to Bob’s grandmothers, given to me by my mother-in-law. Nor had Bob and I ever danced that much. Ever.

 

Yesterday afternoon, I had my hair put in an up-do. There was enough hairspray and bobbie pins in my hair last night to hold together a haystack in a hurricane.

 

When we got home, Bob and I spent an unduly amount of time pulling them all out. I counted – 67 bobbie pins.

So, you know, I don’t know much about Mardi Gras protocol, but I’d been told by a friend who attends no less than a dozen balls each season, maybe more, that it’s not totally unheard of to crash other balls. The Buccaneers were having their ball in the Civic Center room right below Mystique’s. I knew some friends there, so I thought we’d go say Hi. Just briefly, right? But yeah, um . . . no. We were promptly but politely asked to leave. We didn’t realize that no one is allowed at the Buccaneer Ball unless they are wearing proper pirate attire.Where’s an eye patch and a wench corset when you need one, huh.

Our friend Cissie McLeod, who also happened to be crowned Queen last night, graciously invited us to the ball. Her gown was exquisite. I wish we’d taken a photo before she took the mantle (the large ornate collar) off. She looked absolutely radiant and presided over her subjects with appropriate aplomb.

 

Here she is with two of her three daughters, Sara (L) and Martha.

 

Indeed, all the costumes were positively delightful – all colorful and sparkly and feathery. I especially loved this costume. I wish she would have held her mask up, but she is holding it down. She’s standing with our friend, Mark Judson, the Queen’s son-in-law and Sara’s husband.

 Happy Mardi Gras!

The Home Show

As most of my regular readers know, I enjoy going to local festivals to learn about the unique and fascinating culture of southwest Louisiana. I've heard that the Lake Charles area boasts around 70 festivals each year, everything from arts and crafts to zydeco. Winter is the off season for festivals, but there are a few. For example, this weekend was the Fur and Wildlife Festival south of Lake Charles in Cameron. I considered going. It's one I haven't been to before. What do they do there? I inquired. Well, there's duck calling, skeet shooting, oyster shucking, trap setting, and nutria and muskrat skinning. A report in today's paper said an 18-year-old girl participated in the muskrat skinning for the first time, skinning the animal in 2 minutes! She learned everything she knows about skinning from her mother, who is also a champion skinner. Uh-huh. Yeah. Umm, no thanks.

So I went to the Home Show instead! There were booths with appliances, aluminum siding, and AC units, banks, bricks, and builders, contractors, concrete, and closet organizers, doors and decorators, exterminators, flooring, granite and garage doors, insulation and insurance agencies, cutlery and kitchenware demos, lumber, lawnmowers, and landscapers, water purifiers, plumbers, and pools, realtors, stone and decorative tiles . . . Everything you need for home buying or remodeling. Which I am not, at the current time. But it can be interesting to look.

Josh Guillory, of Custom Iron by Josh, was there. His ironwork is amazing. I wanted to stop by his booth and tell him how much I love all the work he did there at the Civic Center. But he was talking to someone else. And I was shy. Didn't want to come across as too much of a fangirl. His website is here.

My favorite booths displayed decorative tiles. They are so attractive and creative. Almost makes me want to re-do my bathroom just so I can buy some tiles.

And then there was Frank Thompson, a fused glass artist. It seemed to me he belonged at an art festival rather than a home show, but he definitely had the prettiest wares there. Certainly better than those toilets one salesman seemed especially proud of. Check out Thompson's website here.

What is your favorite booth at a home show? Or would you rather have gone to the Fur and Wildlife Festival?

Flashback Friday -- Mardi Gras Season

Well, it's Mardi Gras time again. When I first moved here (going on 6 years now!), the reality of Mardi Gras was the biggest revelation to this uninformed Yankee. I was curious about the colorful customs and fascinated by how entrenched Mardi Gras tradtitions are in Louisiana culture.

Here is a post from January 2010, when I was still a bit more wide-eyed over the concept. Amy is a reader from Pittsburgh who had asked me to explain Mardi Gras to her. Northerners truly have no inkling of the magnitude of Mardi Gras in Louisiana. Even though I am surrounded by it and am now accustomed to it, I have not embraced it. Honestly, it would exhaust me. And I don't wear high heels. But I do have a purple, green, and gold wreath on my front door.



 

Tis the Season for Soup

You hear it often this time of year. “It’s gumbo season!” I like gumbo. The cool thing is, no two gumbos taste the same. Each cook makes his or her own variation. I have no need to learn how to make gumbo myself, living here in Louisiana. It’s easy enough to simply eat everyone else’s. I prefer that. But we have had our own soup sampling marathon lately. It started several weeks ago. I made chili (I love my chili!). Then I was under the weather with a nasty cold and craved chicken noodle soup. My husband went to the store and bought both the canned condensed version and the dry boxed variety. We ate them both. That got Bob in a soup-making mood. He pored over recipes. First he made potato cheddar soup. Two batches. The second time, he added broccoli. Then he made a (large) pot of lentil and ham soup. And this evening, French onion. All delicious. Tomorrow night, we eat the leftovers that are piling up in the fridge.

This is a photo of the French onion soup covered with cheese. I made homemade seasoned croutons out of some day old (several days) rye bread that Bob had made. I know, we need those quaint brown crock bowls with the handles.

What kind of soup is warming you up this winter?

Indian Bayou

I and a small contingent of the Pelican Paddlers braved the chill today and ventured a few miles down Indian Bayou, from Sam Houston Jones State Park to “the island” for one last paddle in 2012. The temperature barely reached 50 today, and I was concerned I would be cold. But I dressed warm enough, maybe even too warm, and had a delightful time. My arms reminded me that I hadn’t been on the water in two months. Too long.

The bayous in Louisiana are beautiful, even in winter.

I didn’t catch any with my camera, but we saw several blue herons. Otherwise, not much wildlife. I suppose one could say one of the best parts of kayaking in the winter is that there are no mosquitoes.

I'd explored Indian Bayou several times in the past, but never before in winter. You can read about a couple of my other trips down this pristine waterway here.

Happy New Year, everyone! How are you celebrating the end of 2012?

Natchitoches' Festival of Lights

As promised, we went to Natchitoches for 86th annual Festival of Lights last Saturday. The weather was perfect, though maybe a bit too warm (close to 80 degrees) for December. Never quite sure this time of year, I wore corduroy pants and a long-sleeved holiday t-shirt. It was way too warm for that. And to boot, I was certain it would cool off after the sun went down, so I unnecessarily carried around a light-weight jacket all day. Imagine the band kids in those heavy uniforms, marching what I would guess to be around a 3-4 mile parade route. This is Andrew’s “Oh, Mom . . ." look.

 

I knew the place would be packed. Knowing I don’t deal well with crowds, I had mentally psyched myself ready several days in advance, but nothing could have prepared me for the masses that descend on Natchitoches for this daylong celebration – the parade, food, music, fireworks, and unveiling of the over 300,000 lights that adorn darling downtown Natchitoches. Out of curiosity, I called their Visitors Bureau and discovered they estimated the crowd to be around 75,000! Wow!

 

It was a good day overall. The parade was long, about two hours. Dance and cheer teams, floats carrying queens, politicians, and area business owners, high school marching bands, costumed characters, all tossing candy and beads to the throngs. I could do without the noisy vroom vroom of approximately 175 motorcycles. And the policemen on their bikes needn’t preen at quite so high a decibel level. But these funny Shriners made me smile.

 

I did a little Christmas shopping in the overcrowded shops along Front Street. The fireworks were some of the best I’ve seen in my life (and I've seen a lot), truly choreographed to Christmas music and with different unusual displays of explosives I’d never seen before.

 

They don’t flip the switch on the lights until after the fireworks, in a grand reveal. We’d grown weary of the crowds by then and wanted to head home after the fireworks (church and all the next morning) but in hindsight, I wish we had spent a bit more time looking at the lights. Traffic was an absolute nightmare. It took us an hour and a half to get out of the town. But it’s a worthwhile event to do at least once. It’s a Louisiana holiday tradition.

(In the name of full disclosure, I did not take these night shots. I found them on the internet.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are curious what Natchitoches looks like on a normal day, read this post from my archives here. But Mighty Max is no longer there. And the lovely park has been expanded, improved, and is absolutely stunning.

Tell me about your fun holiday events or traditions.

Flashback Friday -- Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Gasp! I just realized that this post makes three Flashback Fridays in a row. Which means I have not written a "new" post in over three weeks! So sorry, readers. I promise I will have a brand new one early next week. Because tomorrow, we are going to an exciting Louisiana Christmas tradition -- something that has been on my list pretty much since we moved here -- the Natchitoches Festival of Lights and Christmas Parade! Finally. Eric has been going to school in that town for three years now. After he graduates this spring, we may never be in Natchitoches again. So it's now or never. The fact that Andrew's high school band is marching in the parade gives us added incentive.

Anyway, I found this post from 2010. It's basically where I am presently -- getting into the holiday spirit. There are so many festivals, lighting ceremonies, parades, fireworks displays, galas, and holiday happenings this weekend, who wouldn't be in the spirit!

Speaking of lighting ceremonies, that reminds me of Light Up Night in Pittsburgh. I always loved Light Up Night. I miss it. Look, I found a photo. Isn't it beautiful?!! Fantastic! Pittsburgh readers, tell me about your Light Up Night traditions. Where do you like to view it from? Louisiana readers, have you been to the Natchitoches Festival of Lights? What are your don't-miss recommendations?