Since Andrea Mistretta retired her Mardi Gras poster series last year, here’s her poster from 2011; I’ll start going backward from there in years to come. Happy Mardi Gras, dear readers!
Posts Tagged ‘carnival’
Mardi Gras 2026
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays on February 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Diary #811
Posted in Diary, tagged carnival, holidays, psychology, Sunset on January 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Unless there is some compelling reason to do otherwise, I always take down my Christmas tree on King Day, January 6th. This year was not an exception, but it was raining so hard I had no desire to drag the tree across the muddy paddock to the fence line, especially because I don’t actually get dressed in the wintertime except on days when I need to go somewhere. So I put it outside, but it has been a week and I just haven’t felt like moving it yet. Though there’s no real danger of my becoming a recluse, I’m beginning to understand the mindset of elderly ladies in Gothic novels; I have a routine that I am comfortable with and prefer to maintain, so I tend to grumble when I have to break it to go to Aberdeen for some reason like groceries, and I really grumble when I need to drive to Seattle, especially in rainy weather. And if I were wealthy, I probably would have a handyman nearly as old as I am who does those chores for me. I wonder how much it would cost to have a manicurist come to me instead of vice-versa? Alas, too much. But it’s nice to think about, at least in monsoon season.
Little Christmas 2026
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays, Italy, witchcraft on January 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »
If you’re wondering who La Befana is and what she has to do with Christmas, I suggest you consult my column from this day in 2015, which also (not by coincidence) contains links to the columns for the previous four years. That should give you all the information you need to understand why I’m wishing some of my readers a Merry Christmas, some a Good Epiphany and others a Happy King Day, and welcoming all of you to the Carnival season!
Mardi Gras 2025
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays on March 4, 2025| 2 Comments »
Maybe the places where many of y’all live don’t observe it, but I still do. So Happy Mardi Gras, dear readers!
Little Christmas 2025
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays, Italy, witchcraft on January 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »
If you don’t understand why this witch is carrying a sackful of toys, I suggest you consult my column from this day in 2015, which also (not by coincidence) contains links to the columns for the previous four years. That should give you all the information you need to understand why I’m wishing some of my readers a Merry Christmas, some a Good Epiphany and others a Happy King Day, and welcoming all of you to the Carnival season!
Mardi Gras 2024
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays, paganism on February 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Maybe the places where many of y’all live don’t observe it, but I still do. So Happy Mardi Gras, dear readers!
Diary #711
Posted in Diary, tagged carnival, holidays, New Orleans, psychology on February 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Today is Lundi Gras (“Fat Monday”), the day before Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”). In New Orleans, those who can (and truth be told, many who can’t) start the party early today, or else get things ready for the party tomorrow. I have even known die-hards who go out to their favorite spot on the St. Charles Avenue parade route to camp out overnight so as to beat the folks who don’t get out there until after dawn, but honestly, I think that’s a bit mental. Of course, I was always more of a Vieux Carre celebrant than a paradegoer, which works a lot better for a woman who has difficulty making it to her own kitchen by 8 AM, much less some crowded and possibly cold, rainy neutral ground somewhere in the Garden District. It has now been 18 years since I’ve been to a Mardi Gras celebration of any kind, and noplace I’ve lived since even seems to know it exists (or else they call it by some Philistinism like “Pancake Day”, about which the less said, the better). But to this day it feels very weird to me when businesses are open or people want to schedule things on Mardi Gras, and I don’t think that will change between now and that future day when I eat my very last piece of king cake.
Diary #710
Posted in Diary, tagged carnival, psychology, Sunset on February 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
You’d think after doing this blog for more than 13 years that I would remember to take pictures of noteworthy things for my diary columns, but noooope. It’s not that I’m getting forgetful in my old age; I’ve always been bad about taking pictures. Well, not bad exactly; it’s just that when I’m doing stuff I generally think about what I’m doing rather than about documenting what I’m doing. So even though I made gumbo and potato salad and king cake on Friday (because I need to do it at least once in a carnival season), nary a photo did I take. The cake was gone by Sunday night, and while there’s still leftover gumbo (because my sister’s recipe makes a big pot), cold leftover gumbo in a covered bowl in the fridge does not make a very good picture. Nor does leftover potato salad, king cake crumbs, or an empty pot. And it would just be silly to put a picture of something completely unrelated here. So I’m going to re-use this picture of the last of the gumbo I made two years ago at this time, when I also forgot to take pictures until it was basically too late. Well, at least I’m consistent.
Little Christmas 2024
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays, Italy, witchcraft on January 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
If you are wondering why there’s a picture of a witch in my blog today, I suggest you consult my column from this day in 2015, which also (not by coincidence) contains links to the columns for the previous four years. That should give you all the information you need to understand why I’m wishing some of my readers a Merry Christmas, some a Good Epiphany and others a Happy King Day, and welcoming all of you to the Carnival season!
Mardi Gras 2023
Posted in Holidays, tagged carnival, holidays on February 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Maybe the places where many of y’all live don’t observe it, but I still do. So Happy Mardi Gras, dear readers!
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