Wyrick: This February in New Orleans

2010-02-16

By Lois Wyrick

One of the first things I learned about New Orleans (besides heat, humidity, and mosquitoes) is that it knows how to party. This Mardi Gras Tuesday combined with winning the Super Bowl will be the party of the century and I'm sorry I am missing it.

We moved to New Orleans in 1946 and we knew nothing about it other than what we had learned in history and we had not remembered very much of that. It seems weird to think of our world at that time. We were not a people who knew a lot about our country. The depression had not invited travel vacations and it wasn't until the movies that we had any idea of how the rest of our world looked. It was WWII and television, however, that opened the world to us. Plus having jobs that gave us the funding for travel.

We had no thoughts about what to expect and maybe that was good. We moved from Long Island, N.Y., in September and our arrival in New Orleans was just another day.

Finding a place to live was not easy and by the time we found an apartment I was beyond wondering about our new life. I discovered the Christmas tree was dry by the time we decorated it and that we opened the windows on Christmas day. I learned the chances of snow was non-existent and by Jan. 7, I began hearing about Mardi Gras.

We had our second baby on Feb. 1, 1947 and I had been reading and wondering about Mardi Gras. There would be no way that we could take part in any of it but I could stand on our deck and get a glimpse of a parade on a few streets from our place.

I decided I needed to learn about it before the next year and I did. I learned it was brought to Louisiana by the French settlers and the first record of the celebration was March 31, 1699. This was in an area now known as Plaquemines Parish. It was at the mouth of the Mississippi. The first Mardi Gras ball was in 1743. The organizations that have Mardi Gras balls and parades are called "krewes." The first one to organize was the "Mystic Krewe of Comus" in 1857. They have their own Queen and King as do the other krewes. There are several of these "royal" clubs and more clubs that take part in their own parades.

Jan. 6 is the beginning of Mardi Gras and it ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. This is also called "Fat Tuesday" or "pancake Tuesday". It is on this day that the household empties all "fat" from the house in preparation for Lent. Pancakes were often made to use all of the fat.

Each krewe plans and creates their theme. They spend the year designing and building the floats that takes part in the parades. The members dress for the float and throw beads, small trinkets and doubloons to the watchers. I learned from the beginning that "playing nice" isn't a part of the catching the loot. Playing rough is a big part because your success is determined by the amount of loot you catch.

The tradition that everyone can take part in is the "King Cake" parties. This begins from the end of Epiphany through Mardi Gras Tuesday. The king cake is a twisted yeast bread ring decorated with sugar of purple, green and gold. Tradition has a plastic baby doll baked in the cake. The one who receives the baby in their slice of cake will have the next party. In some cases the winner just has to be responsible for bringing the cake. This was the way Charles took part in his kindergarten class. No planned party--just cake.

Mardi Gras has set the tone for all celebrations in New Orleans. It is an area that knows how to party. We were stunned with the decorations used for Christmas. If one is good--three are better.

The state has gone through some difficult times and New Orleans especially. It hasn't completely recovered from the hurricane of 2005. It is hard to keep these people down and watching their response to the winning of the Super Bowl was a good example.

We enjoyed the 19 years we lived there and for a while I missed the sound of the fog horn heard on the Mississippi river. But the sound of the whippoorwill moved into my hearing range and the fog horn moved into my many memories of New Orleans.

Memories that are pleasant to recall and I must admit I would like to be there this year.

New Orleans is a city unlike any other and their Creole and Cajun cooking helps it to stand alone. This year will also be unique as they celebrate two events. The Super Bowl and Mardi Gras will reign supreme as they chant their "who dat" in the French quarter and beyond.


Wyrick is a Sharpsburg resident and a regular columnist for this newspaper.

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