Polimom is so glad New Orleans held Mardi Gras this year. If ever a town and its population deserved a break from unrelenting bad news, it’s NOLA – and get a break they did.
Is it smaller? Of course. Were there mixed feelings toward having it? Certainly. Is it wild, crazy, decadent, flamboyant? You bet! And is all of that raucous spirit a superficial mask? I don’t think so.
Polimom wanted to come for this year’s Mardi Gras more than any I can remember, and we certainly could have. It’s only time, after all – a coin to be spent as we choose. In the end, though, I decided not to. As strong as my support is for New Orleans, this seemed to me to be a year for locals; a chance to rail, satirize, lampoon, laugh, scream, and at long last, mourn.
So much loss, pain, anger, hostility – and in the six chaotic and frustrating months since Katrina, there’s been neither the time nor the emotional luxury to grieve. That does not, however, make this year’s Mardi Gras celebrations a funeral. Au contraire! The long-overdue release of emotion is a beginning.
No, the underlying sadness isn’t a masquerade, but a part of this most important year’s gestalt. The pain isn’t being covered, but integrated and embraced, acknowledged and finally accepted – so that people can finally begin to move on.
Catharsis.
Read Next
Times are hard for the Texas GOP, particularly in CD22 — Tom Delay’s district. Bad enough that CD22 has to contend with the embarrassing legacy of Tom himself; they’re apparently the front line on the Dem – Rep battle for …
Two months ago, this blog (among others) was “called on the carpet” by the Columbia Journalism Review for “pouncing” on the MSM. My impression (then and now) is that I came under fire more because I was one of the …
Here we go again. Seems to me that making predictions for the hurricane season isn’t all that different from flipping coins for football picks.