Things went about as anticipated inasmuch as such things can be anticipated. Some particulars. (I'm still having trouble with linear thought, so lets just go with a sprinkling of assorted bullet points:)
- We were indeed late getting out the door, but Zulu was indeed later. (This is the first year I've learned not to sweat it. I was up early. I had the bikes ready and the coffee made. I nudged folks awake at the appropriate hour, then let things unfold as they would. Zulu would be there.)
- Family biking, especially on Mardi Gras day, is a hoot.
- I've reconfirmed, Zulu is definitely my favorite parade.
- The kids scored a serious load of Zulu coconuts. (Decorated coconuts are Zulu's prized "throw" — though now they hand them out for litigious reasons.)
- I scored a serious load of Zulu beads. Load is the wrong word. Collection. A full assortment of their custom beads. (I don't usually get too caught up in the bead frenzy, but they had some seriously cool offerings.) I went for a curatorial approach, scanning each float for who had something I wanted, targeting them, establishing a dialogue, and more often not, walking away satisfied. (I think most of them were just happy to have somebody ask for something besides a "Coconuuuuut!")
- Rex was Rex.1
- The torrential rains which had been predicted, every day for several days, held off, the storms repeatedly skirting just to the north of us. Apparently Providence shines on pre-Lenten decadence.
- By early afternoon, the big show (thankfully) was over.2
- We saw some Mardi Gras Indians on the ride back, but a brief surge of rain sent them scattering for cover and us pedaling faster for home.
- We had the *very* good fortune to wind up, late afternoon, together with friends, at a house with a hot tub and heated pool. It was heavenly. Folks soaked with looks of blissful fatigue as the past days melted away.
- Somebody served a kale salad. After days of chips and dip and red beans and rice and gumbo and jambalaya and king cake, it was greeted ecstatically.
- Then the skies finally opened and the rains poured. It only lasted about fifteen minutes but was itself rejuvenating: clearing the air, washing the muck from the streets.
- And home. The ladies watched a movie. I didn't make it that long — down for the count at 8:30, slept ten-and-a-half blissful hours. And then the new day.
1 Sorry. I realize a lot of this may sound like gobbledygook. Trust me, it all makes sense but would require an extensive glossary which I'm far too tired to compose.
2 As I've said before, it's the mark of a good Mardi Gras that you're glad when its over.
2 As I've said before, it's the mark of a good Mardi Gras that you're glad when its over.
Good report!
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