Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras!

I flew back in to Colorado last night and although I should be cleaning the mud off the rain boots I wore during the rainy parade on Saturday or doing the laundry I have strewn about my living room because I needed to find my sweatpants after eating too much King Cake last night or at least unpacking the suitcase I have open on the floor, instead I find myself watching live footage of the parades back in New Orleans and trying to untangle the bag of beads I brought home with me.  You know, so I can wear them to the grocery store like any other normal Coloradan is doing today.

And maybe I should be apologizing for having disappeared for the past 7 days and making up for it by posting a lengthy vacation recap in which I show you countless pictures of me eating grits for breakfast, or parade floats that put any float I’ve seen in Colorado to shame or maybe even the video I took from the balcony on Bourbon Street Friday night, BUT…

It’s Mardi Gras and I’m going to continue pretending I’m on vacation for at least one more day.  Because if I don’t, I’m surely going to fall prey to the “vacation blues.”  You know, when you come home from a truly great vacation and your life suddenly feels a lot quieter, lonelier and, uh, snowier.  And also because if you’ve ever been to New Orleans for any length of time, you know that it’s a city that is so unique and full of sights, sounds, tastes and smells that you just can’t find anywhere else.  And when you leave a place like that, you’re left feeling mystified.  That behind all the tourism, is a place that is so different, you almost feel like you’ve been transported to another time and place.  One where houses built during the turn of the century line the streets, with their elaborate iron work and big balconies.  Where everything moves a little slower and everyone seems to enjoy themselves a little more.

I always find it extremely difficult to convey just how amazing New Orleans is, or how much I treasure each and every trip I take there.  So I’m going to leave that daunting task for another day.  And probably go eat some more King Cake.

Enjoy your Fat Tuesday!