Author Archives: kewsmith

Spain in my Heart

I love Spain. Well actually, I can only say I love the parts of Spain I visited.  I love Madrid, Sevilla and Granada.  Okay, I suppose, the truth is I only visited a small part of each town so I can’t say I love all of Madrid, Sevilla and Granada.  That would be like saying you love New York City after only having been to Manhattan.  Wait, I’ve done that, so -

I love Spain.

And more appropriately for this post, I love the people of Spain.

Before I start telling of my Spanish journey, let me talk a minute about communicating in Spain.   I had a few years of Spanish in high school and college, in Texas, in the late 70′s and early 80′s, so the language barrier was no concern.  And it wouldn’t have been a problem if they would have slowed down a bit.  Again – from Texas.  I have trouble understanding people from the Northeast.  But seriously, we had few problems communicating.  At least one in our party of four would have the sense to understand instructions being conveyed in Spanish.  Patience and hand gestures go a long way.

The only time I felt completely clueless was in a bar watching football (okay, soccer).  The game was tied when the bar owner turned down the set.  People begin to leave and I was positive they went out for a smoke.  Surely a game in the Euro 2012 tournament would not end in a tie.  In America we would play on until a winner was declared.  Only when the local tv coverage ended did I realize it really was over.  Thank God I didn’t ask a local.  I do believe this might have caused some eyes to roll and the phrase, ‘Stupid American’ to be uttered somewhere in the bar.  Europeans take their football seriously.

Madrid

English: Coat of arms of Madrid (Spain). Españ...

English: Coat of arms of Madrid.Never really figured out the bear but this was definitely my favorite Coat of Arms.

Madrid is my kind of town.  I could spend hours writing about the museums and churches but others already have done this with more eloquence than I possess. In this little post, I’m writing  about the people.  We got in town on a Sunday and we were leaving Madrid on a Tuesday.  The Prado Museum is not open on Monday so we hurried over to see what we could before it closed.  We arrived at the time when the museum is open to the public for free.  When we got there hundreds of locals were waiting in a line halfway around the enormous building.  Did I mention it was 90+ degrees?  No one cared. We immediately noticed that the people were talking to each other.  There were probably cell phones around but I didn’t see any texting or playing games.  No one had ear buds in to drown out their neighbors.  Children were talking to parents.  Grandparents were talking to friends.  I’m a little sketchy on what was being said, but, by golly, it was friendly talk.  No one tried to cut in line.  No one kept checking their watch to make sure they weren’t being cheated out of five minutes.  The incredibly patient people were enjoying each other as they waited for the privilege of viewing art of the ages representing their past.

The next morning, we visited the Royal Palace and again we were faced with a line and 90+ degrees.  Spain in June can be warm.  To the side of the line was a man playing accordion with an open case for donations.  Instead of people scurrying by and avoiding eye contact, the crowd circled around him.  Two older couples started to dance.  We were entertained as we waited.  I didn’t see a lot of donations go into his case but I saw a lot of love flowing through the crowd.

Coat of arms of Seville

Coat of arms of Seville (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sevilla

Our Spain trip wasn’t long enough (what vacation is) and we left on Tuesday for Sevilla.  My son and his girlfriend are Studying Abroad in Sevilla so, as sad as I was to leave Madrid, I was excited to board the train.  Sevilla, like Madrid and Granada, has incredible architecture.  You walk around  constantly looking left, right, up and down. Our feet (sometimes blistered feet) trudged many miles everyday.

We ate most of our meals with my son, his girlfriend and my daughter’s friend, also Studying Abroad in Sevilla.  I was fascinated at the rapport between the waiters and my son.  He  had a few favorite restaurants and, in less than a month of living in Spain and less than a month of learning Spanish, he was communicating beautifully with the servers.  The communication may not have been as extensive as if he were a local, but each understood the other.  And trust me, he’s a student, they weren’t being overly kind to him because of the tips.  They were being kind because they genuinely liked him and his girlfriend and vice versa.  At that point, I was most pleased he had chosen Sevilla for his overseas studies.

My favorite part of Sevilla was getting a gelato in the evening and sitting in the square.  Local families sat in the finally cool air and shared their days (okay I’m guessing).  The children played football (okay, soccer) in the square with their friends and were having the time of their lives.  Abuelos watched the young ones on the playground equipment as they conversed with other men.  All this was happening at ten or eleven at night, a school night, and no one was bothered by the time.   Again, not a cell phone or laptop to be seen.

English: View of the Alhambra, Granada, Spain

English: View of the Alhambra, Granada, Spain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Granada

Granada was a day trip to visit the Alhambra.  It is a must see in Southern Spain, thank you very much Mr. Steves.  Yes, it’s easy to spot Americans because we all have the same ‘Rick Steves’ Spain 2012′ book in our hands.  (I wonder if he needs a people watching companion?)  We met still another Study Abroad student from my hometown studying in Granada.  Crazy, huh?  I loved all the familiar faces and Spanish comprehending ears.  We stopped to talk and have a quick drink on the main square before we had to run catch our train back to Sevilla.  Here we learned that the people don’t disappoint, even if they aren’t originally from Spain.  George, our host, was from Colombia, working in Spain, and learning English.  He humored us by telling us he was learning phrases like -

“My name is George.  What is your name?”

“The girl is pretty.”

“Where is your mother?”

Sound familiar to anyone who has taken first year Spanish in the states?  Not only did he make the hot afternoon bearable by sitting us under a handy water mister, he also entertained us with his minimal English and his huge heart.  We hated to leave for the train but we were ready for our much-needed siesta.  This is one of my favorite Spanish customs.

If you  want to know about traveling in Spain, I strongly suggest a book by Rick Steves but as you follow his traveling guidelines, take time to enjoy the people.  Be pleasantly startled, as we were, when a ‘gang’ of roller-bladers filled out favorite square in Sevilla one evening.  And then, as quickly as they appeared, they skated off to their next square.  Be patient as you wait for the Flamenco dancers to appear because I guarantee you’ll never again see more passion displayed by a few dancers and musicians. Spain is about Art and History, eating and dancing, and so many other things, but most importantly, Spain is about the people.

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My Beautiful Blogger Award

I went in today to blog and I found that I had written this entry a while back and never posted it.  I felt bad because I was so proud to receive the Beautiful Blogger Award and I hadn’t acknowledged it.  Okay, I did acknowledge it but since you cannot read my ‘drafts’, I thought I better go one step further in acknowledging the award.  As they say- better late than never.

* * * * *

Thank you, momshieb, for this award.    I  love that someone would connect the word ‘beautiful’ with my writing.  Any writer gets a little tingle when the words come together and it feels right.  Usually, we appreciate this on our own.  We quietly marvel at the thought that we found time to compose something more than a grocery list.  We smile, maybe have a glass of wine and then wonder if we are wasting too much time at the computer.  Oh yes, and then we remember we write to remain sane in this crazy world.  Thank you, momshieb, for noticing me in this crazy world.  The award is much nicer than a glass of wine and causes no headaches in the morning.

Since I started blogging, the beauty I have found in the words of others has astounded me.  My world has changed.  I have found people to make me think, people to make me cry and people to make me laugh.  I have found a support group of empty-nesters and (surprise, surprise)  they understand what I’m going through.  I needed this in my life.

I used to assume everybody felt like I did about life and then I begin to suspect no one felt about life as I did.  I became alienated at times.  Blogging has given me a chance to connect with people I can relate to on many levels.  It still amazes me that there are people who read what I write and know what I mean.  Some even get my humor or, at least, pretend to.   I thank you all.  You, my blogging buddies, make my life more beautiful.   I offer this award to anyone reading my blog and trying to connect with others to make the world a better place- one good deed, one kind word or one belly laugh at a time.

The instructions for the award are:

Instructions for the award: 1. Thank the person who gave you the award 2. Paste the award on your blog 3. Link the person who nominated you for the award 4. Nominate 7 bloggers or less 5. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated

This award was given to me by momshieb at Post Departum Depression.  She is my beautiful blogging buddy.  She and I are working together to get through the joys of motherhood and the lows of empty-nesting.  (I am still trying to appreciate the highs of empty-nesting).   Thank you, my friend for this award.  Without a doubt, you are a Beautiful Blogger.

Lost in Space

I’m back or I will be back later this month.  I’m leaving town today for a week but I just wanted everyone (and I know there are tons of you or five) to know I did not get run over by a bus or swept up by a tornado as is common in the panhandle of Texas.  Mostly I have been trying to figure out what to do with myself and writing quite a bit-just not here.  I came to the conclusion that I will NEVER know exactly what my purpose on this blue ball is and it’s time for me to quit worrying about it.  From here on out I will live in the moment.  Of  course if I do that I will never be able to look to the past and therefore I will never have my car keys and I won’t look ahead so there will be no retirement fund.  Maybe I better think this out a little more.

Soon I will be back posting and reading all the wonderful blogs I’ve been missing – unless I’m abducted by aliens on my trip.  See how I tied that into my title!

My Enemy is a Varmint!

I can win the battle this year.

Where’s my gun?  (Don’t worry, my ammunition is water.)

*****

When we first moved into our house in the neighborhood with the tree-lined streets, I loved my new furry friends, the squirrels.  I loved how they scampered from tree to tree and ran along the fences.  I loved how they challenged the dogs in the backyard by getting on the low branches and hanging their tails down to tease.  They can be the ‘sirens’ of the animal kingdom and I fell for them.  With peanuts, I hand-fed the cute critters until someone explained they can carry diseases, like rabies and rodent plague.   Also, they’ve been known to bite.  I changed to putting their peanuts in bowls.  I wanted to get close to the wild animal kingdom while living in my city dwelling.

All my life I’ve tried to be friends with the animals.   I discouraged my boys from hunting and, if you haven’t heard, I live in Texas.  I nearly killed myself a number of times  trying to avoid rabbits on the highway.  I still cry more at a movie if an animal dies than if a person does.  “Old Yeller” was almost the death of me.  I really wanted to live in harmony with the squirrels.

Pecans are common throughout Kirby

I've never seen the hulls open on my trees

But then I got my pecan trees and the war began.  We started the trees as little, skinny sticks.  We lovingly watched them grow and mature and within a few years, I had the joy of watching little green wormy things turn into little green footballs.  And as the tiny footballs grew, I watched them prepare to shed their skins and give me the pecans I needed for all my Winter holiday cooking.  With joy I anticipated their arrival.

But none of my tiny footballs shed their skins.  Instead, in a matter of days, the squirrels invaded and ravished all my pecans. And then the squirrels dug little holes in my yard to hide the pecans.  My Winter pecans became their Winter stash.

The next year I did what any pecan tree owner would do.  I went on the internet and searched for ways to keep the squirrels out of my trees.  Over the next few years, I tried rubber snakes, fake owls, mothballs, tubes around the bottom of the trees and squirrel voodoo.  Okay that’s not true but if I’d found a spell to chase away squirrels, I might have tried it.

If you don’t know, squirrels are smart and they outsmarted me with each new trick I tried.

This year I’ve come up with a new strategy.

I’m going to put out tiny squirrel ladders and squirrel feeders in the trees.  I’ll let them think I’m growing pecans for them.  When I’m outside I’ll talk about how,with the poor economy, people won’t be able to buy treats for the squirrels so my new mantra will be, ‘Save the Squirrels’.  It’s not crazy.   They may have learned our language over the years as they’ve taken over our neighborhoods.  Like I said, they’re smart creatures.

I’m going to bury the sad squirrel bodies when I find them smashed in the streets.  They haven’t  learned to outwit the demon cars.  I’ll start a little ‘pet cemetery’ but not like the one in the Stephen King novel.  I put it in the shade of my pecan trees.

Maybe if I show them all this ‘squirrel love’, they’ll pity me and leave just enough pecans for one pie.  I think this could work.  ‘Squirrel love’ is my new strategy.

Deutsch: Grauhörnchen (Sciurus carolinensis) i...

You’re right.  The truth is I’m giving up the battle.

The squirrels win.

The Curse of Company

It never fails, right?  It doesn’t matter if your company is friends or relatives.  Something’s going to go wrong at your house.  It can be a clogged sink at Thanksgiving or a frozen water pipe at Christmas, but the minute company comes-a-calling, something is going to break.  My mother was the victim of the  ‘ company curse’ last week.

My mother feels she has two jobs when visitors come.  She believes her first job is to feed them to death.  The curse involved here is the ‘traveler’s curse’.  The ’traveler’s curse’ is that as  soon as you travel fifty miles from your house, you need to eat everything available.   My mom never misses a chance to make food available.

The ‘company curse’ had to do with her second job.   This job is to make sure we are comfortable as she entertains us.  This involves finding out everything going on around her hometown, north of Houston,  and making sure her swimming pool is ready to go.

My son, his wonderful girlfriend and I  went  to visit mom last week.  My daughter met us at her house.  After we said our hellos and mom told us every event going on within a fifty mile radius, she sent my son to turn the heater on the pool so the water would be the perfect temperature to swim the next day.  This would be the first time the pool was used this year.  Mom was excited that the Houston temperatures were warm enough for swimming, with a little help from the heater. My big toe let me know that a little heat definitely was required.  Son turned the heater on and we thought all was good.   The heater and pump were replaced on the pool last year.  But, we found out later,  the heater didn’t work.  Mom was more disappointed than the kids.

Next it was the air conditioner.  As I said, it was hot in Houston and the humidity was at about 90%.   We, West Texas dry climate people, were sweating profusely in the still air.  When we took our daily walk and the pollen showered our sweaty bodies, we took on a new yellow glow.   Luckily the repairman came the next day and temporarily fixed the broken air conditioner.  He repaired the air conditioner for the  short-term and explained the mega bucks needed to fix it completely.

A typical home air conditioning unit.

Sadly mom's problem involves the coil. Not an easy fix.

The next problem was my fault.  As we were playing cards one night and mom was telling us how her hand mixer broke as she was making my son’s favorite cheesecake, I broke her chair.  Yes, I have put on a little weight over the last few years but that’s not why the chair broke.  Like the mixer, the chair has been in my mom’s house for as long as I can remember and  I have grown children.  The chair had two of the brace poles (have no idea what they’re really called) already broken and maybe, maybe I was leaning back in it.  Remember I was really hot and someone dropped a playing card and I leaned back in hopes of catching a card breeze.  Another pole came out and the chair broke.  Thanks to my cat-like reflexes and fear of embarrassing myself by falling to the floor, I jumped out before the chair collapsed.  I heard my retired elementary school teacher mom saying something about how all four legs should always be on the ground.  I felt about eight.

All this and you might think it wasn’t the greatest trip, but it was.  Mom came to terms with it all- even the air conditioner bill.  I tried to hide the broken chair in the corner before I left. My sweet son promised to fix it next time he visits so mom was happy.  But, let’s face it, no matter what goes wrong, just being around friends and family seems to make all catastrophes better.  Maybe that’s the purpose of the ‘company curse’.  Even though mom hated the problems, at least we were there to lend a little support.

After we left, the pool repairman came and replaced the thermostat (no charge).  Of course, there was that residual ‘company curse’ bad mojo.  Mom called me today and told me her phone isn’t working.  All her calls are going to another lady’s house.  She can call out but we can’t call her on her house phone.   The phone repairman is coming tomorrow.  I bet he gets leftover cheesecake.

South-African Rose baked Cheese Cake on Dr. St...

Tagged!

I’ve been tagged by ashleysthoughts and I’m up for the challenge. By the way, go check out her blog.  She a talented young writer trying to bring credibility to New Jersey!

The rules are:

  • you must post the rules
  • answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
  • create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged
  • tag eleven people with a link to your post
  • let them know you tagged them

The questions I must answer are:

1. How often does your phone ring? Not a text alert, I mean how often does it ring with another person on the other end who wants to talk to you?

I’m over fifty so I have technically challenged friends.  If a text has more than twenty words, it’s just too much trouble.  Consequently I talk on the phone about half a dozen times a day.  I talk to my mom everyday, my husband multiple times on some days and none on others, a couple of friends most days and my sister, when we can.  Oh, and my kids when they have time for me which is never as often as I would like.   Boy, do I miss those days when I was the most important thing in their lives!

2. Have you come across anything so far in life that is actually all it’s cracked up to be?

Much of the art and literature that I have had the pleasure of viewing and reading.

3. What decade do you wish you could visit?

I’ve always been drawn to the twenties.  Maybe it’s the decadence or maybe the really cool flapper clothes.

4. When was the last time you cried? Why?

Too many days lately.  Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday can usually get me going. Sometimes happy tears and sometimes sorrowful tears. 

The last time I cried until I thought my insides would detach from the rest of my body was when my father died.  It was unexpected and I was slayed by the news.  I miss him.

5. Do you consider yourself open-minded? Are you really, or do you say yes because you feel like you’re supposed to?

I think I’m open-minded but I don’t know.  If my daughter called and said she was a stripper at the local pub, I might change my mind.  I know I’m not saying it because I feel like I should.  I try to keep my judgement of others at bay.  I’d be less inclined to be close-minded if the stripper came from a dysfunctional background and was putting herself through college and was not my daughter.  Does any of this make sense?

Tough questions, Ms. Ashley.

6. How often do you find yourself telling a “little white lie” or a “bold-faced lie?” Are you a liar? Is everyone?

I tell white lies and I shouldn’t but I can’t tell someone I hate their new dress or haircut or most anything.  I was a liar so when I had kids I made it clear this was the worst of sins.  I always said that I could handle anything but lies.  Of course there were lies but also a lot of hard, cold truth.  I lied once to one of my children and later went back and told him the truth.  I couldn’t lie and ask him not to lie to me.

Oh and yes, I lied about the usuals – Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy.

I don’t know if everyone lies but almost everybody.

Pretty honest answer, huh?

7. What makes you most excited?

Travel with my family. 

8. What are your TV guilty pleasures?

Dr. Who and, embarrassingly, anything where they chase a ghost.  Maybe because my father passed, I really want to believe in ghost and I want him to come a calling. 

9. Would you rather live on top of the clouds or at the bottom of the ocean?

Another toughy.  I love the ocean and I’m fascinated by what’s down there but I’m also claustrophobic so I thing I would want to live on top of the clouds, breath freely and take in the beauty of the earth and, who knows, maybe some other ‘earths’.

10. If you died tomorrow, what would be your legacy?

I think people would say she was a good mother and that she was kind.  Someday, I hope  people might say she did her best to make the world a better place.  Oh and a good writer wouldn’t hurt.

11. What comes to mind when you think of New Jersey?

This Texan spent a week in New Jersey when she was 17 and fell for a cute boy.  We were living in Pennsylvania then.  I only have fond memories of Ocean City, NJ.  We moved back to Texas about a week after this trip and I lost contact with the boy but I still have the memories.

And my eleven questions are:

  1. What happened on the best day of your life?
  2. What is your greatest talent?
  3. What have you done in your life that makes you the most proud?
  4. What do you believe in that others might doubt the reality of?
  5. If you could travel in time, where would you go?
  6. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
  7. Anytime in your life that you would like to have a ‘do-over’? Explain in you can.
  8. What’s your favorite movie and why?
  9. If you could spend one day doing anything you wanted, what would it be?
  10. What are your views on social media?
  11. Have you ever broken the law and what did you do?  You needn’t answer if it will get you thrown in the pokey.

Time to tag the others.

These are all people with interesting ideas and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say.  Check them out.

I also want to say thanks to Jane Thorne for the Liebster Award.  She has a lovely blog that you should check out.  I’ve gotten to know her through ‘Something for the Weekend’ and it’s been a joy.

I received the Versatile Award once again from butenuffaboutme.  She is a fan of Erma Bombeck and has her own funny bone.  Take a moment and check her out.

Something for the Weekend (4)

This week maturestudenthanginginthere gave us a beautiful picture for a prompt.  I struggled but finally came up with something today.  It’s short but it’s what I first saw in the picture.

This lovely picture is from Karl Chapman.

Perspective

Two brothers view a rainbow,

Their future paths unfold.

One sees sun reflecting rain,

One sees a pot of gold.

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Letting My Geek Flag Fly

I guess it’s time to come clean.  I’m not the ‘cool’ mom or the ‘cool’ empty-nester or the ‘cool’ anything.  I’m a geek.  And not the ‘cool’ geek like the geniuses on “The Big Bang Theory” but the geek that watches ‘TBBT’ and wishes she understood the formulas displayed on the dry erase boards.

Recently, I suspected my ‘geekiness’ because  the lady selling eyewear told me the ‘nerdy’ glasses I wanted were half price.  I was buying the glasses because I thought they were fashionable.  And if you’re thinking maybe the lady was behind the times – no.  I still wear clothes I bought before the millennium.  I couldn’t tell you what the hot colors are for the coming season.  It’s me that’s out of tune.

The title card for the original 2006 pilot

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve learned through the dictionary that you don’t have to be a computer whiz to be a geek.  I wouldn’t fit into that category.  I’m typing this post for the second time because I lost everything when I tried to download a picture.  That’s the kind of computer loser that I am.

I’m also not a carnival geek.  The definition from Merriam Webster mentioned biting the heads off of live chickens and snakes.  Does that really still go on or does Merriam Webster need to do a serious update on their website?

I’m the other kind of geek, defined by Merriam Webster as, socially inept.  I never know what to say at parties and when I start talking, I see eyes glaze over.  I don’t understand why people aren’t interested in the fact that National Geographic had a great article on how to improve your memory and remember a complete deck of cards, in order.  When I see their disinterest, my response is -

‘No, I can’t do it but it’s unbelievable that someone else can, right?’

or

‘Was that a yawn?’

or

‘Didn’t you just come back from the bathroom?’

I really do wish I was the genius geek.  Then at least I’d have some credibility.  I’m just the odd duck that gets home from parties, wishes she hadn’t gone and worries about what she said, as opposed to, what she should have said.  I’m a lot funnier when I’m scripted.  At least I think I am.   If I had the TARDIS, I’d travel back in time and do much better with small talk.  You, too, may be a geek if you know what the TARDIS is.

I like to know a bit about everything and especially if other people in my realm know about it.  I constantly make notes.  The only good thing about researching all these little things is that sometimes, from out of seemingly nowhere, I get an answer on Jeopardy that I shouldn’t know.  Of course the only person I’m impressing is me because, now that the kids are gone, I usually watch Jeopardy alone. I want you guys to know, I can be pretty impressive, and not just because I’m old and have lived through a lot of the history questions.

I guess I should have noticed my ‘geek’ signs a long time ago. They’re pretty evident, right?

English: Albert Einstein Français : portrait d...

The whole package - brains and adorable.

So,today I’m coming out of the ‘geek’ closet.  I realize life is a lot easier when we are who we are.  I’m tired of worrying about becoming a geek.  I’m already a geek.  I love the Discovery and Science channels.  I pay extra to get the Science Channel.  I love museums and prefer to go alone so I can take all the time I need to look. And, yes, I have a tremendous crush on the ‘deceased’ Albert Einstein.  I have his picture in my office. It makes me smile every time I look at it.  I find solace in the fact that he was a geek,  too.  I think that’s why I’ve always loved him.

Something for the Weekend (3)

I didn’t do a post for ’Something for the Weekend’ last week so there is no (2).  I decided to call this (3) since this is the third week of maturestudenthanginginthere‘s virtual creative writing class.  

Melancholia

The afternoon shined like a new penny on black asphalt,

She dropped her paisley scarf over the day to protect her eyes,

The light struggled to burn through,

 But she wasn’t ready to dismiss

The quiet discontent flowing through her veins.

*

She disguised the malaise from others with dark shades and a tilted smile,

The unsettling turmoil inside wasn’t to be shared,

Simply sensing the tainted warmth

Outweighed the pain produced,

The thorned crown belonged to her and it wasn’t to be shared.

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Mardi Gras Mania

My mother and father grew up in the little town of Amite, Louisiana, but they never took my siblings and me to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.   (Can’t imagine why)  My first chance to see a Mardi Gras parade took place in Alabama.  It was Mobile, Alabama to be exact.  I’m embarrassed to say I thought New Orleans and Galveston, in my home state of Texas, were the only places to hold Mardi Gras celebrations.  Now, I know better.  Do you think there might be other stuff going on in America that I’m not aware of?  Anyway, I now feel certain that many places have parades- just not as far North as Amarillo, Texas.

But my first Mardi Gras experience took place where it all started. Sorry New Orleans. The first Mardi Gras parade in America was held  in 1703 in Mobile, Alabama.  New Orleans started their party fifteen years later.

My ignorance runs even deeper.  I thought Mardi Gras was maybe a week of parades and balls.  Sorry, my friends, this is wrong.  In Mobile the first parade of Mardi Gras is in November.  During the three weeks before Fat Tuesday, the town holds parades almost every night.  And the locals do it right each night.  I was there on a random Tuesday and the floats were beautiful.  The high school bands that played between the floats were energetic and talented.  I imagine this was not the first parade they had marched in over the last few weeks but they didn’t disappoint.

Amateur float makers everywhere, we need to hang our heads in shame.  We have parades in my little town and we have an awesome band but our flat-topped trailers covered in hay bales and brightly markered posters would be laughed out of the Mobile parades.  The one picture of a float that I took (below) shows you what I mean.  These are well thought out designs and they don’t use the same floats night after night.  I’m guessing there are hundreds of floats housed all over Mobile year round as they prepare for Mardi Gras season.

Next let me tell you about the gifts tossed from the floats to the waiting crowds.  You know about the beads and doubloons but do you know about the stuffed animals, roses, candy, peanuts and Moon Pies? Yes, I said Moon Pies.  In 1956, Alabama float riders started sharing Moon Pies with the crowds.  I didn’t even know these treats still existed.

And what do you collect your goodies in?  Many parade goers have wheeled boxes.  Sacks don’t work well because the torpedoed goods come quick and you need somewhere to toss your items as you prepare for your next catch.  Seasoned parade goers have rakes to collect goods that don’t clear the protective three-foot fence.  The plastic bags from the local grocery store that we use for our little parades would never hold the plethora of loot recovered on a Mobile Mardi Gras night.

Now you understand why I didn’t get a lot of pictures.  You look down and you might be sporting a bead imprint across your face the next day.  And the night I went, it was ladies throwing the gifts from high atop the floats.

All from my one parade

Beads, beads and more beads

I feel like I stumbled upon a well-kept secret.  I went to a Mardi Gras parade and I didn’t have to fight Time Square sized crowds.  I didn’t even have to flash anything to get beads.

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