annie oddflower

The Mardi Gras parades are different from the Christmas parade in that they are always at least a little rowdy. And actually photographing the parade is difficult, especially when one is short, and one only makes the night parade. That's right folks, I missed out on the Red Hat Parade.

Plus there is the added aggravation of having to get there early to stake out your place, which does no good anyway, since people come along when the parade begins and they squeeze in front of you.

The most interesting part is walking down the street before the parade begins, taking in the sights.

We arrived early and I immediately spotted my first boody shot of the day! Remember the old kiddie joke, "Look Mom, there's a real horse's butt", usually said as we passed a trailor full of horses.

We took a walk down the street before the parade started and saw these folks selling Mardi Gras crowns.

You see all kinds of people walking the parade route, all shapes and sizes. Some people spend all day out here. They bring their barbecue pits and set up camp on the parade route.

Some people bring their bikes and ride the route. My daughter and I joked last year, saying we were going to ride bicycles in between the parades, taking pictures.

Poor dog, he was so ashamed of that girly Mardi Gras collar that he would not look me in the face.

These were two perfectly normal looking fellows walking down the street. They looked totally out of place.


This couple intrigued me the whole night. They obviously were not from here. The woman had on pantyhose and everything. Yuck!

And the man's suit was so wrinkled! I finally decided maybe they had rented costumes because that looked like the cheapest suit I have ever seen on a live person (in other words, it looked like one of those funeral home suits they bury people in, except this one did have a back on it!).

This poor child was packing her sister up and down the street. I know she did not need anyone to rock her to sleep tonight. And look at that Mardi Gras wig! Also note the plastic bag, useful for holding the candy and beads that are thrown from the floats.

Finally the floats arrive! It is not as easy as you think to throw beads from these floats. First of all, the beads do not fly straight through the air. And too many times you think you have caught someone's eye and you are going to throw to that person but you end up hitting someone else in the head, and the float moves on before you can even say "oops, I'm sorry". (Can you tell I rode on a float once?) Tonight I got hit in the head once or twice because I was too busy trying to take a picture.

You also have to manage to keep the strands of beads uuntangled enough to throw them out individually, while standing on a trailer that is swaying through the street. It ain't an easy job, riding the float.

This picture is not too clear (remember, it is dark now) but I included it because I liked the face sculpture on the float. Their hands are in the air because they are trying to get the attention of the people on the float, to get them to throw some beads. Some of the floats throw little moon pies in addition to beads.

This is what you have to manage to see through or around to see anything at these parades.



Now this man here, he grew two extra arms when the floats went by, and he snatched beads like they were worth something. I would move to one side of him and he would move over closer to me. Then I'd move to the other side of him, and he move closer to me. It was truly annoying. It was really all ok. We got plenty of beads in spite of him.

Even with the baby on his shoulders, the man was all arms, I tell you. All arms. And nine feet tall.

This was my view for a good portion of the parade:

And now, of course, what can I say? I mean, other than,

the end.