A Country Parade

Life is full of rhythms.  A continuous cycle of repeated events.  Like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, like taxes on April 15th, or like the mail box primarily containing junk mail. You can almost set your watch to certain events.  On March 1st, a spectacular Saturday dawned to the loud, reverberating sounds of accordion and fiddle.  Yep, it's Mardi Gras time.

A guy down the road has a Mardi Gras float and was getting started early, pulling his float with a tractor trailer containing a band of boisterous revelers.  I hadn't even had my morning cup of coffee yet and this crew were already imbibing in something a little stronger.  They were heading into town where they'd assemble and spend the day parading through the countryside.

Long about noon, I heard the music again.  I sat out on the front porch in the rocking chair to watch the festivities.  It's not St. Charles Avenue or Canal Street in New Orleans, but our house is on the parade route, and we don't even have to drive anywhere to go to the parade.  It comes to us, each and every year.  

I didn't take photos of every float, but captured a few.  The floats aren't as ornate as the ones in New Orleans.  They are more simple, with country Cajun flair.  Here's "Dat Krewe."  They were playing some Merle Haggard.

Here's "Krewe Da Short Bus" with flags flying, Trump, Mardi Gras, Saints and Old Glory, covering all the bases.  They had a Port-a-Potty on the back.

The revelers waved and threw beads in the yard.  I went and picked up the green, yellow, and purple beads after they passed by.

Most of the floats, like this one, had BBQ pits on the back, fragrant smoke billowing out behind them.  I'm sure they had some homemade sausage on there.  I wished they would've thrown me a link of that.

A load of people were on the Krewe de Foo float, with the ubiquitous port-a-potty tied on back.

Along came Krewe de Bayou with their float resembling an Acadian shack.

Old school buses are popular.  They fit a lot of people and you don't need a truck to pull it.  

These merry people cut holes in the side of an 18-wheeler trailer.  They must have had 50 people in there.

Music blaring, people dancing.  I got tired of waving at all of them, ha ha.

Here's "Maison des Cooyon Kajans."  Loosely translated: The crazy Cajun house.

Both Jennings town cops and Jeff Davis Parish cops led the way, blocked LA 26 to allow the parade to pass.  There was a LOOONNNGGG line of motorists on the highway backed up while the parade passed.  Then the police followed the parade route out into the country.

Tricia came out and said, "Did you count how many floats?"  Sadly, I didn't.  It was a bunch of them, though.  Long after the parade passed, you could hear the music echoing across the countryside.  I was thankful they didn't come ask me for a chicken.  They are in short supply.  It was a nice day for a parade.  That evening, we headed down the road to Mermentau to C'est Bon Restaurant where we had fried shrimp, fried catfish, boiled shrimp, and Shrimp Étouffée to close out the day.  Yum!!

Watching the Parade from the Potato Patch

 I was planting potatoes on a beautiful Monday morning.  It was Lundi Gras.  That means "Fat Monday," the day before Mardi Gras.  The revelers were making the most of it.  As I was planting, I heard the French music playing in the distance.  The heifers, LuLu and Elsie, lifted their tails and ran across the pasture at break-neck speed.  They must have been scared.  The craziness surrounding Mardi Gras sometimes scares me too!

The police escorted the floats across LA 26, a state highway near our land.  They blocked off north and south traffic to give the floats a chance to cross.  I should have counted the floats.  It was more than 20, for sure.  The floats aren't typical floats like you see in the parades in New Orleans.  This is Cajun Mardi Gras.  It is more of a country celebration.  The floats are made of old school buses that have been altered and painted or a gooseneck trailer that has been transformed into an Acadian house.  They are very creative and I know a lot of time and money goes into this.  There are celebrations each of the preceding weekends, so it's not just one day.  The revelers are very committed to their cause.

The guy pulling this float is a neighbor that lives down the road.  We purchased all our square bales from his grandpa.  His grandfather is now deceased, but we continue to purchase from the daughter, who runs the operation now.

Most of the floats have barbeque pits on them.  They were smoking and I could smell the BBQ.  It made me hungry!

Most of the floats were flying American flags, Mardi Gras flags, and Louisiana flags.  Many flew the Acadiana flag.  You can see it below - the red white and blue one.  It was created in 1965 at USL. The gold star in the field of white represents Acadian exiles in America.  The fleurs de lis against a background of blue stands for the French heritage of the Cajuns.  Finally, the gold castle against a background of red represents Spanish colonial rule of Louisiana.  That's when the Cajuns arrived. 

Their parade route is long and goes all throughout the country.  They were eating and drinking and listening to (loud) music.

Many of the floats also have Port-A-Potty's on them.  Some call them K - John's.  Get it?

Let the Good Times Roll.  Literally...

If you look at all the cars backed up and stopped on LA 26 while the floats cross the road, that's the closest thing you'll see to a traffic jam out in my neck of the woods.

The house of crazy Cajuns, indeed.

And finally, the parade was over.

The French music faded into the distance as the parade snaked its way into the distance.  And I went back to planting potatoes.

Those Crazy Cajuns

Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once. — Chris Rose

It was Saturday shortly after lunchtime.  Tricia and I have a tradition on weekends in which we'll put a pot of strong coffee on and sit outside and visit.  It was a perfect day to do so.  We took a break from burning a big pile of sticks in the pasture and sat on a concrete bench under the live oak tree to enjoy a cup of coffee and conversation.

It is nice to live in the country.  However, we looked north toward the blacktop road and saw... (gasp) a traffic jam!  What in the devil is going on?

Traffic Jam

A Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's cruiser turned down the road in front of our house.  Suddenly, loud music filled the air...

Tricia turned to me and said, "We didn't have to go to the parade.  The parade came to us."  We aren't big "Mardi Gras People."  A little too crazy for us.  We sat and waved at the revelers as they passed.  They were having a good time.  The floats were interesting and creative.  This one had Spanish Moss draping the sides along with palmetto leaves and a cabin on the back with purple, green, and gold flags flying.

This one was a simpler one.  American Flags and the Louisiana Flag waved proudly alongside the ubiquitous Port-A-Potty anchoring the float.

Revelers showing their Tiger Spirit...

Purple, Green and Gold draping hung from this float with an Acadiana Flag bringing up the rear.

This float was made with tin from an old barn with the phrase, "Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler!" on the side. (Let the Good Times Roll).  It looked like they were doing just that.

Some krewes had purchased old school buses and "tricked them out."  This one seemed to be almost dragging the ground in the back.  Perhaps their Port-a-Potty was full?

This float had "Maison des Cooyon Kajans" emblazoned on the side.  House of Crazy Cajuns!

This one was the Krewe De Bayou and their float looked like a house on the bayou.

The whole parade probably had about 20 floats.  Nothing fancy.  All homemade.  One observation that we saw was that the majority of the floats had Trump flags proudly flying.  I think Trump pretty much has the Cajun demographic firmly in his corner.

Finally, the last float passed by and the loud music faded into the quiet countryside.  We finished our coffee and walked out to check the mail.  I bent over and picked up some purple beads on my way back in.  Those crazy Cajuns.

The Parish Fair and Livestock Show

Today was Fair Day.  The kids were out of school so that they could attend the Jefferson Davis Parish Fair, participate in the Livestock show, watch the parade, and ride all of the rides.  We woke up and got all of the chores done and loaded Amy into the trailer.  Amy is our two year old Jersey heifer. She will be calving in late December or early January.  Benjamin decided to show her instead of bringing Rosie and her little calf Clarabelle.  Sometimes a ride in the trailer freaks the cows out.  Not Amy. She was a real sport and stuck her nose out of the window the entire drive to the Fairgrounds.

Amy

We quickly got Amy washed and dried and tied up and at 10 minutes to 9, Benjamin said, "Dad, we can still make it to the parade."  We drove off quickly and took our place on the side of Main Street just in time for the escort police car leading the parade, sirens blaring.  Benjamin brought a shopping bag to catch the loot. He's done this a time or two!  There is a formula to parade watching.  You stand there, listening to the marching bands, and when the queens atop sports cars pass by or politicians or floats full of people ride by, you make eye contact and wave. The wave is rewarded with an onslaught of candy, beads, cups and other prizes thrown at you.  Benjamin's bag was full of candy by the time the parade was over. He deemed it to be a successful parade.  3 out of 4 dentists would agree.

Back we went to the fair.  We still had work to do.  We got the clippers and gave Amy a good clipping.  Various townfolk with kids came through the barn to view the livestock and we were able to talk to them about the animals.  I figure that is a good thing.  Even in rural America, people are moving away from their agricultural roots.  To enable kids to pet a dairy cow, learn about where their milk comes from and re-engage with agriculture is a good thing in my book!  At around 12:30 the first class of Jerseys were called into the ring.  Benjamin's heifer, Amy, was the oldest heifer in the show.  He led her into the ring and she behaved quite well.

She got first in her class.  Well, she was the only heifer in her class, but the judge said she looked real good and "maternal."  I guess that's a good thing as she'll be a mother in less than three months.

The Champions from all of the classes were called back into the ring so that the judge could name the Grand Champion.  There were five other classes, so five heifers total in the champion class.

The judge was thorough and had the exhibitors parade their animals as he deliberated.

In the end, Benjamin (and Amy) won Grand Champion!  I don't think Benjamin expected that.  

He got a nice rosette ribbon to hang on the wall in his room.

Grand Champion

He also showed in the Showmanship competition and got second place in a class of three.  He won some nice ribbons.

Benjamin had to work in the FFA booth where they sold BBQ hamburgers and Blooming Onions. They are raising money for an FFA trip that they will be taking. Benjamin's job was dipping the onion in buttermilk and then battering the Blooming onion prior to frying.  Benjamin said they were $7 a piece, but they were 'selling like hotcakes'.  I told him they should have also sold hotcakes.

Later, Benjamin met up with some friends and they spent the afternoon riding rides.  He had a good time and told me that "it was a good day."  I can remember enjoying myself at the fair when I was his age. There was a ride back then called the "Rock-o-Planes"  Of course I googled a picture of it!:

The Rock-o-Planes

This ride was essentially a Ferris wheel, but you sat with one other person and the cage you were in flipped while the whole wheel turned.  You could make it go quite fast by pulling the bar in the cage and using your weight to spin it.  Five of us stood in line, but only two could fit in each cage, so one of my buddies had to ride with a kid.  When we got off the ride, we were all laughing, excited after the thrill.  My buddy came walking up to us and had purple vomit all over the front of his shirt. Of course we asked, "What happened to you?"  He said, "Some darn kid I had to ride with on the Rock-o-planes threw up all over me!"  The words were hardly out of his mouth when the kid came walking by, holding the hand of his mother and pointed to my friend and exclaimed, "Momma, there's the man that threw up on me!"  We thought we'd never stop laughing and we still tease him to this day (30 something years later)!

Yep, the fair brings back memories and Benjamin made some he'll carry along with him today.