ya sure back home we had parades.. the ones where there were lots of high school bands and all those old men that were somehow really important to our city but i had never even heard of them before. and by the time the parade actually got to my families camp out spot we were more interested in the doughnuts my dad just brought over than the actual parade going on.
ill tell you one thing about mardi gras. nobody was anywhere close to thinking about doughnuts. they had something much more important on their minds. BEADS. millions and millions of beads.
let me try and paint you a picture in your minds... the very first float of the night was a big white truck. but wait as the truck got closer i realized it was pulling a trailer, oh not a trailer.. there was actually a half man half horse dancing on the back of it. and BAM.
and thats when the floats started coming, hands down the most elaborate things ive ever seen. purples and greens and golds.. not only one, but two threee stories high. The people in the floats were even more decorated, their costumes were unlike anything i could imagine. i knew i had to get in on this. ill never forget my first set of beads. it played in slow motion... i was dancing, well trying, and we made eye contact, i saw him pick up a whole stack of beads and point straight to me. i knew he needed one final reason why i deserved those precious things in his hands. so i did what i had to do.. i copied what the two year old next to me kept saying, please mister throw me some beeds. they flew into the air and perfectly into my little hands. around my neck it went with all the pride ive ever felt.
thank you louisiana, for continually showing me how happy the little things should make me.
