A Successful Mardi Gras
A few weeks ago, when we had dinner with a colleague and his family, he said he sensed a kind of strange euphoria in post-Katrina New Orleans. My husband and I had no idea what he was talking about. We still felt only confusion and despair. Now I think I know what he meant. It is the energy that made us want to settle in New Orleans again and that was on display for the whole world over the past few days.
The euphoria (he could think of no better word to describe it) that my colleague was trying to explain to us was a feeling of community spirit. It is as if everyone has returned from exile and is happy to be home, as battered as it is. Even having to wait at the post office every afternoon for his mail, he said, has become a neighborly activity rather than a nuisance. People are connecting in new ways as we all are suffering the same inconveniences and heartaches. More than that, though, everyone is relieved to find that New Orleans is still alive. Every small sign of renewal (another fast food restaurant re-opens, a magazine arrives in the mail, a street is cleared of debris, a traffic light is hooked up) is a sign of hope that New Orleans is rising from the ashes. And that is exactly what Mardi Gras was this year, a sure sign that the city and its heritage will live on.
There was some attempt to stir up a controversy on the cable news shows about whether or not New Orleans should have parades this year. And there was a lot of hand-wringing in the Times-Picayune from locals who wanted to make sure the national media didn’t just focus on Bourbon Street and wanted to let the world know that our spirit will not die. And it seems that, at least partially, the story did get out, finally, that Mardi Gras is not all “Girls Gone Wild.” The wildness in the French Quarter is conducted almost entirely by tourists, not locals. People who live here congregate along St. Charles Ave. and build seats on top of ladders for their little ones and put up tents for their families. Sure, people get drunk and occasionally a little out of control, especially as the parades extend into the evenings. But if you go earlier in the day and find a spot near the front to hoist up your kid so she can wave to the passing floats and catch some beads, well, there’s nothing like it.
This year, the parades and parties all had a Katrina theme, whether overtly or subtly. Waterlines were visible on floats. The paucity of marching bands reminded everyone of the school kids dispersed throughout the country. And the t-shirts with “Save NOLA” or “Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory” were out in force. Yesterday, as the whole city seemed to be in costume, blue tarps (used to cover damaged roofs) were the material of choice for hats and even jackets and gowns. One of the most popular costumes was the blind levee inspector, complete with walking stick.
A friend of ours told us a couple of months ago that Mardi Gras would be a watershed moment for New Orleans. If a shooting happened during a parade, the national media would write its obituary. But if the tourists came and spent enough money and the coverage was positive, the city could be on its way to recovery. All indications are that it was a successful Mardi Gras. I know my daughter, in her ballerina costume and beads, thought it was.
For a while there it did seem as if we were all hanging on by a thread. But the momentum is building. Parts of the city are definitely lagging behind. However, if you go to Uptown, where we are buying our new house, you can almost forget there was a Katrina. It is a lovely part of the city, the heart of New Orleans now, and it is definitely still beating.
It is strange how we have lived in the area for six years but never really felt like New Orleanians until now. I wear my “Save NOLA” t-shirt proudly. And I am ready to embrace life in the city. There was so much about pre-Katrina New Orleans that made it difficult for us to commit to this city. But now that the slate has been wiped clean, so to speak, there is so much promise. We want to be part of what makes this a better city than it was. Suddenly we are optimists, after so many months of death and destruction. Spring truly is around the corner. (But so is hurricane season. Shhh.)
The euphoria (he could think of no better word to describe it) that my colleague was trying to explain to us was a feeling of community spirit. It is as if everyone has returned from exile and is happy to be home, as battered as it is. Even having to wait at the post office every afternoon for his mail, he said, has become a neighborly activity rather than a nuisance. People are connecting in new ways as we all are suffering the same inconveniences and heartaches. More than that, though, everyone is relieved to find that New Orleans is still alive. Every small sign of renewal (another fast food restaurant re-opens, a magazine arrives in the mail, a street is cleared of debris, a traffic light is hooked up) is a sign of hope that New Orleans is rising from the ashes. And that is exactly what Mardi Gras was this year, a sure sign that the city and its heritage will live on.
There was some attempt to stir up a controversy on the cable news shows about whether or not New Orleans should have parades this year. And there was a lot of hand-wringing in the Times-Picayune from locals who wanted to make sure the national media didn’t just focus on Bourbon Street and wanted to let the world know that our spirit will not die. And it seems that, at least partially, the story did get out, finally, that Mardi Gras is not all “Girls Gone Wild.” The wildness in the French Quarter is conducted almost entirely by tourists, not locals. People who live here congregate along St. Charles Ave. and build seats on top of ladders for their little ones and put up tents for their families. Sure, people get drunk and occasionally a little out of control, especially as the parades extend into the evenings. But if you go earlier in the day and find a spot near the front to hoist up your kid so she can wave to the passing floats and catch some beads, well, there’s nothing like it.
This year, the parades and parties all had a Katrina theme, whether overtly or subtly. Waterlines were visible on floats. The paucity of marching bands reminded everyone of the school kids dispersed throughout the country. And the t-shirts with “Save NOLA” or “Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory” were out in force. Yesterday, as the whole city seemed to be in costume, blue tarps (used to cover damaged roofs) were the material of choice for hats and even jackets and gowns. One of the most popular costumes was the blind levee inspector, complete with walking stick.
A friend of ours told us a couple of months ago that Mardi Gras would be a watershed moment for New Orleans. If a shooting happened during a parade, the national media would write its obituary. But if the tourists came and spent enough money and the coverage was positive, the city could be on its way to recovery. All indications are that it was a successful Mardi Gras. I know my daughter, in her ballerina costume and beads, thought it was.
For a while there it did seem as if we were all hanging on by a thread. But the momentum is building. Parts of the city are definitely lagging behind. However, if you go to Uptown, where we are buying our new house, you can almost forget there was a Katrina. It is a lovely part of the city, the heart of New Orleans now, and it is definitely still beating.
It is strange how we have lived in the area for six years but never really felt like New Orleanians until now. I wear my “Save NOLA” t-shirt proudly. And I am ready to embrace life in the city. There was so much about pre-Katrina New Orleans that made it difficult for us to commit to this city. But now that the slate has been wiped clean, so to speak, there is so much promise. We want to be part of what makes this a better city than it was. Suddenly we are optimists, after so many months of death and destruction. Spring truly is around the corner. (But so is hurricane season. Shhh.)
posted by Scribbling Mama | 1:09 PM
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