Sun is napping.  CS and Pete are at lunch with Katie and Daisy.  The TV is off; the dishwasher just shut down.  Hear that?  Nothing sounds sooo good.

So why am I enjoying the quiet?  Allow me to recap.

Thursday night: Krewe of Babylon and Knights of Chaos.  Left before Muses.  Loved Babylon and Chaos.  Great representation of the traditional and satirical parade, respectively.

Friday night: Krewes of Hermes and D’Etat. Left during Morpheus.  No Sun.  Got to see two old friends riding in Hermes.  Even texted each other during the parade so we’d not miss each other.  What a world!  Again, excellent presentations of the traditional and the satirical parade.  Fave of the night, hands down, Krewe D’Etat’s Dancing Darlings, the Papal Police poking fun at the mishandling and injustice of the closing of local Catholic Churches.

Saturday: Krewe of Endymion at a private party.  Ahhhh.  Fave of the night?  Grilled oysters of the half shell.  The parade was just a backdrop to a very nice party.

Sunday: Krewe of Bacchus at my favorite family spot.  Sun and CS stayed home.  For about a decade now, I have been watching the parades that start at Tipitina’s pretty much right at the start.  I won’t say too much how awesome the spot is because one of the things that make it awesome is that it’s a much thinner crowd.  And we like it that way.  So if you are drunk and college-aged, stay on St. Charles.  Or better yet, in the Quarter.  Don’t mess with the family area on Napoleon Avenue.  My distant family has a home on the route and I have a house just off the route.  So this spot to catch parades is just home for me.  And it will be for Sun, too, in the years that come.

My neighbor rides in Orpheus tonight.  He’s in his 70s.  His wife is manning the 2 ten-top tables they have at the Orpheuscapade.  She says her daughter is the ringleader to such a big showing at the Ball.  Her daughter tells her that she blames her, my neighbor, her mother, for her love of Carnival because, my neighbor told me, “I dragged her to parades since before she was Sun’s age!”  I told my neighbor there were worse habits to have than a love of Mardi Gras.  She readily agreed with me.  I also mentioned this was Sun’s second Mardi Gras, and I could only hope that as an adult she loves it as much as her daughter does.

And tonight, Krewes of Proteus and Orpheus.  With Sun.  And her newly-painted ladder.  At our beloved family spot.  With Katie and Slappy and Pete and Daisy and CS too.  Oh, my.