The marching bands are lined up and the floats are assembled and my bike basket is full of beer and my hands are ready to catch beads.  It’s Mardi Gras time!  Tonight Oshun and Pygmalion rolled and the rain stopped just in time.  I rode my bike over to Napolean to see folks lining up and got caught in a downpour, but the parade itself was dry.  I took this photo while waiting for Oshun to start.  I love the line up.  Everyone is getting excited, the high schoolers are getting restless, and me?  I am suddenly overtaken by a ridiculous thirst for beads.  I can’t understand it.  I have now idea why these cheap beads make me crazy.  But they do.  I love jumping up and down, screaming for attention, grabbing at things flying through the air.  The whole endeavor is full of waste and ugliness, but for some reason, I just don’t care.  At least, I didn’t today.  Today I zipped around on my bike, saw the parades twice (I ride faster than parades move), and got excited for tomorrow.  More marching bands, more beads, more beer with thousands of my neighbors.  And my bike makes it easy for me to zip over to the many bathrooms I’ve scouted ahead of time.  See you on the route tomorrow!