Today is Fat Tuesday in New Orleans and Mobile, AL. While there is still argument over who started Mardi Gras (Mobile insists it started there with a Mr. Joe Cain...hence Joe Cain Day on Sundays), there is no doubt that NO has the biggest and best Mardi Gras. But, this Mardi Gras, at least in Mobile, attendance has been lagging. One could say that was due to the world economic turmoil. That would probably be a safe bet. Another factor has been the unseasonably cold weather we have experienced in the deep south. Mobile got snow Friday for the first time in....well, God knows how long. It was the first time Mobile public schools had ever been cancelled due to snow. That is a record, in and of itself, in Mobile.

Thus far, this has been a fatality-free Mardi Gras. That probably sounds strange. But, violence is well known to happen at Mardi Gras. I've never understood the logic of fighting over penny candy (ok, in today's world, maybe 3 cent candy). I don't attend Mardi Gras. I have not done so for many years. I just can't stand the crowds and the fascination with it all. But, that's just me. Thousands upon thousands love it. And, they are welcome to it.