Dr. Geek�s culinary tribute to New Orleans and Mardi Gras reminded me that I meant to write about Mardi Gras too.

Mardi Gras has never been much of a celebration for me. It�s a little too outrageous for me. And if truth be told, I actually enjoy the austerity of Lent. But still, if you�ve ever been to New Orleans at any time of year, it�s hard not to think of it now, especially this year.

My mom and dad got back from New Orleans last Friday. They had spent a week there with a church group, camping out in Sunday school rooms, touring the 9th ward, and gutting homes down to the studs. All in all, it sounds like an amazing trip on any number of fronts. They truly had a good time, and not just for the charitable work. They saw two parades, which they said were very much family affairs with people tossing toys to children with virtually nothing left. Over and over again people stopped them on the street to thank them for being there, for doing what they could to help.

They said that despite all the damage seen on the news, nothing prepared them for what they saw. The force of the water was palpable. They wondered what it must have been like to be there when it happened, they wondered what it must have been like to be in water so strong that your house was carried off its foundations into the street where it landed on top of a car.

They spent a good deal of time at the home of Miss Lily. Miss Lily, whom my mother described as �a prim and proper lady in her nineties,� had quite a hefty book collection mildewing away in her home. While the burlier members of the team worked on taking up carpet and removing wallboard, my mom and a couple of others helped Miss Lily sort through her books. Based on her book collection, Miss Lily was not as prim and proper as she looked. The first indication of this was a book from the first half of the twentieth century on how to have an affair. The workers leafed through it while Miss Lily was out. They were informed, among other things, that one�s minister was an excellent choice for an affair because, �you should make sure that the other person has as much to lose as you do.� And then, apparently, they found quite a collection of 1970s era books on group sex. One of the work team suggested that perhaps they belonged to Miss Lily�s daughter, but she was roundly shouted down. After all, what daughter in her right mind would leave a collection of books about group sex where her mother could find them?

My husband is engaging in his own Mardi Gras celebration, his annual reading of Walker Percy�s The Moviegoer, which takes place over the course of the week before Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

My husband and I met on a blind date at a small coffee shop, now defunct, a couple of blocks from my apartment. We talked about many things on that beautiful fall afternoon, one of which was The Moviegoer. It�s his favorite book. I had never heard of it. But the following day, I walked up to the local bookstore, bought a copy, and read it cover to cover.

The Moviegoer is an excellent book, although I don�t respond to it the same way my husband does. I do love Percy�s spare and efficient prose. He�s incredibly sensually evocative with very few adjectives. The visual images are so strong that I always wonder why no one has tried to make it into a movie and then I remember why � nothing happens. It�s all internal. Percy�s characterization of Binx Bolling is also remarkable. Binx is simultaneously repulsive and attractive.

My husband has been reading one day of the book to match the day of the week. I am rather behind and have a lot of catching up to do if I am to finish it tomorrow.

[Yesterday's entry was very late; click back if you missed it.]

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