Feb 21 2023 - Fat Tuesday

 

Who would think a holiday named Fat Tuesday is a religious holiday? Mardi Gras is French and translates to Fat Tuesday.  It is the last day to feast before the fasting of lent.  That's why it is always 43 days before Easter.   When I look up gras French to English, the translation says bold, but as an adjective it is fatty, greasy and oily.  So it could be Greasy Tuesday or Oily Tuesday.  I like Fat Tuesday a lot better, but shouldn't it be Fatty Tuesday?   Another tradition of Mardi Gras's meaning comes from Frenchtoday.com:“Mardi Gras” comes from the tradition of using up all the food before Lent begins. And another translation: "Gras is also what we use to say “bold” as in font type." There are a lot of Mardi Gras in Europe and all of them have the same name which translates to Fat Tuesday.   For the rest of us, Shrove Monday is the day before Fat tuesday - it is the day of pancakes.  I guess we missed that yesterday.  New Orleans has a big festival - the schedule seems to go from January till after today.  It is HERE. Why did the chicken cross the road during Mardi Gras? To get to the other parade! Here's a print from 2018 that I named Carnival. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 25 2021 - The Next Countdown is here!

 

We are on the next countdown - the twelve days of Christmas - traditionally starting on Christmas Day and ending January 5th.  January 6th is sometimes considered the twelfth day with the start December 26th.  The twelve days is called Christmastide or Twelvetide. Today is St. Stephen's Day.  Another feast day, as in 'The feast of Stephen'. We know it by the Christmas song with King Wenceslas.  Originally in Antiquity these days were taken up with saints' days and the first three days of the year were for prayer and penance.  Lots of heads-down activities.   Fast forward to England in the Middle Ages and this period was one of continuous feasting and merrymaking.  Twelfth Night will be forever in our social consciousness because of William Shakespeare and his wonderful play.   And where do we land with Twelfth Night now?  In New Orleans.  This is Twelfth Night taken to a different level of festivity.  January 6th is the day when King Cake Parties happen.  It is the first night of Carnival, as in 'Farewell to the Flesh'.  It goes from Twelfth Night to Fat Tuesday (that's right, Mardi Gras is  Fat Tuesday in French, to reflect the practice of eating rich, fatty food before Lent when fasting begins).   "Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of pastry dough (brioche to be exact) with a small amount of colored sugar as decoration. Inside the original King Cakes was a tiny porcelain or gold baby, representing Jesus. If a person received a piece of cake with the baby they were declared King for the day... The top of the cake is covered with sugar icing in traditional Mardi Gras colors: Green, purple and gold." And reflecting on Christ in swaddling clothes, I just saw an ad for Pampers Swaddlers for active babies.  Perfect for this time of year.  Swaddling is a technique of wrapping infants in blankets or similar cloth so that the movement of the limbs is tightly restricted.  Probably something parents appreciate Pampers creating for active babies the day after Christmas. Here's a perfect Millie moment.  I don't know what she saw on the feeder outside, but her second reaction looks like it is coming right at her.  She is on the doggie bed on top of the desk.

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