Kirk blAug

Another religious tradition that our family likes to celebrate in secular way truly has roots in my former religion, Catholicism. I previously mentioned the celebrating we did for Mardi Gras last weekend, in Soulard, but I felt that going to the Grand Parade today with the kids was a little too crazy from what I had been hearing. At least, I would feel more comfortable with another adult escort, like Chris, with us. This is Chris's on week though, so she is not available. I had heard that Soulard on Mardi Gras was no place for kids, lest they get an early anatomy lesson. I disagree with that idea. I can not think of a better real world example to teach human anatomy to my kids. Learning through experience has always been a better way of educating than an institutionalized method, I argued. Either way, my excuse for skipping it had more to do with the sheer volume of people and traffic in the area. Instead of going down to Soulard to watch the parade, we decided to get a king cake

I am sure that most of my readers have at least heard something of Mardi Gras. Perhaps you might know of the celebration that takes place every year in the United States most popularly in New Orleans. But it is not exclusively celebrated in New Orleans. In fact, it was not even celebrated originally in New Orleans. In 1702, when French Catholic settlers founded the original capital of Louisiana which is now Mobile, Alabama , they began the first tradition of Mardi Gras in the United States a tradition that they brought over from Europe where it had been celebrated long before. Once the capital of Louisiana was moved to New Orleans in 1723, the major celebration was moved there and was then celebrated by most citizens of the city beyond the French Catholics. The celebration has been spread to many communities in the neighboring states of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as along the Mississippi river going as far as here in St. Louis. Soulard is historically a French neighborhood in St