I miss the marching parades in New Orleans so much! In the photo (scanned; complete with coffee stains), I am proudly displaying a cabbage I caught from one of the fine gentlemen of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club parade in (I think) 1997. I also couldn’t get enough of the ego gratification of the St Joseph’s Day Italian American Marching Club, in which hot Italian men dress in tux and tails and march through the French Quarter giving out flowers and beads in return for a kiss.

And then there’s Hal’s St Paddy’s Day parade in Jackson Mississippi. It started when brothers Hal and Malcolm White and pals staged a characterful parade of folks in convertibles driving through the city and winding up at a favorite watering hole called George Street Grocery. It is now a mammoth celebration, involving all species of the inhabitants of the city, complete with krewes (social clubs) and marching bands. I am getting chills just thinking about the excitement!