Reborn in Purple, Green, and Gold (Mardi Gras, Chapter 1)
As all eyes turn to the Big Easy in the coming days leading up to Mardi Gras, Frank brings you a portrait of the celebration itself and the city that made it famous. In three installments the image of New Orleans, wearing a wreath of beads around its neck and still bearing the black-eye Katrina left on its face, takes center stage on your favorite blog.
Chapter 1 takes you back a bit to the midway point between last year’s Mardi Gras and this year’s. Drawn from reporting done these past Thanksgiving and Winter breaks, the attached dispatch by a contributor born and bred in New Orleans is a trip through the streets of the Bywater and the Marigny.
The neighborhoods, which together comprise a chunk of the Upper Ninth Ward adjacent to the infamous Lower Ninth, by no means reflect the entire gamut of woes the city runs through these days. They are, however, indicative of a community dusting itself off and coming together to overcome adversity.
