Growing up in the Minnesota Northwoods, Mardi Gras was not something I paid much attention to. I had Catholic friends and knew all about Ash Wednesday, but there were never any big parties the night before. Can you imagine Marge and Norm Gunderson or Jerry Lundegaard dancing down the street while jazz was played by live musicians? Can you imagine live musicians marching down any street in Minnesota playing something other then Minnesota, Hail to Thee or the localized version of On Wisconsin? It’s not that there were no Catholics in the Northwoods, but they were Scandinavian Catholics which made them act more like Lutherans anyway. It worked the same with the Baptists like my family. You may see lots of movies with those Baptist gospel choirs and dancing in the pews, but not the Scandinavian Baptists. They might sing gospel songs, but with all the fervor of Sheldon Cooper. So, any interest in Mardi Gras would have been anthropological – an examination of the rites and practices of some foreign country, like Louisiana.

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