New Orleans takes time out to celebrate...

Photo:Eliot Kamenitz/Times-Picayune.
The Krewe of Mid-City parade float called 'Signs of the Times' turns onto St. Charles Avenue.

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I have some great memories of wild and crazy Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. It was an annual ritual when I worked with the anti-poverty program in Baton Rouge in the late Sixties and early Seventies. News reports suggests this first post-Katrina celebration is a smaller and more dignified affair. In the midst of so much suffering and tragedy people need something to uplift their spirits.