In case you haven’t noticed, Spring is trying to get “sprung”. Trees and shrubs are sprouting and people are preparing their yards and flower beds.

But the surest sign that better days are ahead is the sudden appearance of trailers going this way and that and the large number of horses being taken for Sunday afternoon walks.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Mardi Gras was just around the corner. Well, it is, at least on this side of the swamp.

I know there are some who don’t “do” Mardi Gras but, by the same token, there are some of us who do.

One must always assume, at an advanced age as some people are, that this could be the last time we get to do this.

Like taking a boy hunting for the first time or getting a girl ready for her first prom; there is always someone who has never been or “run” Mardi Gras before and there’s gotta be someone to walk them through it for the first time.

Enter resident fool: we visited the National Park in New Orleans recently to do an in-house demo on the hows and whys of Mardi Gras in the Cajun prairie parishes of southwest Louisiana. Considering that New Orleans is the birthplace of the Mardi Gras carnival that is known worldwide, it’s kinda neat that they want to know about our celebration.

A visit to an elementary school in Lafayette to cover the same subject, an upcoming interview on public radio, and then a visit by some travel writers from around the country will round out this month’s activities.

So you see, it’s not just us - there are a lots of people looking for information on this unique event that we take for granted. Makes it all kind of worth while.

Support this local endeavor by attending some of the festivities. Be a part of the community. Better yet, attend with a child and “pass it on”.

- Georgie Manuel, Feb. 27, 2011