C'est Levee

It's Fat Tuesday everybody, which means they're drinking Hurricanes on Bourbon Street even as the piles of trash remain from the aftermath of Katrina, two-thirds of residents are still living elsewhere, and Mayor Ray Nagin admits the city's reconstruction is "in limbo and on hold." As if that weren't enough, the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season is just a little more than three months away and the Corps of Engineers is hurriedly affecting temporary repairs to the city's damaged flood defenses. While none of that sounds like cause for celebration, neither is it enough to ruin Mardi Gras. As John Hyman, leader of the Krewe du Vieux, puts it: "If we only celebrated in the good times, then we would hardly celebrate at all." That's the spirit. After all, carnival has always been a bittersweet event, a final feast before the privations of Lent. So, laissez les bon temps roulez, y'all. Just remember: Tomorrow's Ash Wednesday -- time to get back to the grim realities and hard work.