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Originally uploaded by Suffering the Benz

As the temperature climbed into the ’70s and the sun streamed into the house yesterday, I kept looking down at the dock. At about 3 o’clock I gave up, went down and launched the kayak.

I headed downstream on Loudon to daymark 606.1, which put me within sight of the Highway 95 bridge near Loudon Marina in Lenoir City. I’m hoping to get there once the water warms up, but yesterday I settled for an 8-9 mile roundtrip paddle punctuated by wailing gulls and indignant herons. Not to mention the occasional buzzing of bass boats. When I finally do attempt Lenoir City, it will be almost twice as far. I’ve paddled only a few times this year, so yesterday was about perfect. I can still lift my arms this morning but I definitely feel tight … in a good way.

This photo was taken as I returned to Duck Cove. Our dock is on the left, and the barge and tug on the right are building a dock. From our porch, they look pretty massive and swallow up the cove. It caused Sydney the Angry Cockatoo no end of consternation when the tug plowed into the cove on Sunday and grounded the barge on the shore.

I remember my first brush with Mardi Gras. I was living on the Florida Panhandle in the mid-’80s, and my girlfriend at the time greeted me at the door, a colorful Medusa of plastic beads with a drink in her hand.

“It’s Mardi Gras,” she slurred.

“Huh?”

As a recovering Yankee Catholic, I knew about Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras’ dour doppleganger where we smear ashes on our heads to remind ourselves that we’re mere mortals, born in sin, composed of dust. But those damned Eastern European Catholics never taught me about the cool part. Fat Tuesday. An orgy of fun before embarking on the ashes and self-deprivation of Lent. Needless to say, I learned fast and Mardi Gras is now one of my favorite holidays, right up there with Dia de los Muertos.

And for some reason, I’m feeling much more of a need to connect with Mardi Gras this year. I started Sunday with a bloody mary, a fire and Cubanismo’s “Mardi Gras Mambo.” It’s been pretty much a blur of Professor Longhair, Jelly Roll Morton