Nothing is easy any more in the so-called Big Easy, which never really was all that easy to begin with. It is the same and utterly changed, in high spirits and deeply depressed, moving forward and stuck in late August.
I don't think we can measure the success of this Mardi Gras by its crowds but by its spirit. The pleasure I saw was enormous. Honestly, what does crowd size matter compared to that? I wasn't counting heads because I was too busy counting smiles.
This is a city that has gone through cataclysm, and its citizens are desperately ready to let off some steam. This is going to be a Mardi Gras for the ages.
