Mardi Gras Trees.

I'll miss the Mardi Gras trees of New Orleans. I remember my first morning in the city - after a long first night - walking along St. Charles with my aching head hung near the sidewalk. A friend said, "Look up." When I did, I was struck by the brightly colored beads hanging from the branches of an oak. They made me think of the trees that Scherazade describes in Arabian Nights, trees that bear jewels instead of fruits or berries. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds. Of course, these jewels are plastic and fading from the sunlight that glints off of their sheen. But they do call to mind some sort of fantasy world. I see them and I think of midsummer's eve. When I have a tree of my own in North Carolina, I am going to deck it with baubles and beads so that I can claim my own garden of earthly delights. I wonder what the neighbors will think?