Celebrating Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday!

Another bright sunny but bitterly cold day. We were planning to go downtown for Live Music at Lunch at Christ Church Cathedral. Every Tuesday from September through May, the cathedral features live music for about 50 minutes, anything from classical to jazz to music from other cultures. It’s something I’ve kept meaning to go down to, but we’ve never got around to it. You can take your own lunch in or buy some there. Today it was a band which specializes in Mardi Gras jazz. My original idea had been to leave early enough to fit in a walk along the river, but then Laura called, and I needed to prepare a meal to be cooking in the slow cooker while I was gone, so in the end there wasn’t time for that. The music was in their upstairs Centennial chapel, and the food was served just outside, and you took it in on a tray. My collage shows the band and the big stained glass window at the back. I just had time afterwards to get back to our church for my Disciple bible study, then it was off to the gym.
In the evening, we celebrated Shrove Tuesday as it is known in England, in the traditional way, by having pancakes/crepes. When I was growing up, we always had lemon juice and sugar on them. Today, I had two that way, but also had one with Nutella and banana!
The word shrove is a form of the English word shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of confession and penance. Traditionally, Anglo-Saxon Christians would go to church to confession and be absolved from their sins on this day. Traditionally, pancakes were eaten on this day to use up rich, indulgent foods like eggs and milk before the fasting season of Lent began.