Yesterday was Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday as we Anglicans call it, and consequently we feasted in proper Anglican fashion–but going out for pancakes. In years gone by that might have meant going to a church pancake supper, but that tradition has faded, at least at St. Luke’s; so we went to IHOP instead. And given that I’d not had either pancakes or hashbrowns in over a year, it was a feast indeed. Today, of course, I’m back on the wagon.

On the way to IHOP, I explained to our kids what Mardi Gras is all about, that it’s a time to feast before the penitential season of Lent. I explained that different people celebrated in different ways, and that in some places folks let their celebrations get out of hand and “behave very badly indeed.”

“What,” said my son James, “You mean like, they don’t say ‘please’?”