Just Another Day

Photo & Text Copyright 2008 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

Here in the USA today it is Super Tuesday. It's also Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. So that makes it Super Fat Tuesday! (sorry :-} couldn't resist). Neither of these facts has major bearing on Seattle today, though. It's just a cold windy February day here that started with showers. Still, we get out. This couple in Belltown even makes sure their dog has a bit of extra warmth. There did used to be a well attended celebration of Mardi Gras sponsored by bars, clubs, and eateries in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. It became a yearly event, attracting big crowds starting a little over 30 years ago. But in 2001 the big party turned way ugly with multiple sexual assaults, random beatings, and a full on riot. A horrible chapter in Seattle history punctuated a few hours later by a major earthquake that destroyed the brick facades of many of the buildings in the area of the riots. The 6.8 Nisqualy quake was such a shock it sort of granted the community partial amnesia about the rioting in which one man who tried to help a woman being beaten was himself attacked and died. A few bars in the area today are advertising Mardi Gras events, but there is no more huge party. And as for Super Tuesday, Washington is not one of the states with a primary today. Ours is on February 19, and our caucuses are this coming Saturday the 9th.

Now if you'd like to see THE city that IS celebrating Mardi Gras in a big way today, take a look at my buddy Steve's New Orleans Daily Photo.