Cracking Cascarones

Image by Simon Howden via freedigitalphoto.net

Once a year in Santa Barbara the streets get covered in confetti.

I doubt the clean up crew ever really feels they're ready

for the onslaught of Fiesta and it's trail of debris -

the millions of paper remnants it inevitably leaves.

If one in four of the thousands of annual visitors

buys four cascarones from the ladies on the perimeters,

that would mean at least ten thousand glittery eggs

leaving a pile of confetti down under your legs!

As the paper piles began to form not too far away,

I wondered what the cascarone was meant to say?

Though I find some joy smacking my friends on the head,

this act must mean more to someone who is long dead.

Sure enough, the tradition dates super far back,

although an exact date my resources did lack.

Perfumed powder was the very first cascarone filler,

but breaking the egg has always been the thriller.

I didn't expect to learn that they came from the Chinese.

Marco Polo carried them to Europe across land and seas.

Maximilian's wife Carlotta brought them over to Mexico
and there the people created the confetti version that we know.

They say cascarones commonly celebrate the end of lent.
 They are used to invite ladies to dance with a gent.
After forty days with no meat nor freedom to boogie
it breaks over your head, then you get down and groovy.

This year when I venture to get my taco and churro,
I think I'll look differently at that confetti down below.
Though we may not be using them for the religious purpose,
It is the time of year we party to let go of all that irks us.

Like many before us, we crack the cascarone as our sign
that it's time to party down in whatever way which you pine.
And, if you're not a fan of Fiesta's tasty Mexican food,
crack cascarones over dim sum.  They invented them, dude.

© Rachel Hoyt 2011.  All rights reserved.


Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Blogging, Fiesta, Humor, Mexico, Poetry

Reach for the Sublime

It's hard to believe NASA's final flight is in orbit

without starting to feel at least a teeny bit morbid.

Of course, the end of any era means the start of a new one

and perhaps future exploration will be even more fun!

Sure, no one else will ever be the first to pee in space

but perhaps someone will build a space vacation place.

Hopefully we will never again get lost on the moon

and someday they'll turn Al and Ed's story into a cartoon.

If ever again an incident involves spacecraft and lightning,

I hope it's a Back to the Future thing and not something frightening.

Though NASA's desire to power up solar didn't work at first,

perhaps they just needed to channel a lightning burst?

The technology we've been using is over thirty years old.

I'm glad we're taking the step to do something more bold.

Though it's fun to reminisce on everything we've seen and done.

Weird creatures shouldn't be the only ones to join the in-flight fun.

If we want ordinary people to someday have the opportunity

to experience the things that now only astronauts get to see,

we will need a vessel at least as modern as a cell phone,

not one from the time when shuttles symbolized "on roam".

It seems only fitting we would share spacecraft for a while,

with the country that helped invent out-of-this-world-style.

Previously a competitor, now our partner in crime.

Together we must now reach toward the sublime.

© Rachel Hoyt 2011.  All rights reserved.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Blogging, NASA, Humor, Space, Writing

St. Patrick Limerick

by Rachel Hoyt


                    Photo courtesy of freedigitalphoto.net

There once was a man named Saccat,
who wandered 'round Ireland and taught.
Good things come from God.
Naughty pirates rob.
Listen to St. Patrick we ought.

© Rachel Hoyt.  2011 All rights reserved.

This limerick is the first of seven I will post to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Click the little St. Patrick link above to learn a bit of history about the man of honor and why in the world I would choose a pirate's flag as the image for this rhyme!  Click here to read the next Limerick in the series.

This poem is being shared in the Poetry Pantry.  Come on over for more beautiful poetry to read. 

Technorati Tags:

Entertainment, Blogging, St. Patrick, Humor, Pirates, Limerick