...is that most people get Mardi Gras off--"Mardi Gras Day," as we redundantly call the Tuesday itself, to distinguish it from the season, and sometimes the day before. Alas, Ash Wednesday is typically not included. May I confess that I always rather dread Ash Wednesday? I don't do even mild fasting very well at all, especially as I have to be at work.

I can honestly say, though, that I'm looking forward to a certain amount of withdrawal from the world that will begin tomorrow. I'm giving up pop music and focusing my reading on spiritual works. Traherne's Centuries will probably be the first. One of last week's Scripture readings included a description of a tree stretching out its roots to a river. That's how I feel going into Lent. Unfortunately that feeling doesn't usually last for more than about four of the six weeks.