Today is Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow, Lent kicks off with Ash Wednesday and introduces a few months when some of us are encouraged to pray, fast and give alms.

Every spiritual or religious practice out there encourages an episodic fast. For me, I find it valuable. It is refreshing to do with less in an ad market that (usually) encourages me to eat more and buy more.

This Lent, I again will give up alcohol. I’ve deleted Twitter and Facebook from my mobile devices. I cut out caffeine a few months ago, and so, that is off the list. Mrs. T. again will give up both alcohol and all sweets.

Lent coincides with the ebbing of winter and ends on Easter Sunday. Here in New England, the weather change is dramatic during Lent. We go from snow banks to the beginning of spring.

One of my favorite Anthony Bourdain videos is “Cajun Mardi Gras” (below). For an ever-insightful social commentary, look no further than the always-restless and sometimes-irreverent Bourdain.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6m6kbw

If you’re short on time, skip towards the end. You’ll see men dressed up, riding horses and chasing chickens. It is fun to watch. Quirky and odd. At the end, you’re not sure what to think, other than you still really miss Anthony Bourdain, his gift for prose, his insights and his openness to both the strange and familiar.