At 11:11 (11:11 a.m.) today (November 11, 2022), the festive Fasching Season began in Austria, Germany, and other German-speaking regions of Europe. It continues until Karneval (Carnival), also known as Shrove Tuesday, Fastnacht, Fasnacht, Fasnet, Fasching, Fastabend, Fastelovend, Fasteleer, Fünfte Jahreszeit (Fifth Season) and Mardi Gras, ending at the stroke of midnight on February 21, 2023. Let the months-long celebration begin. Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday) is the following day and marks the beginning of Lent.
On February 15, 1983, when I was almost 22 years old, I celebrated Fasching (Mardi Gras) at a gathering of about 150 people while on a vacation of skiing and visiting my many Austrian cousins in the westernmost province of Vorarlberg, Austria. That's me in the yellow, pink and white clown suit. The woman to my right, wearing the red hat, is my dear friend Cathy from upstate New York, who accompanied me on the trip. The man in the red-and-white striped shirt and short pants on the left is my Austrian cousin Guntram. The woman dressed in black next to him is his wife Lisa. The woman in the white wig on the right is Guntram's sister Ulrike (also my cousin). The other people are friends of the family that I met for the first time that night. Incidentally, that night, I danced the polka for the first time.
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