The 2023 Fasching (Karneval) Season is ending with the last day today (February 21, 2023) known as Fastnacht, as well as Fasnacht, Fasnet, Fasching, Fastabend, Fastelovend, Fasteleer, Fünfte Jahreszeit (Fifth Season), Shrove Tuesday, and Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). Lent begins tomorrow.
On February 23, 1982, when I was a few days short of 21 years old, I celebrated this holiday at a gathering of more than 100 people while on a vacation of skiing in the Austrian Alps and to visit many of my Austrian cousins in Vorarlberg, the westernmost province of 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 was visiting along with me. 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. 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.
Cathy McCarty
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