Who remembers when our parents...
After the dinner dishes were all put away...
Would discuss together as a family...
For that perfect ending of the day...

After we bathed and brushed our teeth...
Put on our clean footy pajamas...
We grabbed a bunch of warm blankets...
And fresh cocktails for the mommas...

We would all jump in the station wagon...
Two in the rear, but no one was countin’...
Then we all would head off as a family...
To visit the Mardi Gras Fountain...

All the dads would pull in backwards...
The tailgates opened up wide...
We would squeeze in together like sardines... Slapping mosquitoes as they flew inside...

We would all croon ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’...
As streams of water shot up in the air...
The colors lit up the water streams...
Our sleepy eyes would struggle to stare...

After watching the purple, yellow and green lights...
And upon the completion of my mom’s large drink...
My dad would check to see if we had all fallen asleep...
Before driving us home in a lickety-blink...

We would often visit the Mardi Gras Fountain... Sometimes two or three times a week...
It was free and it was always lots of fun...
Our Mardi Gras Fountain was so unique...

I hope one day the Fountain returns...
It would be fun to bring the grandkids to see...
It use to be fun to live in New Orleans...
When family outings were always meant to be...

© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice
My Wonder Years: A Book