CATH NEWS REPORT: Tuesday marked both International Women’s Day and Shrove Tuesday. The second is problematic in Sydney, which hosts a world-famous Gay Mardi Gras every year, a festival of vulgar depravity which leaves the inner city knee-deep in litter and filth.
In the words of a weary garbo last Saturday evening, “Mate, the rubbish… it's like a tsunami.” In more ways than one.
The traditional way of celebrating Lent makes more sense. At this time of year, I always think of my Irish grandmother whose tales of the old country set us an standard of inimitable austerity.
She came from the isolated settlement of Inishmore, the westernmost of three islands in Galway Bay. From what I recall of her stories, during the 40 days of Lent her family dined exclusively on salted codfish and black tea. There might have been dried kelp for dessert and maybe a potato on Sundays.
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