Fat Tuesday and Dinosaur Bones

This morning I was half-listening as someone on NPR droned on about the meaning of "Carnival" and it's relationship to "Fat Tuesday" (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which kicks off Lent in the Western Christian Church). So I decided to look it up myself. From www.dictionary.com -

CARNIVAL
Car"ni*val, n. [It. carnevale, prob. for older carnelevale, prop., the putting away of meat; fr. L. caro, carnis, flesh + levare to take away, lift up, fr. levis light.] 1. A festival celebrated with merriment and revelry in Roman Catholic countries during the week before Lent, esp. at Rome and Naples, during a few days (three to ten) before Lent, ending with Shrove (i.e. Fat) Tuesday.

MARDI GRAS
Mar"di` gras", n. [F., literally, fat Tuesday.] The last day of Carnival; Shrove Tuesday; -- in some cities a great day of carnival and merrymaking.

It seems sad to me that the only vestige of Great Lent left in the wider culture is the excess preceding it. It’s like some great creature whose bones are the only remaining evidence of its magnificence. But happily my metaphor is too cynical. Great Lent still roams the earth in some places.