Back in Memphis where I come from, the words “pin” and “pen” are indistinguishable when spoken. So are tin and ten. Bin and Ben.
So it’s no wonder that at some point very early in life, I got a little confused about Lent.
Dryer Lent? Lent Brush? The whole thing seemed confusing and just a little odd to me. I had no clue about the whole ashes-on-the-forehead thing. Even more perplexing was that this was somehow connected to Mardi Gras. I had heard whispers of stories about that, and those beads definitely had nothing to do with any religious holiday I had ever heard of. And a plastic baby in a cake? No clue what that was all about.
