At breakfast on my last weekend in A2, Olivia mentioned that she’d heard about some sort of festival? parade? taking place in Detroit on Sunday – maybe something about a dwarf exorcism? Of course I had to look it up once I got to work: “Detroit dwarf exorcism”.
So the story goes, Detroit has been haunted by a red dwarf – the Nain Rouge – since it was settled in the 1700s. The appearance of the Nain presages disaster, and so for the last 300 years, the people of Detroit have gathered together to cast out the demon.
And so on a perfect Sunday in March, we found ourselves a part of a rolling party – a costumed parade through the streets of Detroit. There were horse head masks and hula-hooping luchadores. There were tremendous drag queens and children in Radio Flyer wagons. There was a bejeweled marching band. We started in the heart of the Cass Corridor, and spiraled outward, ending at the Masonic Temple, the largest in the world, where there was music and break dancing and adequate beer. A perfect way to say goodbye to Detroit.
latterdaybohemian 
I’m so glad that you guys did this! I have yet to participate actively in telling the Nain Rouge to get out, but it makes me happy that things ended at the Masonic Temple. I have all sorts of weird stories about that place, but my favorite memory there was officiating a wedding there several days after the Great Midwest Blackout.
After the wedding was done, a friend who worked there let a bunch of us up on the (super-high!) roof, and we stood and looked out over the city — half had power, half was still completely dark. It was beautiful and surreal and wrenching and I will always think about that when I think of the Masonic Temple.
Also, my friend Greg had a pretty sweet Nain Rouge costume, so I think of him as a bit of a lovable scamp!
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