As my son Patrick is so excited to tell everyone today, “Happy Patrick’s Day!”
We went down to see the St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Beloit on Friday evening and had a fine time. It was short, but that can be a blessing when you have five chilly kids with you. The parade’s come a ways since it used to be my mother and her friends walking down the streets with banners and beer in wagons when I was a kid. It’s lost some of its spontaneity, but it comes with more candy.
I’m half Irish myself, and I grew up listening to (and sometimes complaining about) my mother’s Irish music and being taught in Catholic school by an order of Irish nuns. (Here’s to you, Sister Cabrini!) I’ve been to Irishfest several times, and my mother’s been to every one, even coming back to Wisconsin for them when she lived in DC.
So, it’s a good day. Wear the green. Have a Guinness. Smile.
