Starting the Green Weeks

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, it is March 5 and Happy St. Patrick's Day. In our fair city, the local Irish organizer prides himself on stepping off the first in the nation St. Patrick's Day Parade each year, hence the early celebration. Monkey2, an honorary leprechaun by the proximity of her birthday, dressed herself in her favorite shamrock dress and matching hat. I begged Monkey1 to wear a new headband that had a little green in it, while I had a green T-shirt. I coached the Monkeys on their ancestral rights to the day: great-great-grandmother O'Sullivan from Dingle Bay who married a Vermont farmer, and great-great-great-grandfather Farrell who got some land on the Homestead Act and settled in Nebraska. As to be expected, they were not terribly impressed. All those "greats" make those people a long long time ago...

All the way to the parade the Monkeys were talking about another "long long ago." Last year the 501st Legion was in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. I think that any group that puts up the money can participate, but I was not expecting Darth Vader and Stormtroopers marching down the street! Historical reenactors bring every century to life, and so, there are also people who do the science fiction version of it. And this is how a 5 and 3 year-old remember the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The Irish Schools of Dance were out full force, all the girls with their bouncy curls and ornate dresses. The firemen brigades of bagpipes and drums blared away. There were some Celtic Sports teams of several ages, and a Circus School on unicycles. Several groups of dogs in costume shuffled along, as well as a pack of Irish Wolf Hounds. An Irish handyman drove a enormous truck. There were several groups that had obviously pasted on a bit of green for the occasion, and some are green but not Irish -- such as the green parrot mascot for a local bank. The city policemen on their motorcycles, weaving in patterns on the street, came near the end. Monkey1 screamed, jumped, and covered her ears, eliciting a smile from the youngest officer in the group, but the rest had steel set faces.

After the parade was done, and the Monkeys had some Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I asked them what their favorite part of the parade was. Monkey2 declared that the chocolate coin (from a restaurant float) was her favorite. Monkey1 decided on Darth Vader, who once again, as she says, "had crashed into the parade."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!