AUTHOR KARL WALLACE
March 17th is Saint Patrick’s Day
This year, March has three Thursdays, three Fridays, and three Saturdays. This only happens once every 16 years, and is called “Irish Pot of Gold Day.” That means you will be 16 times more likely to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. You don’t have to be Irish to find them, but you have to look carefully at the bottom of a rainbow.
On Saint Paddy’s Day, green is King. You know the routine, get out and about and be seen in green. Mother Nature is seen in green. She dips her brushes into her paint pots and spreads her lovely shades of green plentifully over mountains, hillsides and valleys. The little birds fly about and sing sweetly to all of the children. It is spring once again. Air filled with laughter, buttercups and scarlet columbine are coming up, and in sunny meadows, the dandelions shine. It’s sure to make anyone feel jolly and gay.
It’s a day for releasing your inhibitions, for laughing, and for having fun along with the little Irish leprechaun. Of course, there are leprechauns. They were created long ago when people first began to believe in these sorts of things. You never saw a leprechaun? Well, how could you? They come out very late on starry nights. They live in colorful flower cups, dance on rose buds, and are so small you can hardly see then at first. But then as your eyes adjust to the moonlight, you will see tiny people with little green jackets and red hats that have white owl feathers in their head band. Frogs, you will notice, are dressed green on Patty’s Day. You can hear them. They are the leprechaun’s watchdogs, croaking all night, music clear and sweet, and you feel very fortunate if you have been part of all of this.
Dress in the morning and wear something green to avoid getting pinched; add a trinket or two so you won't look ordinary. Eat lottsssaa corn beef and cabbage to give a touch of gas to the air. Do you have to be Irish to enjoy cricket? No, no more than you have to be a rabbit to enjoy Easter. The Irish have cultivated a reputation for irreverence and a history of picking fights with the big guys. They have a remarkable ability to take on, the world’s elite cricket nations. The outcomes spark frenzied blarney celebrations. Did you not know that not very long ago they kicked England in the teeth, which was sheer shock value? The best game ever.
You’ve heard of Ben Franklin, I’m sure, and his experiment with electricity using a kite, and also the boy who flew the kite across Niagara Falls to help build a massive bridge. It was noted that there “be kites” over the roof tops, the sun warming children’s faces, they’ll be flying kites with their dads that are buffeted by the blustery wind in the parks around town. The kids can be seen holding a string, carrying a kite with a fluttery tail, crafted from newspaper, plastic, and maybe balsa wood. The kites rise in the air like a bird on the wing. Dad’s and leprechauns can to anything.
Don’t forget you are 16 times more likely to find your pot of gold where you wouldn’t expect it…at the end of a rainbow.
Wishing you all my Blarney Love.
Karl
