St. Patrick

I don't do half measures when it comes to showing my Irish pride and love for both the country and the color. The picture doesn't quite give the full effect, but I also have green fingernail polish and a bright orange long-sleeved shirt under the jersey (to symbolize both northern and southern Ireland?). This look is actually a bit toned down from some years, but I think I may have been the most green clad person on campus today.

You would think, that in the city of Boston, so full of Irish, there would be more recognition of the holiday, but I felt almost as strange in my regalia as I do at home, surrounded by people who almost forget the holiday exists. There should have been something going on today, but I couldn't find it. Suffolk county even has the day off as a regional holiday, called Evacuation Day (ostensibly to celebrate driving the redcoats out of the city during the Revolutionary war, but we know it's a vacation day now only because of the Irish), so it's not like there wasn't the opportunity.

But Boston is a strange city. Apparently they celebrated St. Patrick's Day over the weekend. There was a big parade in Southie on Sunday, which I didn't know about until too late and couldn't have attended anyway because I had a paper to write. So apparently I missed it. Darn! I was all excited about St. Patrick's in Boston being a huge event, but somehow I totally missed it. Well, the cafeteria had decorations up today and served us corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread, which was amazing--so I suppose it wasn't a total loss. But the only other way for me to be involved in any celebration today would be to head out to one of the pubs and drink green beer, which doesn't at all sound like something I want to do.

Next year I'll be prepared. If the parade happens on the weekend, I will clear my schedule to be in Southie and see a marching band with kilts and bagpipes!

And I'm wearing green for the rest of the week, just because I can!

-Kim

Random trivia: The 12-stringed harp is the official symbol of Ireland. It's hard to see, but check out my jewelry in the above photo.