Top o' the Shillelagh to Ye!

A Happy St. Patrick's Day! One of my favorite of the "lesser" holidays, 'cause, ya know, any excuse for a party. (And I'm not talking about the drunken bacchanalias that have come to be associated with the day.) The wearin' o' the green. The eatin' o' the soda bread. The sippin' o' the Irish coffee.

I work all day today, so no real celebration for me. But tomorrow Geo and I are going to lunch at The Claddagh in Columbus, which is part of a smallish chain of Irish pubs. Though the decor is façade and probably not nearly as authentic as Ye Old King's Head in Santa Monica (which is actually British but serves the best St. Patrick's Day fare I've ever had), still the food is wonderful and the atmosphere is fun.

And so we don't forget who the day really honors, I suggest doing a bit of reading on the pagan slave who converted to Christianity during the course of his servitude and later returned home to became the patron saint of the Emeral Isle. He's famous, of course, for driving the snakes out of Ireland, a story I take to be more metaphorical than literal, but still a vivid mental picture, no?

Shalom and shamrocks to ye!