Getting My Inner Irish On

 Today I'm getting my inner Irish on.  Not in an "I'm going to go out and get drunk" sort of way, because I don't drink, but in an "It's St. Patrick's Day!  Wear green!"

When did St. Patrick's Day stop being so Catholic and became a celebration of all things Irish?  Around the same time Valentine's Day did?  Valentine's a Saint, too.  Saint Valentinus.

Anywho, I do love St. Patrick's Day, and it's funny how, no matter my age, I still feel the need to wear green, a fear of getting pinched if I don't.

I've been pinched on St. Patrick's Day for not wearing Green!  It's a real thing!

What was wrong with me that year? 

 And back in Kindergarten I was led to believe that Leprechauns were real!  I had the coolest teacher, though I bet everyone would claim that with their first.  She cut out hundreds of tiny green footprints out of construction paper and taped them all over the room.  We were told to follow the footprints to find our treasure.  (Apparently the Leprechaun had snuck in the night before, and I believed her.)

 I do have Irish roots in me.  Don't know the percentage, which would be hard to gauge, but I've collect a few surnames from my ancestors: Mahoney, Hallisey, O'Niel, and Miskell.

Doesn't the Mahoney coat of arms look very Harry Potter-ish?  I've always thought so.

And I have a little Patrick in me as well, though my Patrick ancestry goes back to Scotland, not Ireland.

And now I'll leave you a little Irish blessing:

"May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand."