Not being real religious, this particular day rang true to me. When the big day to celebrate by drinking untold volumes of green beer arrived, it was indeed a religious experience. The good part was that so many individuals had been over served, it was impossible for the fat arm of the law to round up anyone except the most egregious of drunks. I found that if I were to just lay in the gutter, I would be left unconfronted---even though I did on a few occasions find it hard to rise.
Well, St paddy's day lives on now that we are back in Wisconsin but it is slightly more refined. It seems that some pious souls put together a pub crawl that involves carrying an empty casket around to various bars were homage is paid to those who did not make it through the year, went belly up, threw in the towel, or did the dirt nap. It is in some ways serious because we all loose friends and this is an opportunity to lift a brew, a parting glass if you will, to those. It has on occasion been quite sad.
We haul along our fiddles, banjos, drums, guitars and flutes and play a mighty tune and sing The Parting Glass in Gaelic. It is a wonderful thing, really. A great tradition that has been going on here for years and, like throwing down green beers years ago, I look forward to the camaraderie, the gathering of the community and friends. We lost no close friends this year. Others did.
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