Sláinte!

This year, St. Patrick's falls on a Friday, so I'm sure there'll be more than the usual number of folks hitting the bars, swilling green beer and tankards of Guinness. Not me-- as I explained last year, getting plastered isn't part of my St. Patrick's Day tradition. It strikes me as funny that a Irish religious holiday is now rapidly becoming a secular holiday celebrated worldwide. Not only that, but there's no other holiday like it: we certainly don't have a day of the year where we pretend we're Russian, or Japanese, or Kenyan. Yet on March 17, everyone's Irish for a day.

We're both still kind of worn out, and it's intermittently raining, so we've opted for a quiet evening at home. As I speak, the corned beef is being cooked, and in a short while, I'll head into the kitchen and get started on the potatoes and veggies. A traditional Irish-American dinner, of course; we had a more traditional Irish meal a few weeks ago in San Diego, at The Field-- Irish beer matched with pub grub (I opted for bangers and champ). Our dessert will be an Irish tea cake, accompanied by "In the Name of the Father," this year's selection for an Irish/Irish-themed movie. At some point, we'll run out of unseen movies, and we'll start watching movies again for a second (or third!) time. I've seen this particular movie before, but my walking partner hasn't, so it'll do.

Whether you're Irish, of Irish ancestry, or faux Irish, a Happy St. Patrick's Day to you! Sláinte! Erin Go Bragh!