Luck O' the Irish, and all that...

So today is St. Patrick's Day...and I can't seem to make the font show up in the Orange I was seeking.  Blast!  I can't have fun if I can't do the Orange thing on March 17th.

Oh, I'm Irish, and all that.  Belfast, Harland & Wolff, Ulster and Antrim, Shankhill....it runs deep in the blood, and the blood has been poured out like water in that place.

My father's father was an Irishman, an Ulsterman, proud Protestant was he...(yes I DO know all the words to that song and understand it--I grew up on the Irish Rovers, luv.)  But my father's family moved across the sea to Liverpool when my dad was a very young lad, thus escaping the Troubles of the time.



I grew up knowing more about Northern Ireland than most kids my age in the Midwest.  Having a mildly contentious streak, I took to wearing orange on St Patrick's Day, during High School, just to see who could figure it out.  Sadly, I only recall two teachers understanding--Art Sloan, and Mrs Bogart.

I am glad that the Troubles are mostly done with over there.  I never got the chance to visit Belfast, though I wish I had, when we vacationed in the UK in the late 70's and early '80's.  The closest I have come is Google Earth and Street View...  I feel the pull of those roots, made stronger by the release of census data from Northern Ireland for the early 20th century.  I can use these things of technology, to "fly" there and look at their houses, little changed but for new paint over the decades.

With the storm that passed through here Saturday eve, we got a rare treat.  In honor of all the Irishmen out there, be ye Orange or Green, here is a double dose of good luck to ye!