St. Patrick's Day

Some of the honored guests.

St. Patrick

My window painting.

Well, St. Patrick's Day arrived once again and that means another fine day for marching in the parade.  Plus, since I painted the windows of the local bar I got to drink for free that day.  I've found St. Patrick's Day to be kind of tiring, I'm on my feet the whole day, walking down to the parade, walking up Fifth Avenue, walking back, and then standing in a bar.  Most bars clear the chairs away to make room for the crowds, so needless to say, my dog's are barking by the time St. Patrick's Day is over. 

Supposedly, the custom of imbibing alcohol on St. Patrick's Day comes from an old Irish legend. As the story goes, St. Patrick was served a measure of whiskey that was considerably less than full. St. Patrick took this as an opportunity to teach a lesson of generosity to the innkeeper. He told the innkeeper that in his cellar resided a monstrous devil who fed on the dishonesty of the innkeeper. In order to banish the devil, the man must change his ways. When St. Patrick returned to the hostelry some time later, he found the owner generously filling the patrons' glasses to overflowing. He returned to the cellar with the innkeeper and found the devil emaciated from the landlord's generosity, and promptly banished the demon, proclaiming thereafter everyone should have a drop of the "hard stuff" on his feast day.  And here I was thinking that it was just an excuse to indulge in an unflattering Irish stereotype. 

All in all, it was a great day for the Irish ... again!  Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!