Luck o' the Irish

Everywhere you looked today, the color green was abundant.

The ladies on the morning news broadcast were clad in green, as was the lady at the coffee shop in our building at work. I got a nice solicitation in my email in-box telling me that today was my lucky day. It was green, too.

I didn’t run into any Irish ninjas today, but, hey, no day is perfect.

Still, March 17 – a.k.a. St. Patrick’s Day to the world around us – has carried special significance in our family. Here’s my birthday shout out to Holly Gary. Today is her birthday. We did a family birthday bash over the weekend and then celebrated today as well.

Of course her birthday would be today. All my family members were born on the seventeenth (birth months vary, of course, from person to person).

Back to the ladies on the morning news: they told viewers that more than 80 per cent of Americans would wear green today in some way, shape, form or fashion. Wearing one of my favorite shirts – a green and blue plaid – I was part of that group (lest I risk a pinching from someone as might’ve happened back in middle school).

Indeed, green was everywhere. At spring training sites in Florida and Arizona, I’m sure many MLB teams wore the green version of their unies.  Google greeted visitors to the website with dancing shamrocks.  And per tradition, a portion of the Chicago River was dyed green for the occasion.

Today, we’re all enjoying the luck o’ the Irish…even if we’re not Irish.

But speaking of Irish, on this day I always think of my ol’ grad school pal, John McManus. Mac was the most Irish of all Irishmen that I’ve ever known. He always wore his green very proudly on this day and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did the same this morning. So, here’s a salute to him, too.

And any reference to Irish would be incomplete if I didn’t mention some of the most famous of all Irishmen: Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry. Most folks just call them: U2.

As I mentioned last week, I have been fortunate to see a number of their concerts over the years (the first of which was the subject of Coach Jeff’s Blog exactly a week ago). I made sure I listened to some of their songs during my evening commute.

So, today, hoist your green beer – or a Harp or Guinness - and wish your closest Irish friend Erin Go Bragh! Hope you have enjoyed the day in your own way.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone.

JG

Originally posted 3/17/2015