Happy St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

The River Liffey in the background, there.

St. Patrick's Day has always been my favorite holiday. I'm not sure how it started exactly, but I can distinctly remember being in middle school and being thrilled about the day. The color green, the celebration of a holiday that isn't marred by consumerism (well... beer... maybe), the time of year with spring just ahead, a holiday celebrating the extinction of snakes (screw the allegory. I hate snakes), it's just a fun day, ya know?

Enjoying a pint at Sky Bar at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

This is after 10 days of cheese sandwiches and dark beer for every meal.
So, basically 10 days of heaven.

And once I did research into my family and found out that my ancestors (originally hailing from Scotland) fled to Ireland and lived there for a generation before coming to the US my love of St. Patrick's day became a little more personal.One of the coolest things I've ever experienced in my life was seeing and touching the remains of the linen mill that my direct descendant built in the late 1600s.

 What's left of my family's mill in Northern Ireland.

My dad. Trespassing.

Not really, we had permission from the owners.

Total cheeseball picture, but this is me touching the mill.

The feeling that I got from being there was incredible. And my god, was the landscape beautiful. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of the land where my family eventually ended up in Tennessee.

Idyllic much?

Anyway, St. Patrick's Day is a big day for me. I always have a St. Patrick's Day Party and I always wear green and now, I always think back to my ancestors and how hundreds of years ago they were able to escape a terrible massacre and live in Ireland (after changing their name), build a mill that is still partially standing, and then eventually make their way to the US. What a life. All I've done is sit in a cube and crunch numbers all day and write a dumb blog with animal gifs. 

 

I also think about how grateful I am to my parents for taking my family on an amazing trip to actually see where our family existed hundreds of years ago. It was something that I will never forget and while I hope to make it back there again, experiencing that with my parents and brothers is something that will stay with me forever. 

/humblebrag.

Really, I just love Irish Car Bombs. 

 From 2009 St. Pat's Day Party.

Damn, I really need to start taking more photos

from my parties.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Mr. Leopold Bloom in a shamrock scarf last St. Pat's Day.

His namesake is Irish.