Irish You Were Here

So, what is Irish and lays around the pool all day?

Why it's "Patty O'Furniture"!

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You know the rules: You have to be wearing green on St. Patrick's Day -- or you'll get a pinch.

I vividly recall Miss Raymond in second grade quickly pinning shamrocks cut out of green construction paper onto the frocks and shirts of my few clueless classmates of Protestant parentage that came to school without any green!

You (or your Mom) should have known the rules.

It was forecast to be a pleasant day in the low 80's, so we shelved plans to spend all Saturday laying about poolside on our green patio furniture and instead bought a couple of tickets to ride the DART train down to Dallas' Greenville Avenue to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade (Greenville Ave seems like the right place to stage such a parade).  It was going to be fun! Beside a sunny 82 degrees (F) there was also forecast to be 100,000 people (mas y menos 10,000) along the route, 95.3% of them wearing green shirts.  Sue (the 4.7%), though of bonifide Irish stock, did not have any green to wear.  None what-so-ever - and you know the rules.  She did grab a string of Marti Gras beads that she though might pass for green, but were really mostly blue.

The DART Blue Line from Garland took us to Mockingbird Station, where we thought we would then transfer to the Red Line and get off at Lovers Lane Station, just a block from the Greenville Ave parade route.  While waiting for the train I was standing next to a Hispanic man with green hair and green sideburns dressed in an Elvis suite costume with a shamrock necklace, when one of the many beer coolers that was being hauled across the platform tumbled over, spilling beer cans and ice across the tiled floor.  Most everyone hooted at the fellow who, by the sheer quantity of beer cans was obviously planning on hosting a large party or else hoping to make lots of friends.  I stepped over to help him pack his wayward cans back into his wheeled cooler.  The police were out in force and when one of Dallas' Finest strolled over to the alcoholic mess he said, "Sir, I am going to have write you a ticket for wasting good beer on St. Patrick's Day", and then walked off chuckling to himself.  And so the tone was set for the big ol' green party.



Irish Sea of Green
Waiting for the St. Patrick's Day Parade along Greenville Avenue



St. Patrick Driving a Duck from Ireland
(Because there were really never any snakes ever in Ireland)

When our train arrived, it was packed to the gills with revelers and there was no room to board, so we thought we might as well mosey the mile or so to pick a spot for the parade.  We joined a growing confluence of uniquely dressed folks making a sea of green, the Irish Sea.  There were men in kilts, women with green beards, Green Bay Packer jerseys, some "Irish" wenches, and I am amazed at how many ladies own a green tutu that they pull out of their closet for St. Patrick's Day.  It was all a 'revelation'. 

At the head of the parade was a pipe and drum corp, followed by an assortment of floats representing radio stations, Notre Dame Alumni, an industrial cleaning company and a couple of Cadillac convertibles loaded with drag queens.  There did seem to be a melding of Marti Gras with St. Patrick's Day in the atmospherics, not to mention that each of the 90 parade floats almost all tossed beads to the throngs.  While beer was plentiful, it was not even 11 AM and the suds seemed unappealing to us light-weights.  We ended up buying some Krispy Creme donuts with green sprinkles and a bottle of water.  Cheers!

We skipped Snoop Lion's (formerly Snoop Dog) concert and the Lower Greenville Block Party.  We had our good fun and found our way home for a dinner of corned beef, soda bread and a bottle of beer. 
Of course making our way back through the crowds, Sue passed a guy who yelled, "You're nor wearing any green! And then he pinched her. 

Butt like I've been saying - you should've known the rules.

Irish y'all could've been here!

Does your dog bite? Only if you pinch her.
White dog stenciled with Green Shamrocks 
It's A St. Paw-trick's Dog Party!