Nothing stimulates the nervous system like a good ole thought of “Why?”. Sometimes, it can really grasp you around the throat and squeeze if you don’t answer it.
So it is well known that the 17th of March is celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day.
Some of us know the legends of his walking stick, and the driving the snakes out of Ireland. But what more to this person was there?
Saint Patrick lived in the 4th and 5th Century. His death is reputed to be the 17th of March. Right away, I thought to myself: “Ohh great, another martyr. Another religious holiday turned commercial.”
So at least on the American calendar, there’s two months: February and March who at one time had a holiday on the calendar that was originally a religious holiday but it soon turned into something else.
I would come to find out that in Ireland and in other places of the world that celebrate the holiday, it remains as a religious holiday. But the way that it is celebrated is more commonly known as it is today. Particularly in the USA.
Why all of the green?
The legend of Saint Patrick is told that while he was spreading the word of Christianity, he used a shamrock to explain what is known as the Holy Trinity. The shamrock has since then been associated with Saint Patrick, including the holiday.
But it wasn’t until recently that the green was a color that was associated with the holiday. In fact, the original color that was attached to Saint Patrick’s Day was BLUE.
However because of the color of the shamrock and because of the legend that is so closely tied with Saint Patrick, the blue faded out and green took its place. 
So yeah, now it makes sense. But what about all of the pinching going on if a person is NOT wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day???
This one made me roll my eyes. It probably stems from the fact that I think this “pinching” tradition is rather stupid and sophomoric.
It’s an entirely American tradition that probably started in the early 18th Century. St. Patrick revelers thought wearing green made one invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who would pinch anyone they could see (anyone not wearing green). People began pinching those who didn’t wear green as a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up and pinch those without the color.
Leprechauns in America? Ehhh…. I’m not buying that, and you can keep your fingers off of me because I’m not wearing the color you desired me to wear.
But this year, I gave in to the wild tradition. I found it most difficult as I had a special event to attend to in the morning, and then I had the fundraising event mentioned in the previous blog post. Most anything that I had that was in the green color wouldn’t suit the activities of the day. I mean, I do have my camoflauge articles of clothing, but nothing suitable for what I was going to do that day. However for the morning, I pulled it off with a long sleeve button up green shirt, clashing red tie, and dark sports coat. And that was honestly more appropriate than going there and looking like G.I. Joe.
And with that clash of color, there were actually many verbal compliments.
In the evening, I didn’t have much else of a choice but to wear camoflauge on my head with a bandana. I felt so foolish, but as the evening wore on I would forget about it being on top of my head.
Although I will include this story for you as I found it very funny.
While waiting to be let inside the arena for our fundraiser, there were other people busy and hard at work, preparing for the evening’s game. There was an older woman who was ummm.. extremely buxom. She wore a t-shirt that said “Kiss Me I’m Irish”.
One of my team members asked her “Is your shirt an invitation???”.
She answered that her husband didn’t approve of her wearing the shirt at all, but it was her way to draw the line in the sand that it wasn’t a good idea. Most of the rest of the team laughed because that one person who had said it, we don’t normally hear such wild humor come from him.. the silent type.
Next time I see a t-shirt like that, I’m probably going to give that person a run for their money. But I digress.
I can’t wait to see what holidays are celebrated in May that started out as a religious memorable and turned into something else!!
Dambreaker 