Drunk

I'm not. I imagine many people are. I have to finish a short paper for grad school and I dislike the taste of beer. Therefore, I am not conducive to a St. Patrick's day celebration. I'm not even sure if I have Irish in my ancestry. I'm pale enough, that's for sure. Anyway, took a picture of merry makers on my way to the metro today.

For those you who only know St. Patrick's day as the day of great drunkenness, I have a history lesson. Gather round, duckies. St. Patrick's day (or Lá Fhéile Pádraig, to the super knowledgeable) commemorates Saint Patrick, the most widely recognized of Ireland's saints. It also celebrates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. This next bit is taken straight from Wikipedia, so I advise you to take it with a grain of salt and find an encyclopedia. 

There he is. Saint Paddy.

"Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. In 432, he again said that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to Christianise the Irish from their native polytheism. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of evangelism, he died on 17 March 461, and according to tradition, was buried at Downpatrick. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church."
And then later the holiday morphed into the celebration of Irish culture. Apparently this means in the States that Irish drink. A lot.

Super fantastic. Other than that, I took spring pictures on a walk today. I love flowers and I love seeing bulbs starting to push up their stems the flowers inside getting ready to grow. I love looking at trees and seeing the little bulby things waiting with leaves. I love seeing the grass get greener and more sunshine coming around. I really like spring. Also fall and parts of winter. I hate summer in this area. You can't breath for the humidity

Daffodils getting ready to bloom!

I can't remember what this is called. Hyacinth? My mom will know.

Pansies. Some of the hardiest flowers ever.