Happy St. Patrick's Day

Did you wear your green today, or orange?  Or maybe you wore blue?  Saint Patrick's Day is really a church holiday and was actually associated with the Saint's color blue, but in more recent history the American Irish happily turned it into a general holiday celebrating their Irish roots. Why green? Wikipedia blames it on the green shamrock that St. Pat apparently used to explain the Trinity to the unsuspecting Celts those umpteen years ago (try fifth century), but whatever the original reason green has become increasingly associated, by us not so Irish people anyhow, with being Irish, so on St. Patrick's Day, when everyone is Irish, the tradition has been to wear green. For those who more thoroughly understand Irish history, however (myself not really included), the color green is linked not simply with Ireland, but more specifically with loyalty to the Irish Catholic Church, while the Irish Protestants often identify more specifically with the color orange (see the flag, with its Catholic green, Protestant orange, and peace seeking white). Sadly, Ireland has a very rocky religious and political history, and for those who can claim Irish roots 365 days of the year identifying with their piece of that history, be it Catholic or Protestant, can be important; for many it's not a light matter.  So before you go pinching anybody on St. Pat's day, take a closer look at their colors.  I, for one, wore green today.  Am I Catholic?  No, but neither am I Irish Protestant; I am simply an American citizen enjoyng my one day to claim Irish heritage (remember, on St. Patrick's Day everyone is Irish), so I'm sticking to the commercialized, non-religious, Irish culture embracing version of the holiday, wearing my green and enjoying my Irish boiled dinner to the tunes of River Dance.

Calvin and I stumbled upon this lovely corner of flowering happiness this morning after music class and thought it extra appropriate to share due to its excellent green hue, with a touch of orange (okay, that's yellow, but just try to imagine them orange - they are a pretty promise of spring).

Spring

We found it blooming among us again, and that was very exciting.

There are more pictures from our spring day (of outdoor snacks and trips to the park) to be found in the March 2009 album.

Mama blue, how do you do?

This pretty little bluebird lady and many of her friends, male and female, seem to see our deck as the social hot spot.  We don't mind in the least.

Some days are like that

Some days just plain go well. Today we slept through the alarm and woke up incredibly late–fifteen minutes before Jon should have left for work and Calvin and myself for music class–but instead of stressing about it we embraced the little sleep-in and moved somewhat slowly and sleepily into the demands of the day. We opted to skip class just today in favor of a lazy rainy-day morning at home before venturing out to do our weekly shopping, including a stop at the children's resale shop. Now how often do you think I find exactly what I am looking for in a store like that?  Rarely (though I usually find plenty of other things to buy, of course), but today we found exactly, and I mean exactly, what we needed which was some really awesome new rain gear.  After resale it was on to the grocery store, and what could be exciting about that?  Well, because the store is under construction they are rewarding anyone and everyone who comes through the door just for showing up still, and that scored us some major awesome deals, including new bread pans (in exactly the size we've been looking for) and a mixing bowl, all at 50% off.  As we were preparing to check out Calvin asked for a sushi lunch, and how could I say no?  It is one of our favorite treats.  And after that and a romp in the rain (so I could snap some pictures of the aforementioned awesome new rain gear) Calvin settled back for his afternoon nap while I played in the kitchen (mmmm bread making).  And as if all that wasn't pleasing enough, I also got a card in the mail today (I love getting good mail), finished a good book, and made one heck of a yummy dinner if I do say so myself (and Jon, Calvin, and my dad, who joined us, agreed - see the To Your Health section for the recipe). Yep. Today was just one of those days, in the best way possible.

Celebrating, ummmm, spring

With a week of gloomy weather ahead we decided that a good, cheerful party was in order, and, since there are certainly no birthdays to celebrate this time of year (ahem), we decided that we had just better celebrate spring.  It is always fun to have our families all together under one roof, and we really enjoy playing hosts to such joyous gatherings.  We've also gotten better (much better) at it through the years, and rather than spending all Sunday afternoon panicking about the preparations, it was Saturday that found our home leisurely smelling of fresh bread, and filled with the sounds of the food processor, mixer, etc. etc., so that by Sunday we were able to kick back, wine in hand, and enjoy the festivities themselves.  Calvin, of course, is always the most involved host–more than willing to show, tell, and share with absolutely everyone that walks through the door.  And if you see a cake in the pictures?  We have no idea who that might be for, as there were certainly no birthdays celebrated here, just one really enjoyable family gathering to welcome the first beginnings of spring.  And who really needs a reason to party anyhow, more than just celebrating the wonderful love of family, and the marching onward of the seasons in our beautiful world?  Oh, and happy birthday, mom.