Wearin' O' the Green

Warning: I'm not actually Irish. I'm Scottish and my family merely passed through Ireland for a generation here or there. But, I am "Scotch-Irish," so that should count for something, right? Plus, I have a very Scotch-Irish daughter with the sought after red hair and green eyes.

But it is Saint Patrick's Day (Lá Fhéile Pádraig). It was, of course, named for Saint Patrick who preached Christianity to the pagan Irish.
It is widely thought that Patrick used the common Shamrock to teach the trinity - each of the three leaves standing for the father, son and holy spirit. The occasional 4th leaf was for luck. But he explained that each leaf is it's own piece, but all a part of the bigger plant.

The holiday has become much more secular than religious. Now it seems to be a day about drinking and partying, when originally it was about the religious conversion of the Irish to Christianity.

Did you know that originally the color for Saint Patrick was blue? Over time the color changed to green when people would wear Patrick's shamrock on their clothes (known as the "wearing of the green.").

And, of course you know that if you don't wear green you risk getting pinched. Thankfully both Marshall and SB have green eyes. I actually have a shamrock tattooed on my back... that just leaves Mac who will be appropriately green!