Himself wanted to know, are you celebratin’ the luck o’ the Irish this particular year?

I have ancestors who as near as I can figure through genealogical records have come from Scotland and Ireland – and before that – can be traced back to either Judah or Manasseh, Asher and Gad. I mean, everyone has had to come from four different men and their wives who came out of that flood alive. Eight. New beginnings.

Anyway, the middle of the month of March holds a great attraction for me. March madness, St. Patrick’s Day, the official start of spring, birthdays for both myself and my wife, Irish American Heritage Month, among many others. In the last few years, it seems as if a damper was put on everything.

The only good thing that came out of that COVID mess was that my basketball bracket wasn’t in the toilet after the first round. Good thing too since there was a toilet paper shortage.

We also shot past National PI Day without a lot of fanfare. Perhaps that is why I love pie for my birthday instead of cake. Oh, wait, not that kind of pie, but I still prefer it over cake. Some people refer to it as 3.14 day.

Well, this week we have NATIONAL EVERYTHING YOU DO IS RIGHT DAY March 16. And when you’re right, you’re right. We will also this week, celebrate NATIONAL CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DAY followed by next Monday, which will be NATIONAL SLOPPY JOE DAY because there isn’t any corned beef left from Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day.

More people will be taking off Thursday and Friday for NATIONAL FAKE AN ILLNESS DUE TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT DAYS commencing on St. Patrick’s Day. Don’t look now, folks, but 12-19 Notre Dame has GOT to be a huge favorite in this year’s tournament if they even seed. Yeah, I have a tickle in my throat today and probably will be progressing into bronchitis by Thursday. Oh yeah, it was all fun and games until a real virus hit the nation.

In years past, post first-round NCAA Tourney Monday, my voice was usually gone, I had a serious lack of sleep and it all lent itself well to the whole sickness façade. This year I’m feeling finer being in Caroliner.

So, living now in the land of the Tar Heels as I’ve heard it referred to by those living outside of my Irish heritage, I always wondered how different this holiday would have been had it not been for the social detachment. We shall find out Sunday night. All tips on where to frequent will be accepted. I hear the serious St. Patrick’s Day revelers head north to Raleigh.

I can remember St. Patty’s days of yore and all the different places I’ve encountered the holiday. This is the first time in the Carolinas with the bonus being – farther and farther away from a National Health Emergency.

I was in Scotland when it becomes very festive even though they don’t particularly care for the Irish. But, Ireland does have a holiday named for an Irish Apostle who was born in Scotland. Aye. Patrick.

Chicago. A distant memory where the entire city goes green and my all-time favorite place to celebrate. They dye the entire Chicago River green, the fish become green for a few days, the beer is green, the clovers are out in full-force and at many Karaoke bars, the only song that you can pick to sing is “Oh Danny Boy.” At first, it’s pretty redundant until the green beer kicks in and then, with a plate of corn beef and cabbage, you find the song becoming more sentimental as the night goes on and your “hash” is salted by tears… whether you knew ol’ Danny boy or not.

They say that drinking on New Year’s Eve is amateur night compared to the drinking that occurs on St. Patty’s month in Chicago. Yeah, I’m pretty sure they don’t have a day, but the whole month to celebrate.

Fun facts about St. Patty’s Day

• · It’s St. Patrick’s Day and not St. Patty’s Day according to the SPD legalists.
• · The Irish symbol is the shamrock and not the four-leaf clover.
• · Green beer and shamrocks are more common in Chicago, Boston and New York than in Dublin.
• · It’s a celebration of Christianity coming to Ireland.
• · St. Patrick used a shamrock to teach the trinity to the unchurched and represented new birth when spring came to the emerald Isle.
• · The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston in 1737.
• · Lucky Charms is not the official cereal of the day nor did it originate in Ireland. Although they DO remain magically delicious.
• · Corn beef and cabbage is an American classic made famous in early Jewish delis of New York

So, whatever your gripe was for the past years, whether it was the cancellation of March Madness, beer, beef or blizzarding weather we will be able to make up for it this week with springtime temperatures. Maybe. I would like to remind you that St. Patrick’s Day is usually notorious for a guest appearance by Mother Nature who brings Jack Frost and a freezing pant-load of snow. I don’t know if that will be true to form here in North Carolina, but I’ve not put away my winter cloak. Just in case.

I don’t think I need to remind my readers in Wyoming about three years ago, around this time, buried under 3 feet of snow. Be careful out there, and best of the luck o’ the Irish – which means, a positive look at a bad situation.

From experience? My basketball bracket always started out well and then it leans on the stick and sends me into a nosedive, which is why I would always call my bracket, luck o’ the Irish and smile politely as the 103rd person is singing “Oh Danny Boy,” at Fado’s Irish Pub. In Chicago. The first four games of the NCAA tournament will happen after the “sacred 17th,” so perhaps my luck may change for the bracket.

Meanwhile, the 15th is National Everything You Think Is Wrong Day and the 16th is National Everything You Do is Right Day. Yeah, it doesn’t do much for me either, but it could be worse… we could all still be under a National Quarantine Day.

Hey Carona. You may have broken our Irish hearts the last few years, but you can never diminish our spirit and the green is flowing freely again. Don’t anybody forget their green cowboy balloons and swag to the festivities come Sunday.

As a postscript… if you not imbibing for the holiday as some of us are not, prove that you can have just as grand of a time. My personal tip – eat a lot of corned beef and cabbage, put green food coloring in your sprite and wear your “kiss me, I’m pretending to be Irish” button. Top it off with a shillelagh and a Leprechaun derby. You’re good to go lads and lassies.