“There's no need to fear the wind if your haystacks are tied down.”

- Irish proverb
St Patrick's Day is an interesting holiday, given it is basically an American tradition, celebrating the fact that for one day everyone has an Irish heritage, commemorating the life of a Saint who was not, by the way, Irish. But then that is what we do, and we celebrate by eating Kosher Corned Beef.

Go figure.

This morning on the news, there was a piece about the dyeing of the river in Chicago - apparently about 40 years back some plumbers who were using a chemical to trace a water leak accidentally stained the Chicago River green - and it has become a tradition every year since. What I found interesting was that it does not seem to take a lot of the brilliant-orange powder they toss into the river and then stir up with the use of an outboard motorboat to taint the water not just green, but a toxic glowing brew. I am sure the color washes downstream and dilutes, but I did actually wonder what it does to the fish. Not to mention, does anyone ever swim in the water downstream? I am envisioning a whole community of people eating green fish, swimming and dying their skin green. It could happen. A decade from now, someone may stumble onto a small town of green people - a discovery similar to the Anasazi - who would no doubt be revered for their coloring.

Nouveaux Leprechauns if you will. Undoubtedly living on a a diet of corned beef and cabbage, swigging green beer. Fortunately we Irishmen and leprechauns all have a wry sense of humor.