Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

March-to the Forest in the St. Patrick's Parade!

               

 


True to my monthly motto, March to the Forest, I recently marched with the fairies of Baltimore in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade! I was listening to heavy, guitar driven psychedelic rock & roll as I dressed for the day. The weather was windy, so layered a brown wool sweater under my green dress as armor against the cold. I brushed my long red hair and wove vines of ivy into it. I wore a silver locket from Ireland and a trifecta ring. In my basket was a book about leprechauns, a green tambourine and cookies.


When I made my way downtown, I couldn't find the fairies! I looked all around, but didn't see Nina or Jeff, the leaders of the troupe. Finally, I spied with my little eye some people dressed in flowers and wings. "That must be them" I walked over and introduced myself and explained how I found them. "Yeah, man, just look for the freaks..." someone said.


We marched all the way down to the end of the line, past the harbor, through snow and wind and sun. When we got to the tavern at the end, someone yelled, "Hear, hear, it's time for a beer!" It was a fun experience and I hope to walk with them again next year.  Watch out for us fairies. We're coming to your town, we'll help you party down!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Legend of the Leprechaun Ear


Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends, freaks, and fanatics of the forest!  

This morning I got up and started cooking for my annual St. Patty's Bash.  On the Irish itinerary was listening to the song 'Kicking Stones' by the Monkees...

on a giant toadstool stood a teeny-tiny gnome
and from his pipe came magic music like I never heard!
he said the party's over please come back in 1,000 years...

I started daydreaming and thought, what if once every thousand years, a real leprechaun would show itself on St. Patrick's Day?




I went to cooking and made the food for the party: bangers & mash, soda bread with a cheese spread, lucky cabbage pasta, cornbread with green bell peppers, tie-dyed blue and green muffins, candy...




The wooden television played Darby O'Gill and the Little People, a classic Disney movie about an Irish fairytale...As I cut up the bell peppers for the cornbread, I found the most magical treasure:

A leprechaun's ear.
A leprechaun's ear?
A leprechaun's ear!

You see, it is whispered on the wind that if you find a leprechaun's ear on St. Patrick's Day and whisper one wish into it, and do not utter a single complaint that day...you will be granted the wish.




I whispered "I wish to see a real leprechaun..." and held that ear in my pocket all night.
To catch a leprechaun one must wait patiently...




Luckily, I know the secret to catching a leprechaun.  One must cook the legendary 'Pot O' Gold" and you must make it just right: big, round buttery gold sweet potatoes, real Irish cheddar cheese, no skins, and piping hot.  Place the pot near a tree and wait...

When the leprechaun goes for the pot o; gold, turn around behind the tree...




And you will see a real leprechaun!

Remember, forest folks, this phenomenon is only possible once every 1,000 years!