Kiss me, I'm Irish

St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, not until nest week, right?

Wrong.

Not in Philadelphia at least. Here, St. Patty's day is treated as a month-long celebration for the entire month of March.

Sure there's a larger Irish population here than there was in Texas, but Irish or not, you better be sporting ridiculously bright green shirts, necklaces, sunglasses and hats at all times. Not wearing green and drinking beer? Well then, you must not be Irish.

Don't get me wrong, I'm Irish and all, and I appreciate the day we've set aside to celebrate Ireland, but an entire month of blinding-green garb, pub crawls, and St. Patty's Day Festivals? I don't know about that. What about the hundreds of other countries that go uncelebrated? If we gave each day in March (except the 17th, of course) to one of these sadly unrecognized countries, we'd have 30 more very-loved countries instead of 1 overly-loved country.

There are, however, plus-sides to this highly-exaggerated holiday. One, I get a good laugh at all the huge green top hats, cloverleaf sunglasses, green argyle knee-highs, ridiculous t-shirts, green pants, green mardi-gras beads with plastic beer mugs attached (sometimes all of these things are worn at once, making for a REAL good laugh) and even, in the best cases full-out leprechaun costumes. Two, there are always things going on in and around the city. Always big groups of people and new things to explore. Festivals, parades, all sorts of stuff. 

Most importantly, though, it shows a different side of Philadelphians; which for me, is refreshing. Coming from Texas, people here seem a bit colder, a bit more stand-offish, a bit quicker to anger. But when everyone gathers for one reason, to celebrate the same holiday, they're different; this commonality transforms them into a group for a cause rather than individuals for themselves. They're accepting, they're friendly, they hope for the best rather than assume the worst. 

As comical and over-the-top as I sometimes think the Philadelphia's celebration of St. Patrick's Day is, it's wonderful to be out and around people in times like this. As I miss Texas more and more, I need times like this and God knows that; he gives me these little pieces of home here in Philadelphia when he knows I need them most; and I'm thankful that he always knows.