kiss me, i'm irish

in the south, being irish was an anomaly. sure, folks wore green once a year, but they were usually a bit shocked to find out we were flesh & blood irish. or that my dad (seriously) has a book titled 10,000 plunketts. or that one of the few holidays my family celebrated together was the annual dinner at houlihan's on st. patrick's day.

today's new haven st. pat's day parade (founded in 1956) was probably one of the longest parades i have ever attended. i have determined that at least half of the new haven police and fire departments can play the bagpipes. and that many people seem to have closets full of colonial gear that they pull out for appropriate occasions.