Green River

It’s that time of year for clovers, leprechauns, pub crawls, and gold.

On St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate all things green, a tradition dating back centuries. Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Christian missionary and bishop of Ireland who converted the pagan Irish to Christianity rooted in the Catholic faith.

He reportedly used a three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, eventually transforming an entire country and culture. As patron saint, he spent most his life in serious prayer, fasting, and preaching the Gospel. He also liked the occasional “fun run.”

Since its official observance, St. Patrick’s Day has been closely associated with the traditional wearing of green clothing and accessories.

Those green party beads didn’t just fall from the sky. Neither did shamrock socks. The legend of St. Patrick’s Day was chronicled by magical leprechauns who roamed the Irish countryside for generations in search of their gold (as I understand it).

Rooted in modern Irish folklore, leprechauns have been portrayed as aggressively hyper, comical, and sometimes inebriated tricksters. I don’t know where anyone would get that idea.

A total of EIGHT Leprechaun movies have been released since 1993, all depicting a vengeful supernatural killer obsessed with finding his gold. About 7 of those 8 movies starred the great Warwick Davis who brought an undeniable charm to an otherwise schlocky b-movie slasher series.

Did Saint Patrick help preserve “the land of saints and scholars” for this?

Luck of the Irish

It’s been a unlucky week for me. I lost my glasses the other day and then broke my sunglasses the next. Suppose it’s time for laser eye surgery.

I’d have to be good and drunk before I’d let anyone point a laser into my eyes. Fortunately, tonight I have an excuse!

Erin go bragh is an Irish phrase that means “Ireland forever.”

Despite our McKee name, my family isn’t deeply rooted in Irish traditions—we’re only partly Irish, with a primarily Eastern European heritage. I wish I knew more about my lineage overall. Ancestry.com, here we come.

In his memoir collection, Speak, Memory (1951), renowned Russian author Vladimir Nabokov offers a richly detailed account of his family history and their lives. He traces an expansive lineage—spanning parents, extended relatives, and multiple generations of ancestors—with remarkable precision.

The stories he shares and the details he reveals were passed down through generations, ultimately preserved in his book.

It took a lot of work from for my bloodline to get to where it is now. Thousands of years in the making, so I could write this blog.

Gotta go to the pub now. My green top hat has flashing lights on it.

Happy Patrick’s Day!