The Best St. Patty's Day

Faith 'n begorrah, my husband and I had the best St. Patty's Day!

No, we didn't dress up like leprechauns and head down to the local Irish pub to drink Guinness.  It was a quieter sort of celebration.

It didn't start out all that great, truth be told.  In the morning, my main squeeze had a routine-when-you-get-to-be-our-age colonoscopy; and then just after I'd dropped him off back at home, a little lightheaded but none the worse for wear, I had to go to the dentist and have two porcelain crowns put on a pair of side-by-side lower molars.  You know, because the gigantic fillings that have been keeping them together since the 60's were starting to deteriorate and my teeth were developing cracks.  (#oldpeopleproblems)

But looking at the bright side (because there's always a bright side, dontcha know), we're lucky we have the means to take care of our aging bodies, and that at the end of the day, the two of us are pretty hale and hearty for a couple of fifty-somethings who are slouching toward the big six-oh.

Since my husband wasn't allowed to do even so much as a light work-out (doctor's orders!) and I had no plans to do so anyway, we spent the rest of the day being decadently lazy and just enjoying each other's company.  In the afternoon, I put our New England boiled dinner in the crock pot; and while it simmered away, we watched The Quiet Man--which I have to say just might be my all-time favorite movie.  It's extremely romantic, funny (and I mean laugh-out-loud funny), and utterly delightful.  And it makes me want to move to rural Ireland, buy a thatch-roofed cottage, get some sheep, and learn how to farm.  (I'm not kidding, either.)

Have you seen this John Ford classic?  If not, you've missed a real humdinger.

John Wayne plays Sean Thornton--a big, handsome ex-boxer and man of little words--and he's terrific in this movie.  And Maureen O'Hara is phenomenal.  After the movie ended, I turned to my husband and said, "I wish I was feisty, like Mary Kate Dannaher.  Should I be feistier?  Would I be more fun if I was feistier?"  (This is what I have been putting my poor husband through for almost thirty-five years of marriage.  The man is a saint.)

After the movie, we feasted on corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, and we followed it up with this colorful cake.

Is this too green?  Is it too much?  Too Irish-y?

Maybe so.  But The Quiet Man is just the right amount of Irish, I'm here to tell ya.

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara--Sean and Mary Kate--smolder together on the screen; and yet, nothing is said or done in this film that makes it inappropriate for even the youngest members of your family to view right along with you.  And for Catholics, it's a joy to watch a movie where priests and practicing members of the Faith are portrayed in a positive light, as normal, likeable, down-to-earth people.

Yes, we had a wonderful day.  How about you?  Did you stay in and celebrate quietly, like we did?  Or did you paint the town green?  Tell me how you celebrated the feast of Ireland's patron saint--I'd love to hear from you.