It seems to me that it’s just about getting late enough in the school year that people are starting to think about graduation, planning for the next year, etc. However, a week or so ago, for some reason which I really can’t explain, I started thinking about teaching; what it is to be a teacher; how being a teacher impacts one’s life; what I think is important about teaching; and such thoughts. In the course of this pondering, for some other inexplicable (at the time) reason, I was reminded of having taken an afternoon off from my Graduate Assistantship duties as Manager of the Fine Arts Auditorium (AND from my studies) during the summer of 1977, while I was on leave from Western at The University of Georgia. At the time, I was working on completing my Doctoral course work before returning to Western and getting back to earning a living for myself AND my family, while working on my dissertation. However, what I did on this, specific, afternoon, was to go see that (relatively) newly-released (at the time) movie which a lot of people were so excited about called Star Wars. That movie, of course, was the one which we now call Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope.
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I realize that I’m pushing the season a good deal with this St. Patrick's Day Post. But according to my calendar, the actual, PROPER day to honor the patron saint of Ireland is going to fall on the day AFTER I am scheduled to put up my NEXT post. That being the case, I have decided that I’m entitled to put my St. Patrick’s Day post up a wee bit early. If you don’t like that, it’s probably because you haven’t got enough Irish in your blood, or soul, or have some other deficiency. Of course, it COULD be that you just haven’t had enough of “the Good Stuff” recently, but I won’t go into that possibility. St. Patrick is, of course, widely know as the primary patron saint of Ireland, but he’s actually more that that, being also the patron of Nigeria, in spite of never being formally canonized by the Catholic Church. And, he is also a saint in the Lutheran Church, the Church of Ireland (Anglican), and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well. Not bad for a lad who was kidnapped by Irish pirates at age 16, eventually escaped from them, then became a cleric and went on to bring Christianity to northern and western Ireland. Now, the Ancestry© DNA people tell me that I am 70+ % English, about 20+ % Gaelic/Celtic, and about (5+ %) North Central European with just a touch of Acadian thrown in to finish up my genetic heritage. Anyway, I figure that I can identify as Irish if I wish to. And I do, at least in part. Among other things, back in my “folkie” youth, I was extremely fond of the music of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, the Irish folksingers, for what ever that’s worth. They made good craic! Anyway, I am rather fond of celebrating St. Paddy’s Day, although I do try not to overindulge on that occasion. Still, I AM VERY fond of the fish and chips and the boxtys prepared in an Omaha pub known as “The Brazen Head,” (which is named for a pub that’s existed in Dublin since 1198 CE). Now the Omaha Brazen Head wasn’t established until 1998 (800 years later), but that was a good while before I arrived here and it’s really a neat place. They also make the most wonderful creamy Baked Onion soup, which I have ever eaten. And, just for the record, I have been known to enjoy a “proper” draft pint of “the Black Stuff” with my food when I eat there. So, you ask, what’s “the Black Stuff?” There’s only one answer to that!  Yup. Guinness Stout’s the thing! Actually, I was a bit surprised a while back to learn that it has only 4.2% ABV, making it relatively mild in terms of the amount of alcohol it contains. That kinda makes you wonder how the Irish got the reputation of being such drunkards. I can remember folks (my fraternity brothers?) complaining (in the old days) that 3.2% beer was about as potent as water, and that REAL men wanted something like 6% ABV beer. Oh, well, I disagree, for whatever that’s worth! I generally have a single pint with food, so I figure that I don’t have to worry about becoming a drunkard. But I do like a Guinness now and then, and it IS widely noted as being very popular with the Irish and (surprisingly, I thought) with the English, as well. In fact, some folks would suggest that the picture below just MIGHT, in fact, be true in parts of Ireland.  For those who have had the misfortune of never having tasted Guinness, I offer the “official” description of it from a St. Patrick’s Day ad from a couple of years ago. I admit to not being quite as elegant in my description of the taste of Guinness, I just like it.  Then again, I’ve always felt that the “critics” of beers, wines, etc. are almost a silly as the “critics” of the arts. I believe that everyone is entitled to their own likes and dislikes. I refuse to accept the idea that I am somehow inferior because I prefer to make my own choices in food, the arts, and many other things, in spite of the fact that the “Experts” may say I’m “wrong.” Just as with religion, you (or they) can have your (their) choices, but I insist that I have a right to make mine. Which actually applies to most things, or, at least, it should. These are not really questions about Right and Wrong (or Right and Left), they MAY be questions about how people can look at the same facts and arrive at different conclusions, but that doesn’t give “experts?” and “leaders?” (NOTE: often self-appointed!) the right to insist that one side, or the other, must be correct (and required) because it’s THEIR ("knowledgeable?") choice, except (perhaps) in the case of public endangerment. But enough of this, if we’d been drinking, I’d suggest that we’re approaching the need to make use of a Scottish Breathalyzer. Does this make B.C. Celtic?  In any event, in the (possibly mistaken belief) that we’re sober enough to continue, allow me to point out that St. Patrick can be celebrated in many ways on his day. Here’s a possibility from The Family Circus.  It’s also worth noting, I suppose, that some people seem to enjoy making fun of the fact that many Irish surnames take the form of “O’(something).” I believe that the “O’” was/is used as a way of referring to someone having an ancestor of some noble (whose surname follows the O’). Still, some folks like to have fun with it, as in this strip from Shoe.  Actually, there IS a difference between an opossum and a possum, but I’ll let you look that up for yourself. Ireland, of course, is the land of the leprechaun, that wee creature of Irish mythology who many of us would like to run into at the end of a rainbow, where he would give us all of his (considerable) gold. Certainly, leprechauns are fun creatures to think about, as is the recent obsession with gnomes. Now, both ARE somewhat similar, but they are, in fact, different. Based on some VERY brief research, gnomes apparently are of Germanic/Scandinavian origin and tend more towards outdoor, group activities, while leprechauns are Irish, and tend to be more mischievous and individually-oriented while collecting and burying their pots of gold. Still they ARE somewhat similar, so I’m rather hard pressed to figure out whether the picture below is a gnome or a leprechaun, if it really matters. Mostly, I just think it’s a fun image, so enjoy it!  I suppose that what I’ve been heading towards with this whole post is the image below which I took from the website of a store called "The Celtic Ranch" in Weston, Missouri, which Bonnie and I have visited more than once and which sells actual, authentic Celtic (Irish & Scots) merchandise. It’s a neat place and I’d suggest that it’s worth the trip, if you’re ever in the area along the river a bit north of Kansas City. In any case, I like this sentiment.  I think I’d like this even if it wasn’t labelled as “An Irish Toast,” but that idea sort of gets me back to the idea that a pint of “the Good/Black Stuff” will be appropriate when comes the day. One MIGHT even suggest that it could be appropriate anytime one feels the desire, but that MIGHT be thought to encourage the excess of which we Irish are so often (and so frequently unjustifiably) accused. I plan to be back in a couple of weeks, unless the ICE folks decide that the 1620 immigration of some of my English ancestors was too late (or is it too EARLY?) for me to be anything but an “undocumented immigrant," which WAS, of course, the case, since those “Mayflower Pilgrims” were NOT documented (except by the King of England, who claimed to "own" North America because he COULD, so he did!). I guess that I should be glad that the locals (the indigenous peoples of “New England”) didn’t greet us like this:  (Notice that THESE "ICE" agents aren’t shown wearing masks! Isn’t THAT a surprise!)
Aren’t we lucky that events like this didn’t happen in those days? I suspect that my ancestors were actually very thankful for the treatment THEY received from the “locals,” as they might well not have survived that first winter, without local assistance. I suspect that the descendants of those “locals” might now wish that their ancestors hadn’t been quite so generous? I think it’s also worth remembering that virtually EVERY group of “foreigners” who have ever come to this country have been subjected to a variety of types of discrimination! Irish, German, Polish, Italian, Arab, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, some Protestant denominations, Scandinavian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, you name it. EVERY identifiable group, based on race religion, ethnicity, or whatever, has been vilified by some “GOOD AMERICANS,” at least until the next group came along to pick on. The recent behavior against Mexicans, Central and South Americans, etc. doesn’t even approach being unique. But, I think it IS shameful! Oh, well, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks, if actual ICE agents don’t return to Omaha to come find me. 🖖🏻LLAP, Dr. B Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. It is the only resort by which incompetent men can thrive. The bully, the brute, the dictator. Isaac Asimov Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind. Juvenal (from Satires) The whole idea of revenge and punishment is a childish day-dream. Properly speaking there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also. George Orwell Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18 P.S. I apologize if I’ve offended anyone by getting too political in this post. I confess that I DO tend to get highly offended by the actions of those who argue that THEY should be the ones to decide who should be considered to be a “REAL American.” After all, it CAN be factually demonstrated that, in a large majority of cases, that THEIR ancestors immigrated long AFTER at least some of mine, and certainly long after the ancestors of the “indigenous” American peoples. It seems pretty certain that the “indigenous” people’s ancestors migrated to the Americas something like 15-20,000 years ago. Of course, that assumes that you believe in scientific evidence, rather than so-called religious “facts” such as those advocated by Bishop Ussher and others. The fact is that WE ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS! And, despite what the “Prove Me Wrong” folks might say, that IS a "provable" fact! I think that the sooner we accept that, the sooner we can move beyond the current, bigoted foolishness being advocated by some of our “leaders!” RSB |
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