Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores
Photographer Patricia Gulick

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

3/17/15 RMB Happy St. Patrick’s Day



3/17/15 RMB Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Determined to write something today, I opened my mind and found it empty from too much work, relying on it solely to navigate me from point A to point B during recent days. “There has got to be something.” I told myself as I drove to where I would write to you.

Mike Dooley spoke of infinite possibilities as the third CD of his book Manifesting Change: It Couldn’t be Easier played in my car. There it was. I could talk about Mike and how he inspires me. And if I am going to talk about a book, then how about Murder, She Meowed, the RMB book I am currently enjoying on my rare breaks.  Oh, oh, how about the holiday, today is St. Patrick’s Day!

Suddenly, a storm of ideas ignited. The thought of St. Patrick’s Day brought to mind Saturday. Yes, now I’m on to something. San Diego boasts of the grandest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the land. I somehow missed it in my previous decades of residency.

This St. Patrick’s holiday is special, because Teddy came to visit. We planned to attend The Parade and it was indeed grand. As bright as the costumes were, the smiles were brighter. Three nephews, two mom’s and a dog names Zero joined us. Bagpipes played, bands marched and firemen on firetrucks gently squirted water, on this very warm day, to cool the spectators.  

One vehicle passing had men recreating the Marine Corps raising of the flag on Iwo Jima and I tell the boys about its historic significance. A nearby man, joins the conversation to say the Navy was there too.  I laughed and said “My dad was a Marine, so I only got that part of the story.”

It was a reminder that who we are and what we know is impacted by who we’ve known and what we’ve learned. “There are three sides to every story,” a wise friend used to say.

After the parade we joined the Balboa Park St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Camped out in front of a stage we watched lovely young Mexican women, from a dance group in Tijuana, perform Irish dances. Everybody is Irish on St. Patty’s Day. All one, in at least one kind of way, and all in fun.

Top o’the day to you,

Loraine

No comments:

Post a Comment