Happy St. Paddy’s Day
Posted: March 17, 2009 Filed under: Festivities | Tags: St. Patrick's Day Greetings 4 Comments
The first time I saw Ireland was when I was a kid. Mostly I remember that it was the greenest shade of green that I’d ever seen. Ireland is one of the most beautiful countries that I have ever visited. It’s easy to see why there are plenty of stories about enchanted things because there are parts of that country that hardly seem possible without some kind of magic. This picture of the Giant’s Causeway should be proof enough.
My grandmother’s and my mother’s name was Atha and they were from the Dennis side of my family. When I had colic, my grandmother would sing me Toorah Loorah loorah and rock me in the rocker that sits in my living room. I got the green in my eyes, the red in my hair, and the ‘Irish’ in my temper from her. I also heard my share of old Irish wives’ tales like “things come in threes.” Both my grandmother and my mother were terribly superstitious and it was hard to do anything as a kid without hearing something terrible that happened to a neighbor or a cousin or an aunt that had been foolish enough to do the same thing.
Grandmother used to love to cook and Colcannon was one of my favorites.
Colcannon Ingredients:
- 3 cups finely shredded green cabbage
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup water
- 6 cooked potatoes, mashed
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Preparation:
Place cabbage, onion, and water in a saucepan or Dutch oven and quickly bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 8 minutes until tender. Do not overcook.
Add mashed potatoes, milk, butter or margarine, salt, and pepper. Mix well, stirring often until heated through.
Colcannon is served warm as a side dish. I like it served with breaded pork chops baked with apples. That’s another Irish dish. If you really want a nice treat try it with some warm soda bread and a little clotted cream
There’s a lot of great things that have their roots in Ireland including a large number of Americans like me. I love to read some of the great Irish poets and writers and my favorite local bar is Vaughn’s. I like it because it has that ramshackle looked of an Irish pub known for great brews and conversations. (Jack Kerouac used to jump off at the tracks by my house and share a few drinks with William S. Burroughs there so while it’s now known for New Orleans Jazz, it did have a bit of a literature tradition too.) Here’s a treat from James Joyce’s Dubliners:
They walked along Nassau Street and then turned into Kildare Street. Not far from the porch of the club a harpist stood in the roadway, playing to a little ring of listeners. He plucked at the wires heedlessly, glancing quickly from time to time at the face of each new-comer and from time to time, wearily also, at the sky. His harp,m too, heedless that her coverings had fallen about her knees, seemed weary alike of the eyes of strangers and of her master’s hands. One played in the base the melody of Silent, O Moyle, while the other hand careered in the treble after each group of notes. The notes of the air sounded deep and full.
The two young men walked up the street without speaking, the mournful music following them. When they reached Stephen’s Green they crossed the road. Here the noise of trams, the lights and the crowd released them from their silence.
So, I raise a pint to you my friends and tell you to think kindly of the Irish today and be thankful for all the blessings that life has brought to you.
peej
Carissa
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dakinikat,
I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Calgary, a city whose Irish heritage is manifest in their university’s Gaelic coat-of-arms. I was there to experience GW Bush’s first post-presidential speaking engagement. {We are fraternity brothers. I was invited to join the table by one of my best friends.}
Calgary is the seat of the white-collar oil classes in Canada (I say classes because the denizens vary from upper middle to n). Alberta is the unequivocally the most conservative province in the country and Calgary is easily the most conservative city. In fact, Alberta is a place where Texas Republicans use their influence to implement political policy that is too far right for Texans to stomach. (Conservatives refer to my city, Edmonton, as Redmonton). Outside of the US, I imagine that Calgary is the friendliest venue he could choose.
Bush was articulate, funny, and sometimes charming, though not in a way that changes my perspective about his policy decisions or his world view. I was struck by the depth of his evangelical conviction and the way it informs his policy choices. For example, he zealously believes that the good news of freedom is self-propagating in way of dominos’ theory.
It is fair to say that the oil elite were also struck by the depth of his religious conviction. One could feel the discomfort of the audience when he became proselytetic. This is not surprising as our political traditions treat religion as a personal matter that should remain so. I wondered at the time how his comments would have been received in the US. He would not be electable in an urban Canadian riding.
In general, GW Bush was politely received. The only instance of emphatic support occurred when he spoke of the common sense value of Alberta’s oil sands as a source of secure energy for America. Is it a standing ovation when the crowd rises to politely applaud an ex-president when he concludes his presentation?
There were a few instances of deafening silence, such as when he spoke of how his fatih informed his world view. {Furthermore, when motherhood statements don’t elicit support, such as the import of creating a world where little girls can safely go to school (imagine how odd it feels to be one of the few in a convention center who is publically supporting one of his statements), I wonder about the Canadian right wing’s appetite for continued operations in Afghanistan. What does this mean for globalization?}
In one of the most enjoyable moments of the luncheon he spoke of laying on the couch at home after not having been president for a couple of days. He said to Laura that it was so freeing to not have anything that needed to be done. In response she said, “You have something that needs to be done. The garbage needs to be taken out, there’s dishes that need to be washed, and there’s laundry to do. You can consider it to be your new domestic policy.”
I sense that he is well aware of how he is viewed, based on the book he is writing. Why else would a president author a book that tries to place the reader in the position of president and ask the reader to decide what should be done?
{Amusingly, he said he wanted to write the book so that history would have an “authoritarian” viewpoint on his actions. Notwithstanding, when I think of the many verbal gaffes I commit daily, I feel no need to make more of this than it deserves.}
Following the luncheon, St. Paddy’s Day lived up to its reputation. The morning after it was time to return to work as hoi polloi and ponder the experience of tasting the bouillabasse in which the oil elite marinate.
SM
Thanks for sharing this. It’s very interesting. The evangelical part of Bush is the very thing that scared me most. Since I’m basically an atheist, some one being so driven by something so illogical and so unlikely and then being put in charge of some major decisions for humanity scared the living daylights out of me.
I don’t find religious (or nonreligious) beliefs to be an accurate indicator of someone’s intelligence or abilities. Many left wing liberals and right wing libertarians are atheists. People of faith can be caring souls or outright jerks. It’s kind of a cop-out intellectucally, but I tend to subscribe to Pascal’s Wager in terms of the effects of being religious.
dakinikat,
With respect to evangelical presidents, the Dead Zone comes to mind. I shared your apprehensions.
I think I am a deist animist. (I am unsure if I use the term deist as intimated by Thomas Paine.) At this point, I have not encountered a doctrine that speaks to my experience of the divine.
Thanks to your article, I am now able to conceptualize a dakinicolleen. 😉
Thanks for the feedback.
SM