Day the Twoth (Tooth?)... (Tuesday, 3/17)

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Let's just get started, and I'll keep my rambling thoughts until the end of this post, 'k?

Here we go:

THREE THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT:
1.) A bright red geranium blooming in a sunny, lace-curtain-covered window.
2.) Rainbows on the ceiling courtesy of a crystal suncatcher.
3.) The song of a spring robin as it sings from a nearby tree.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Every hand that we don't shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise... Let's stay safe. And let's draw one another closer in a way that we've never done before." ~Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky

A LITTLE SOMETHING:

Best mind the dust and cobwebs up there...

Your kiddos who are home from school during these Interesting Times might enjoy keeping tabs on the Leprechaun Watch site. Leprechaun Watch is a webcam hidden in a location in Ireland that straddles the border of a 'fairy ring' that is linked to an oak and a fairy tree on the Coogan family's ancestral farm. According to the site (and, I'm guessing, as quoted from a Coogan family member),

"The fairy tree is the last link the Fair Folk have to the larger range they once enjoyed when they ruled the land - their anger at this loss is understandable. We are monitoring the area in front of the oak because of leprechaun activity there in recent weeks and months."

Hmmm. Angry leprechauns? Do we want to be monitoring them?

You may have to refresh the screen occasionally. And there are even directions for how to capture an image if you think you've spotted an elusive leprechaun. Fun!

Another fun activity? Have them make a homemade leprechaun trap. Creative ideas are all OVER the internet, of course, and a trap can be made from anything from shoeboxes to LEGOs, sky's the limit.

Also, I just watched a gorgeous and charming animated film called "Song of the Sea." You can stream it and "The Secret of Kells" (another animated favorite) right now for under ten bucks. The visuals are stunning, as are the soundtracks. (The links will bring you to the trailers only, so you can see if they're something you're interested in before making the purchase....)

LET'S CELEBRATE:
Of course, it's St. Paddy's Day. And DaysoftheYear.com has this to say about it:

"[St. Patrick's Day] celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the colour green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink and attending parades, which have a particularly long history in the United States and in Canada."

THIS. Absolutely amazing! I cannot recommend it enough.

So you know what to do!

Here at Tumbledown I've yet to begin any festivities. Both James and I are online and things are moving SLOW there, so I've not begun streaming any jigs or reels. (My stereo is ancient and the speaker connections are shot, so all my wonder-filled CDs are pouting right now, tapping their little feet in the wings....).

Past celebrations have included facepainting and green wearing and hair dyeing, but I'm not sure if I'll go that far today. I do have a corned beef, though. And my beloved cabbage and potatoes (or as chef Rory O'Connell calls them, "bidet-toes"). And there's a list online on IMDB called "Shamrock and Ginger" that includes, I swear, a bagillion Irish movies that I've never heard of before. Here on Coronavirus lockdown, I think St. Paddy's Day will become St. Paddy's MONTH as I make my movie list and hunker down.

LIFE HERE AT TUMBLEDOWN:
I was preoccupied yesterday with creating social media posts and keeping my spirits up, and it's only taken less than 24 hours for me to backslide a bit....

The TV was off all day until evening when the state Governor pre-empted the scheduled National News. And for some reason, hearing his voice just made me realize how 'more-serious-than-I-ever-imagined' this whole thing is. It stunned me at a time when I was all proud of myself for being on top of my anxiety.

And today began oddly anyway, as I'm still finding my feet having James here working from home. But I checked on my adult daughters and their families and found one happily enjoying audiobooks and mountainbiking and the other outdoors hunting for treasure with metal detectors. (IS THAT NOT COOL??) So that was soothing.... Granted, it's still early days, but my hope is that familial bonds everywhere will be strengthened right now.

Because everything's in a big old state of change. I pray every day that we come out of this (because we will) stronger and better and kinder and wiser as human beings.

Magick is afoot. And today I'll celebrate it. Slainte.

Love you,
...me.
...

A Leprechaun Tale

A couple days ago I mailed each of the beloved grandbuglets a handwritten note.

The note explained how 'Grampa James discovered a leprechaun hiding in his sock drawer and how he'd agree to free it if it gave him a gold coin for each of the grandbugs, and so it DID, but the next day when he checked on the 'gold' in his pocket, it wasn't gold any longer.' And enclosed with the note was proof: a fat plastic coin with a shamrock stamped on it.

On Saturday James and I FaceTimed with our local 'buglets, and the first thing the 4-almost-5-year-old did was muscle her little brother out of the way in order to hog the camera and demand, "Grampa, did you REALLY see a leprechaun? How big was he? Was he the size of a crayon? Did he have a little green vest? Did he look like this?" And she held a grocery store ad with a Lucky Charms character on it up to the camera lens....

I'd made up the story, but now poor Grampa had to confirm it (oops). To his credit, he winged it beautifully, describing in grand detail how he'd bargained with the leprechaun, and how it begged for its freedom, and how surprised Grampa was to discover the next day that what he thought was gold wasn't gold after all.

All the while he talked, she listened intently with eyes wide, eyebrows high, mouth turned down at the corners. Very intense. And there was a long pause afterward while we sensed the gears turning. Then, in a stage whisper: "Grampa?.... Did you fall for a leprechaun TRICK?"

(We were so delighted by her response that James and I roared with laughter; I hope we didn't embarrass her....)

I suggested we could all set a trap for the sneaky thing, but how would we do that?? And she flew off on a Rube Goldberg tangent: "We could hang a cage from the ceiling and run a wire from it over to the wall and then run the wire across the floor and then when he walked by he'd trip on the wire and the cage would come down and catch him and then I'd grab him and say, 'Give me TWO GOLD COINS -- one for Grampa, one for Gramma, one for Miss Lily, one for Boo, and one for those cute little birds that always try to snackle your fingers off.'"

(SO generous. And to those horrid piranha birds, too, bless her!)

And there you have it: a tale about my brush with the gold at the end of the rainbow and the magick it made one Saturday night. And now I hope some of it's rubbed off on you.

May all your Erin Go Bragh-ing go well today, my friend. And may 'snackle' forever be a word in your lexicon.

Slainte.

...

My Version of the Wearing o' the Green

A winged leprechaun! Is nothing sacred?

I'm creating a pea soup with corned beef and potatoes today.

I'm listening to Irish Fire and getting their tune 'Hooley with the Herd' happily stuck in my head in a kooky loop of dancing bovine goodness.

I'm watching old faves like 'The Secret of Roan Inish' and 'The Quiet Man' for a heapin' helpin' of sea and cliffs and cottages. I'm burning peat incense....

I'm polishing up the dimply pint glasses and shredding cabbage and locating my wooly newsboy cap with its cloisonne shamrock pin.

I'm wreaking all sorts of tootle-y havoc on the tin whistle and letting the Guinness warm to room temp, and I'm recalling now how I used to phone in sick every year on St. Pat's Day way back when, just so I could watch 'Ryan's Hope' on daytime television and share in their rowdy festivities.

Yes, I know it's the O'Disney version of all things Irish. But today that's how I want it, thank you. 100% Lucky Charms.

Years ago I tried to change things up a bit: I froze my butt off watching the parade in St. Paul and fought noisy crowds at a pub in an attempt to barely hear musician friends play a traditional tune or two.

Yeah, not anymore.

 I like my pie-in-the-sky Irish imaginings to be unmessed with. I'd rather stay here where I can break out the fiddle and sound crappy in peace, and queue up some tunes that I can hear all the words to, and watch perfect films all Kelly-green-&-gold with a side of Chieftains and a Maureen O'Hara chaser.

And potatoes. Don't forget the potatoes.

...