Happy St. Patrick's Day......

Always one of my favorites. When I was a youngster, Chicago was the place to go to celebrate. Green beer, good fun, good food. Hell, they dyed the damn river green.

One year I went up there with a fella I worked with to visit his Daddy. Real Irish folks, unlike myself. His Daddy directed us to a genuine Irish Pub, filled with genuine Irish Folks. Most of them were speaking Gaelic. No green beer in that place.
I was fairly young and basically sat there with my mouth shut and enjoyed things. Every so often someone would break into song and the whole place would join in. Sometimes the songs were in English, sometimes not. I didn't recognize most of them anyway. All of a sudden a little Red Headed Guy stands up and walks to the center of the place. Everyone got real quiet. This Little Dude couldn't have been over 5' 5" and weighted maybe, 130 Lbs. He opened up and starting singing "Danny Boy" in the most beautiful, Tenor I've heard. Before or since. Unbelievable. By the time he was thru, there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

I never saw that guy buy a drink all night. He'd get up every hour or so and sing a song, then go sit down with his pals. They all got hammered on his talent.

My Father died on this day 14 years ago. St. Paddys Day was a favorite of his too. I still miss 'em. Have a drink and toast "The 'Ol Man" for me today. I'll be working for the next 3 nights and will have to wait till Monday to Toast 'em Myself.