Happy St. Pat's Day!

After a miserable winter, the Irish (and many, many others) head to St. Paul for what has to be one of the most eclectic parades around. It starts near lowertown and progresses down 4th Street for a whopping seven blocks, only to get everyone stuck in Rice Park. Mostly because everyone is having too much fun to leave the parade. And for those lucky enough to have visited the beautiful park (or watched The Mighty Ducks), it's a small park. One can imagine a parade with participants stretching out longer than the parade route cramming into a small alcove of grass surrounded by tall buildings. It's quite a bit like watching a human train wreck...with green beer. And lots of craic.

Years ago, a columnist for the Pioneer Press wrote a column documenting his experience, not being Irish but still marching in the parade. He noted that it's really a civic event more than a pure celebration of heritage, with immigrants of all walks participating. In front of him was a group with many Hmong-Americans and behind were a Somali-American speckled group. Maybe they were Ethopian. At any rate, it doesn't matter as all were dressed in green but enjoying themselves immensely, happy to be a part of the shenanigans. It's a great tradition of St. Paul (similar to the Winter Carnival Parades) that's a welcome excuse to go outside after many months of winter and celebrate the fact that we live in a nearly uninhabitable tundra. St. Paul is a city of immigrants, much more so than many midwest cities, with large, very active populations of Irish, German, Sweedish, and more recently Hmong, Vietnamese, and Mexican peoples staking a claim in our cities history. So today, after mucho trabajo, we'll be celebrating in remembrance of St. Patrick, but also the great city we live in.