Today’s earworm belies G.K. Chesterton’s dictum that the great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad.
Because—of course, we’re
talking about whiskey. A word derived from the Gaelic uisce beatha,
meaning “water of life”.
Here are the Clancy Brothers
and Tommy Makem singing “Whiskey, You’re the Devil”.
Slàinthe mhath!
A special Saint Patrick’s Day edition of Car License Plates.
Póg mo thóin means “kiss my ass” in Irish.
People decorate their public-facing property in interesting ways. Not just at the holidays, either.
In fact—not even their own yards.
Viz:
I’ve probably walked past this guy a dozen times, but finally I
looked more closely. He’s been up to no good.
And then there’s this little…well, I don’t exactly know. A shrine? A woodside tableau? It’s just off one of the walking paths in the People’s Republic.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about these two sightings in the hood.
Should I be worried?
We here in the District They Call Columbia went from 60F on Friday to snow on Saturday. Yesterday morning it was 19F when I took my walk. March certainly faffs about.
But Saturday when I went out, while it was still snowing, I did
have to acknowledge that it was beautiful, and I was grateful to be reminded of
that.
Here’s what I mean.
Yeah, two weeks into the invasion of Ukraine, we’re seeing the Russians amping up their war crimes, and every day is a new horror show. And it’s going to get worse as the economic sanctions tighten around Putin.
So let’s have Bonnie Raitt singing “I Will Not Be Broken”, since that’s one sure thing we know about Ukrainians. Whatever happens, and however long the Russians stay on Ukrainian soil, they will never break.
On one of my walks, I noticed…well, a bit of an oddity. To be precise, a cross made of pebbles at the base of a tree.
Then I looked at the tree.
RIP
We’ve had two days of temps in the 70s here in the District They Call Columbia, so I’m going to share some pix I took just <checks notes> a week and a half ago of my morning walk after an overnight ice storm.
It’s beautiful, but you do have to watch where you’re walking.
Also, I’m ready for Spring.
The news from Ukraine is horrifying, not just the targeting of civilian populations or the Russian takeover of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (the largest in Europe). Nor even the fact that Putin’s threats become more grandiose the longer the Ukrainians trash his army. It’s all of it together, and the totality of it weighs me down.
So this video of a German woman who’s got a friendship with crows
lifts my spirits. I’m grateful that it exists on the Web, and that someone sent
it to me. It reminds me that, with all the viciousness, cruelty and inanity humans can come up with, there's still good stuff out there. It also reminds me of the joy of looking away from the screen and out onto nature around me. I’ve watched it about six times since yesterday morning, and I’m
sharing with you.
You’re welcome.
