I originally posted this piece back in 2022. Here it is again, updated but still appropriate, I think. Cheers.

Today is St Patrick’s Day, and although I don’t have any Irish antecedents, my husband does. He is half-Irish. In fact, his surname is so Irish that it glows green in the dark.

I don’t really understand why St Patrick’s Day has become so popular – is it the green beer? the riddance of green snakes? – but since I’m a half-French frog, I do understand the green background and that it confers a certain ability to stand up to the preconceived notions of others. Nevertheless, as Kermit the Frog so famously said, “it’s not easy being green.”

So here’s to the Irish! May they live as long as they want, and never want as long as they live.