Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.

The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in Boston in 1761, organized by the Charitable Society. The first recorded parade was New York City's celebration which began on March 18, 1762 when Irish soldiers in the English military marched through the city with their music. The New York parade is the largest, typically drawing two million spectators and 150,000 marchers.



The Irish in Philadelphia first celebrated St. Patrick's Day as in 1771, five years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. The first documented St. Patrick's Day Celebration Parade in Philadelphia was held that year. This year's parade marks over 239 continuous years of celebrations. This parade is the 2nd oldest Parade in the Country, topped only by the New York City Parade.



Like a true native, I've never actually seen the Parade in person. Maybe I ought to go next year, there may be photo-worthy squirrels!

More on New York, New York

The Flatiron Building, or Fuller Building as it was originally called, is located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, and is considered to be one of the first skyscrapers ever built. Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in New York City. The building sits on a triangular island block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway.

I found myself agape, admiring a skyscraper — the prow of the Flatiron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the late-afternoon light.
– H.G. Wells (1906)

The building, which took its name from the shape forced on it by the triangular lot it was built on – the Flatiron block, so called because it was shaped like a clothing iron – was officially named the Fuller Building after George A. Fuller, founder of the company that financed its construction. Locals took an immediate interest in the building, placing bets on how far the debris would spread when the wind knocked it down.



Offices in the "pointy end" are in huge demand as they have an unobstructed view of the Empire State Building.



They must also have a good view of a lot of water tanks. Notice the Empire State building peeking over the buildings?

Marmite Toasty recommends this amusing diversion. It put a smile on my face.

Information on my Package

I finally got some information on my package after having waited for it for quite a while.






The digital camera I broke back in the end of December or early January was finally repaired and being shipped back to me - I love getting UPS package information in my e-mail box. Once I get the camera back I can go back to trying to take that ultimate squirrel picture! I really like this camera - its a Pentax Optio V-20 and it is about the size of a cell phone but has a 3 inch viewer on it.



I asked my brother to bring his dog, Jane into work today. I've not seen my little fur-niece in a while. It was really nice having her hang out with us today. I'm going to ask my brother to bring Jane into work more often since I can't really manage a dog on my own yet.

I wish I could have taken some pictures of you folks when you read the title of this entry! Somehow, I think Lainie would have approved of the title.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Dog Slippers

In the wee hours of this morning, in the darkest of the night, I had a very vivid and life-like dream.

The dream was so vivid I felt as if I was awake...I was dreaming about me being asleep on the sofa, when cold and shivering, I dreamt I woke up and put my cold feet down beside the sofa - and before they hit the ground, they softly encountered the warm, silky-soft fur of a long-haired and faithful dog. Ahhh, Dog Slippers.



My dog always slept on the floor immediately beside me on the sofa. And if for some reason I awoke and went to bed, she would get up, follow me into the bedroom and lay down beside the bed. For years, each and every morning, when I woke up and braced myself to face the day ahead, I would swing my feet out and slowly lower them - and tell my dog "Good morning!" by softly rubbing her with my feet.



For some reason - last night I mentally went back in time in my dream - and re-enacted this soul-healing, spiritually-reassuring routine. She has been gone now for some years - and badly missed and not even slightly forgotten.