End of the Rainbow
Team Pfister gets an early jump on St. Patrick’s Day festivities…
Happy Friday readers! Is this not one of the best winters you have ever experienced in Medina County?
Unless you are a skier that is. These 70-degree days in the second week of March are just not too hard to take. Quite a few of my patients who went to Florida over Christmas would have loved to have had weather like this. The unseasonably cool 55 degrees (with wind and clouds) was not what was expected when touring Disney!
Two weekends ago, I was in Ann Arbor for the 50th Anniversary of our International Orthodontic Conference on Facial Growth and Development, where last March, we got hit with a blizzard and nine inches of snow Saturday afternoon…
This year, a balmy 68 degrees had us outside at a wine and cheese place. Hey, compared to what California and the Rocky Mountain states have received over the last couple of months, we have been very lucky in the Great Lakes Region!
Kudos to the local meteorologists for giving us the coldest weekend of the winter for Medina to celebrate our Ice Festival. Most locals know it is usually the warmest weekend of the winter in many past years.
Dr. Pfister’s brother-in-law, James McCreanor (a leprechaun), pays a visit to Dr. Jen Nichols.
Speaking of lucky, as most of you know (at least those not living on a desert island or in a closet), this coming weekend there will be much celebration in the form of song and dance… accompanied by the consumption of barrels of corn beef and cabbage… rinsed down with barrels of green adult beverages…
Yes, Sunday is March 17th, the day the Catholic Church proclaimed as the day to remember the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The story of Maewyn Succat (St. Patrick’s actual birth name), for most of us who have been on this earth a couple decades or more, is intertwined with myths, legends, and folklore, depending on what country you’re celebrating in.
In talking to several patients and one of my staff, I was surprised to learn that in Ireland itself, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, initially, was a lot less rowdy and celebratory and much more solemn and religious than here in the states.
I will make it brief, but I felt a little more data on this outstanding patron saint might give one a new perspective on how to honor this fine gentleman beyond a beer and a sandwich!
Born in the late fourth century in what was called Roman Britain, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken back to Ireland as a slave, at the young age of 16. He lived there for several years and eventually escaped back to Britain. The exact dates and locations are a bit sketchy according to Roy Fletchner, Associate Professor at University College Dublin and author of Saint Patrick Retold: The Legend and History of Ireland's Patron Saint.
“For a saint that is so central to Irish identity, I was surprised in writing this book how little is actually known about him and how his legends are becoming less and less well known with each successive generation,” according to Prof. Fletchner.
During Patrick’s time in Ireland, he became deeply touched and moved spiritually by the Irish people… so much so that he returned a decade later as a Christian missionary. According to his parents, Patrick left Britain as an atheist and returned as a true believer. He explained to his parents that a vision came to him while he was a captive and God told him he would go home. Soon after the vision and following a perilous journey, he returned safely to Britain to the amazement of his parents!
At the time of his death, around the year 461 AD, Patrick had established schools, monasteries, and churches throughout Ireland to give the Irish people a faith that would inspire youth and guide adults in a difficult time for this area.
Many legends have been associated with St. Patrick over the centuries, mostly involving his missionary years.
Two of the most enduring ones were: one, that he used the shamrock, which grows freely over the Irish countryside, to teach about the Holy Trinity and two, that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland!
Phillip Freeman, the author of the book, St. Patrick of Ireland, agrees with Professor Fletchner that during the turbulent times in the British Isles, with the end of the Roman Empire imminent, the real Patrick was a man of deep conviction and devotion who helped transform a country.
As I said earlier, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was quite a somber event and more of a time of self-reflection until the 1960s, when it began to resemble the American gala celebration complete with shamrocks, leprechauns, parades, and all things green.
Almost every race, religion, and color will be Irish this weekend, as the estimated 70 million individuals who claim Irish heritage will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day worldwide.
That means there will be green sushi in Japan, as well as green borsch in Moscow.
But in America, home to the largest celebration in the world today, corn beef and cabbage, Colcannon, shepherd’s pie, and Irish stew rule the culinary experience.
We are blessed in Northern Ohio with a strong population of Irish descendants who have generously shared their family recipes and have opened numerous dining establishments for all nationalities to enjoy.
This weekend, break out and cure that cabin fever with a culinary experience that may be outside your comfort zone… but it just might teach your taste buds some new savory flavors that can be enjoyed throughout the year, and not just on March 17th!
There are plenty of culinary outlets in neighboring cities but why, I ask, would you overlook the obvious culinary establishments that we have right in our own backyard?
Everyone knows our famous Sully’s Irish Pub with killer corn beef and brews, as well as Johnny Malloy’s Irish Sports Bar. Add to those the likes of P.J. Marleys, Thyme2, On Tap, and Bistro 111, which will all have dynamite Irish cuisine this weekend… sure to delight the most epicurean taste.
Those looking for Irish folk dancing this weekend can catch a traveling competition student Irish dance troop at the Common Ground this Saturday, March 16th, 10:30 AM and Noon; Farmer’s Table about 1:00 PM; and P. J. Marley’s about 1:40 PM.
Wow! Look at how fortunate we are to have Irish food, brew, and classic Irish folk dancing. And we don’t have to struggle with TSA… or even our car keys for that matter. Just stroll down to the Square and partake!
In closing, I wanted to end with an old Irish folk proverb:
May neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you, and Heaven accept you!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all my dear readers. Enjoy your weekend with good friends, good food and drink, beloved family, and trusted soulmates… for these are the true pots of gold at the end of life’s proverbial rainbow that no leprechaun can take away!
- Dr. Pfister