Leprechaun Lament

I have been promising the picture from St. Patrick's Day in Limerick so I think today will be the day. Some humor is needed in my life right now, that is for sure!

But first, I must share a story that happened many, many years ago when my children were quite young. At the time, I wasn't able to get out much between teaching and taking care of two young children. My friend, Mary, and I decided that we would go out one Friday evening to see if we could have some fun. I saved money for a bit so that I could pay a babysitter and the Friday evening finally arrived. Mary and I got all "gussied up" for a night on the town! Were we ever excited for this adventure!! We arrived at our destination all ready to have some fun. As we sat down and ordered our drinks, we noticed that there were a lot of "little people" in the establishment. Now, we weren't in Ireland at the time, so they definitely weren't leprechauns. We didn't pay much attention to it until the night progressed. Mary is just a little bit taller than I am and we were the "Belles of the Ball" that evening. We were constantly asked to dance and dance we did until we figured out that maybe these short men might not have the best of intentions.

Through the years, this story has been told and embellished by Mary and I--kind of our own urban legend. One night not that long ago, we sat at Judy's table and told this story to my aunt, Teresa, and my kids and we laughed and laughed. So when I was in Ireland and the "leprechaun" asked me to dance and Patrick saw this, he knew my history, so to speak. Hence, the picture was taken, although he probably would have taken it anyway. This leprechaun had imbibed many beverages that evening and it was very obvious. I told him that I didn't want to dance, but he wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. He danced with me as I sat. When you see this picture, please realize that I am sitting in a fairly low seat. He looks taller than me, but trust me.........he wasn't!! After laughing with Patrick, I immediately called my friend, Mary, to tell her about it. It was about 11:00 in Ireland which would have made it about 4:00 in Arizona. Mary's answering machine picked up, but as soon as I started to leave the message, she picked up the phone. Did we ever have a laugh about this!! This St. Patrick's Day adventure will live on and be retold many times with laughter and smiles!

Humor is a much needed antidote to the everyday world. We all need to remember that and laugh!

I hope this entry brings a smile to your face!! It has to mine!