Olibgatory Irish Post

Despite the fact that I look like this:

(a redheaded step-child, with the crazy 'I-burn-in-30-minutes-and-never-tan-only-freckle' fair skin and bright blue eyes, who looks best in kelly green,)

I'm actually only 1/4 Irish. (I know. GASP!) But seriously. Everyone assumes I'm Irish, because of the coloring, but I come from a very mongrel (albeit very Western European/Palest People in the World) background. My mother's parents were Irish (O'Neil, which was actually Nee before Ellis Island -- how you get O'Neil from Nee is beyond me. Kinda seems like somebody just wasn't paying attention.) and Polish (Marszalek -- coincidentally, Marszalek gets anglicized into Marshall. Did you know? Google is fascinating.), and my Dad's parents were English (Nelson) and German (Stelzriede) (with some other Western-European people mixed in there, like Dutch, Irish and Scottish -- so I guess if you count that, I'm just a little bit more than 1/4 Irish, but whatevs.)

Despite my lack of full Irish heritage, I feel very Irish. And not just on St. Patty's Day, when everyone is Irish! But also on the in-between days. Especially on the days when I'm listening to my various connection of jigs and reels (or any other Irish music for that matter.) You know that music that just feels right? That's Irish music for me. I am sadly into Riverdance (probably as much as I'm into Phantom of the Opera, but that's a story for another day.) I'm pretty sure I bought the entire Border's collection of Irish CDs at some point. I took a trip to Ireland after I graduated high school, and stepping off the plane, even just standing in the airport, and seeing all the green makes me feel at home. It could be all just in my head, but for me, it feels magical. And I'm okay with that.

That being said, I'm not a big beer drinker, so I can't get into that; I have on more than one occassion enjoyed a delicious Shepherd's Pie, and I am all-up-INS the corned beef and cabbage. It's sitting in my slow cooker at home right now, and I'm really hoping Nate doesn't get called into work, so we can enjoy it together. Because it's St. Patrick's Day, and what says 'celebration' better than a ridiculously salty, corned piece of meat! (Can corned be a verb? Oh well.)

So there's me. I'm redheaded, I like Irish music and I have a penchant for potatoes. Plus I look good in green. That's gotta count for something, right?

On March 17th, everyone's irish. But what do you love about your heritage?
-C