Yesterday, the Feast of St Patrick was a raw, rainy day, not ideal for walking a parade route. Tomorrow, the day of the Yonkers St Paddy's Day parade, the weather forecast calls for rain. Some luck of the Irish, huh? As luck would have it, today has been a glorious, sunny day, with temps currently at 69F (21C).
Running errands locally, I noticed that a lot of folks were out and about, enjoying this beautiful weather. Some of the local businesses, notably bars such as Kean's and Moriarty's, were flying the Ukrainian flag as well as the ubiquitous Old Glory and the Irish Tricolor. I'm proud of the Irish response to the Ukrainian crisis, including aid to Ukrainian refugees and a convoy transporting aid to Ukraine. I'm proud of my paternal grandmother's people, and I sense a kinship with the Ukrainians, who are so like the Irish martyrs eulogized in The Foggy Dew:
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light
Might shine through the foggy dew.
There's a certain kindred feeling between two nations which have long had larger, aggressive, imperialist neighbors which have waged genocidal conflicts using famine as a weapon. Here, on this gorgeous day in my beautiful Yonkers, there's a certain feeling of unreality about the whole tragedy.
One does not pass up the opportunity to hear Fields of Athenry ...
ReplyDeleteNor does one pass up the opportunity to sing it.
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