Marvelous Night for a Moondance

If you ever want to have a terrific Irish experience you must come to St. Paul, Minnesota on St. Patrick's Day. The spectacular St. Paul Cathedral. Pubs galore. Bagpipes. You remember ex-governor Jesse Ventura's infamous quote about the city being planned by a 'bunch of drunken Irishmen.' That got him into a blarney of a trouble. Someone even left kelly green bagels at the door of Sandgren.

And then there's the St. Paul Irish Dancers featuring our very own neighbor, Claire Patterson. Real and traditional Irish dancing. The joy and energy of tap, ballet, clogging, and African drumming all together. Many of the dancers wore the big bouncy curling hair pieces which we couldn't figure out how it stays in place with all that dancing.

Thanks, Claire, for the fantastic dance rectial! Complete with Irish folk reader in costume. They danced to all Irish music, including Van Morrison's "Moondance" which has always been a favorite for both Bob and me.

The talk at Gustavus went just wonderful. How can you not love being with college students who give up a Saturday to learn how to change the world. It helped that Bob sharpened all the pencils for the Pop Chocolate Quiz. P.S. In case you were wondering, the tools used to harvest cocoa include a long pole with a sharp edge attached, human hands, and a basket.

And to top it off, Chan's Mother sent down this chicken salad that was so pretty that I had to take a picture of it before devouring it.

Beautiful things come in so many different packages.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Love, T