I took a picture last night that I really wanted to use in today’s post, but then I started cooking corned beef and cabbage and watching Ugly Betty and drinking some beer, and then it was 12:30 and I was asleep on the couch, so I just got up and went to bed without ever uploading the damn thing on to my computer and then to Flickr. So you’re gonna have to go with me here.

One of the things I like best about my neighborhood, Windsor Terrace, is the small town feel of it. And at no time is this more apparent than around holidays, when everyone goes all out to decorate. Yeah, you see decorations in other parts of the city, particularly around Christmas, but hardly ever do you see people go all out for say, Valentine’s Day. And St. Patrick’s Day? Fuhgeddaboudit. This is when my neighborhood shines.

Windsor Terrace has traditionally been an Irish neighborhood. Irish and Irish-descent families bought into the Terrace decades ago and just passed the houses down through the generations. There are other ethnicities in the neighborhood now, but we still wear our Irish hearts on our sleeves, especially at this time of year. The other night I was walking home from the local grocery (and yes, I had bought corned beef there) and passed no fewer than 6 houses with shamrock flags hanging out on my way. That’s not counting the shamrock and leprechaun cut outs taped up in windows or the green lights on front porches, either. We’re Irish! We’re proud of it! Everyone should celebrate this, the best of all holidays!!

My neighbor Forrest and his wife generally outdo everyone in the decorating department. These are the people whose house could be seen from outer space this past Christmas with lights, flashing signs, two inflatable lawn decorations tied to the porch roof, and another two inflatable decorations in the back yard. On St. Patrick’s Day, Forrest proudly flies an Irish flag off his front porch, right next to the American one. This year, I didn’t see the Irish flag. I wondered about it briefly, until I looked across the street yesterday to the little park Forrest helped get put in and takes care of singlehandedly. There, waving proudly from the flagpole right under the American flag is Forrest’s Irish flag (and yes, that’s the picture I took last night).

I love my neighborhood.

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