A Subdued St. Patrick's Day

Having spent many a March 17th toasting the patron saint of Ireland, I prepared a boiled dinner of corned beef and cabbage. A simple meal for a reflective time.

With gatherings of more than 50 people banned throughout the Bay Area and many parts of the country, the American version of St. Patrick's Day stands revealed as little more than an excuse for getting drunk, a "largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish."

Front and Sacramento, St. Patrick's Day 2006

We're a long ways from seeing the end--or even the middle--of the coronavirus story, but already it's had a permanent impact on how we see the world.

Danny Boy is often sung during St. Patrick's Day, but its mournful mood clashes with ear-splitting exuberance.

Now the tone fits.

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me.