Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Or as some say, Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Especially to all of you who are Irish!

Today is usually a day when you can witness the Chicago River being green. Yesterday they dyed it that color in celebration of today’s Irish holiday. The St. Patrick’s Day parade was also yesterday, plus there are other special celebrations of this day going on around the city. Visit the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day 2013 website.

To be honest we have never really done much other than maybe wear green for St. Patrick’s Day. I have witnessed the Chicago River being green, but have not attended the parade or any other of the St. Paddy’s Day festivities.

Here are some fun facts about St. Patrick’s Day (source: Chicago Tribune):

– There are some 36 million people in the USA who boast of an Irish heritage. 9x that of the population of Ireland itself!

– St. Patrick’s Day was originally a religious Christian holiday. The holiday honored St. Patrick who shared his Christ with Ireland in the fifth century.

– Today the holiday is a celebration of everything related to the Irish.

– March 17, 1762 marked the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world. It was held in New York City.

So do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Are you wearing something green, cooking something green or attending any St. Patrick’s Day festivities?

Another inspired post from Mama Kat’s writing prompts: Write a blog post inspired by the word green.