1/4 Kissable

A belated happy St. Paddy’s to one and all. Down here in the south they don’t’ quite get the holiday. There aren’t very many true Irish folks here, so the holiday has lost a little of its meaning. However, they still try to celebrate it like there is no tomorrow. On Saturday I went to my very first Hal & Mal’s St. Paddy’s day parade in Jackson, MS. This is sort of like the Jackson take on Mardi Gras.

We got there around 10 AM and set up our chairs so we could enjoy the people watching and claim a good spot for the parade. About that time they had a Pet Parade, so we got to see lots of people walking around with their dogs in green clothes or with their fur painted up. Around noon we pulled up our chairs to let the folks behind us in, and we got ready for the fun. The folks from Blair Batson Children’s hospital did the first lap of the parade route collecting donations. Then, we got to see the Sweet Potato Queens. They are absolutely crazy! They are no teen beauty queens. We are talking about women of an age greater than mine who have what might be considered the “white trash” version of the Red Hat Society. It was hilarious. I’ve got pictures and I’ll post them later. They gave out beads and marched and obviously enjoyed themselves all day long.

Finally, at about 1 the parade itself started! It was float upon float upon float upon group upon walking group. We were giving beads away to the kids around us, but we still wound up looking like bead whores! Absolutely insane. The parade was followed by a Street Party at Hal and Mal’s, but I was too dehydrated to hit it. After getting home I realized why – my arms were quite burnt. And, I was smart enough to wear a visor to shade my face, but I got a nasty stripe of burn on my scalp. Ouchies!!!

I’ve mostly recovered and it is back to work for me!