Deb Is Irish and So Am I

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Deb and I have a variety of nationalities in our ancestry including, of course, Irish. (As it happens, we still have Irish ancestry every other day as well.)

We'll be staying home and taking it easy today. My cousin who lives nearby invited us to her corned beef and cabbage get together, but she'll send some of it over later since we don't have enough stamina to go out again today.

The year before last Deb and I celebrated St. Patrick's Day in an actual Irish Pub...but we did it the day after so it would be a mite less boisterous. It was a mild day so we took the bus and subway into Boston and then wheeled along the city streets to get to the M.J. O'Connor's Irish pub in the Back Bay.

We picked that particular Irish restaurant because it was wheelchair accessible and it had her grandmother's maiden name.

We love our dates in Boston, and we make the most of them. In addition to going out to eat that day we also strolled through the Boston Public Garden where we saw for the first time the Swan Boat Lagoon with almost no water in it.

Apparently the water is drained sometime before the new season of Swan Boat rides begins. Perhaps to clean the bottom of the little pond.

The Public Garden has been one of our favorite places to visit when in Boston. It keeps changing through the seasons, with new flowers planted and cared for throughout the spring, summer and fall.

After passing through the Public Garden we wheeled our way through Boston Commons and then on to South Station to take a commuter train back to our home town.

The commuter trains are our favorite way to travel because the same people use the same seats every day and thus we have become friends with other passengers. Talking with people and hearing their stories makes the travel time more enjoyable. Before we know it, it's time to get off the train.

That was a really nice way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a couple years ago. This year we'll be staying home both today and tomorrow so I can rest up for my overnight sleep study session at Spaulding Hospital tomorrow night. (I need to be evaluated for being able to use a positive pressure ventilator to sleep with at night and possibly also to use when sedated during the colonoscopy next Wednesday.)

I hope all of you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. Thank you for your prayers for us. Thank you also for reading this blog.