St. Patrick's Day Style - Celebrating the Green

Lots of places have St. Patrick's Day (Yes, it was yesterday, but TPP was busy.) celebrations, but this one almost has to be seen to be believed.  No photoshopping here.  This is a view along the Chicago river in the center of downtown Chicago just  a bit upstream from where the river enters Lake Michigan.  Yes, the river is actually that green.  Do they grind up Irishmen, who have been drinking green beer, and then slosh them around to get the color?  TPP actually watched them dye the river one year and met the short-straw fireman who was standing ready in his yellow wet suit should they have to rescue anyone from the green depths, anyone who might have had to much to drink.  Also saw a toy poodle who had fallen in, and then been pulled back out, no worse for wear, but definitely a tad greenish, and more than a little bit cold.  So if you think you celebrate the Irish, top this.

Here's a local tribute to the Irish - weird, but a tribute

St. Patrick's day celebrations here about has a lot to do with cabin fever. Here in the upper Midwest, people get a bit crazy after a couple of months of winter, and as a result do some pretty weird stuff. Generally this cooped up craziness surfaces just about on the 17th of March, so people do things like this.  What you are looking at is the Chi-town river just a few hundred yards before it flows into Lake Michigan. What the hell is everyone thinking? Who thinks it's a great idea to dye a whole river green? What about the whitefish? TPP must report a chat with a Chi-town fireman whose job, duty perhaps, short straw more likely, was to be prepared to jump into the green river, not just green, but cold and icy too, to rescue any drunken revelers who might fall in. No question about it, he was more worried about the color of the water than its temperature. So what can TPP tell you? People get crazy, and it's just the Irish that deserve the blame, maybe a little, but not the total blame. But at least none of the drinkers who surrounded us fell in, so our loyal public servant did not have to worry about his skin color for the rest of the week. BTW, we Irish prefer a darker shade.