Am feur a thig a-mach sa Mhàrt, thèid e staigh sa Ghiblean.

(The grass that grows in March disappears in April.)

Last night for St. Paddy's Day I went with my red-headed girlfriend, Missy, to the B and B, the

oldest licensed bar in Alaska. Its a tiny old building right on the harbor-always lots of characters. The nice thing about going with Missy is that any folks who are on probation and therefore aren't supposed to be drinking usually get up and walk out when they see her come in. She is the in-court clerk so all the defendants see her when they appear before the judge. Generally, most of the worst clear out and we're usually able to enjoy our libations in relative peace and quiet.

Before we made it to the B, we watched Kodiak's St. Patrick's Day parade make its way through the American Legion parking lot outside our offices. For the past two days we've been enjoying a timely spring blizzard, so I was impressed by these hearty marchers. The parade consisted of about 8 brave individuals, and they carried an Irish flag, the Alaskan flag, a boombox playing Irish fiddle music, and pussywillow branches-apparently as a harbinger of spring. One of the flag bearers tied a sprig of the willow to his flag and hoisted it up to us through the second story window.

After a few toasts with friends I went home and took Rebel for a romp through the snow-we got about 3 inches yesterday and more is falling today-it's beautiful. Then we watched a French film-Il y a longtemps que je t'aime- and ate leftovers. This is the first year I haven't made a corned beef in a very long time.

After only one flight cancelation, Bruce arrived in Anchorage yesterday around noon. He said that all the staff and students at the Anchorage Montessori School remembered him and were excited to see him. He got in trouble in the lower elementary classroom for bouncing a ball-the teacher had to tell him that "they don't bounce the balls." He is going to observe another school today where an upper elementary class is in session, which is what he would teach at AMS-basically middle school aged kids. He said that the students had to come in from recess early yesterday because a moose wandered through the playground, twice.