Today is Friday, March 14. March 15 is known as the Ides of March, the day Julius Caesar was assassinated.
The dying of the Chicago River will take place tomorrow at 10:45 a.m. The best view is from the upper level bridges at Michigan Avenue or Columbus Drive. The St. Patrick’s Day parade begins at noon from Balbo and Columbus. It will proceed north on Columbus with the viewing stand in front of Buckingham Fountain.
St. Patrick’s Day is actually March 17.
Happy Birthday wishes go out to Carol on March 18.
“St. Joseph shakes his beard, and see, winter has disappeared.” Wednesday, March 19 is St. Joseph’s Day. During a terrible drought in Europe, there was a great famine, the people prayed to St Joseph for rain. Their prayers were answered, and the fava bean crop was plentiful. These beans were, at one time, only used to feed the cattle. But after the famine, the people started eating them too, and ever since Europeans have paid homage to St. Joseph.
They call the fava bean “the lucky bean. A pantry that contains a fava bean will never be empty.” Think Jack and the Beanstalk. These are also the magic beans that grew overnight into a beanstalk in the fairy tale.
The tradition of St. Joseph’s Day was brought to the United States around 1890 during waves of European immigration. It is mostly celebrated by the Italians and Polish. Some people do this by having a St. Joseph’s Day table. The table is decorated with a statue of St. Joseph surrounded by candles and flowers and a red or white table cloth.
There are many pastries and breads in the shapes of doves, lambs, hearts and fish. No meat is served. There is pasta, fruit, vegetables, artichokes, bread crumbs to symbolize sawdust because St. Joseph was a carpenter and 12 whole fish to represent the apostles. Also present is wine, which is a symbol of the Wedding at Canna, and, of course, the fava beans.
The table is usually set up in three tiers to represent the Holy Trinity, and everything is blessed. March 19 might even be St. Joseph’s birthday. Some people say you wear red because it’s in both the Italian flag and the Polish flag and others say it is just to do the exact opposite of the “wearing of the green” on St. Patrick’s Day. Whatever the reason or nationality, wear red and don’t forget St. Joseph.
Spring will officially arrive on March 20.
Postage for a first class letter is going up to 43 cents on May 12.
Thanks for the letter, George! You may e-mail me at Karen.sala@hotmail.com.