St. Paddy's Day Prelude

Sitting here drinking a pint o'Murphy's stout
with a shotglass of Bushmills Irish whiskey
drop't in it...

The sun has just set to a perfect
Green Flash.

Getting in the spirit of the morrow:
St. Patrick's day,
the patron saint of Ireland,
my ancestral home.

Aye, it's true that I'm Irish,
and this time of year
an Irish lad celebrates the sainthood of Patrick.

Said celebration involves
mass quantities of dark delicious draughts
of Guinness, Murphy's, Bushmills and more,
much more...

But the Irish are a race of thinkers,
philosophers and writers
(professions ideal for their lack of manual labor)
It is a wondrous thing that such sedentary occupations
require a high state of hydration,
and it is for this purpose that God created Guinness.

In any case,
it is appropriate that I celebrate early,
for today was a great day.

It is irrelevant that I just got my butt kicked
in a game of 8 ball
by my buddy Dr. Mark Kalina.
He shot good pool,
and heck, it was only one game.

A truer test of skill would be, say,
a race to 5 games, in 9 ball, for example.
Like, for example, the set I played against
Tony Sorto
you know, El Maestro himself,
the one who taught me so much of this game.
He says there are a few things yet
he has not taught me,
and he is saving them.

But it didn't seem that way today.
Today, the student won, 5-4.
Close match, hill-hill.
But he scratched,
leaving me the 6, 7, 8, and 9.
He was helpless
as I ran them out.
El Maestro was vanquished.
And there were witnesses!

We played at Family Billiards in Oceanside.
There were several witnesses, in fact.

If my world were to end tomorrow,
I would go a happy man,
fulfilled.

And that is why I am enjoying my pint o' Murphys
with it's Bushmills whiskey shot drop't in it.
And that's why I think I'll have another.
And if I needed an excuse for a third,
it would be that I'm in training for tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

to all.

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