Glee in all things Irish

When we start working on the Irish season in earnest, which is just about now, you begin to see the glee in the eyes of the folks who collectively bring their ideas and passions to share around the table. It's a wonderful thing to see, and it seems like you get to share your childhood all over again. This time with a different set of people. And it's sooo good.

I see it with my Hibernian brothers. Their spontaneous idea flow can be hard to keep up with. And we usually get fantastic results and have fun doing it.

I've seen it with the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade team. Talk about a well oiled machine! I had the privelidge to sit in when I could on their board. They have so much to accomplish, you wonder how it will ever result in a parade. Yet, they do it. And they do it with flourishes and extras that you wouldn't think could ever happen. And they are a whole lot of fun!

I have it in my Emerald Isle Parade team in Lee's Summit. We're not at all as professional as our Big brother parade Downtown KC, but we have a great team who knows no border or boundary. All of us are hell bent to bring a great Community event to Lee's Summit, and we want to continue to see the joy in our Community as a result of the parade and related events. We loved seeing the residents of Green Street bring their living room furniture out to the front yard and set up for the parade. Who would have thought that would happen? We saw it continue as we came back down the parade route afterward and saw those same folks still outdoors, now bar-b-queing to fill out the rest of the day. What a perfect day! What fun! What a great family activity!

I think that the common element that I seee in all of the Irish Parade teams, the Bands, the Irish Fest organizers, and our surrounding community is GLEE. Here's what Websters says about Glee:

glee /gli/ noun 1. open delight or pleasure; exultant joy; exultation

To see exultant joy in the eyes of an adult, performing tasks as menial as blowing up balloons, or thinking about how to arrange a stage or what to do with a herd of chihuahuas in a parade line-up is really a satisfying thing. It's Glee. It's GOOD.