Friday My Town Shoot-Out: St. Patrick's Day

Boy oh boy do I ever wish I could have been in Chicago today, the site of arguably the biggest St Patrick's Day celebrations in the US, and where they have dyed the river green for the past 43 years on March 17. (Go here to see a cool stop action video of the process.)

But Chicago isn't my town; it's the town of my son and daughter-in-law, who moved there 6 months ago, seeking jobs and an interesting city to live in.

Photo by Chrystal Young

This year McDonald's sponsored the dyeing-of-the-river. I wonder what's in that stuff? It can't really be a milkshake, right?

Photo by Chrystal Young

That river is as green as Ben's tee shirt.

OK, back to my town, Corvallis, Oregon, where we don't do it up quite as big.

But at the middle school where I teach, students were encouraged to wear green, while also being discouraged from pinching anybody who may have forgotten. (Although that definitely takes some of the excitement out of it, I guess it's a good rule to establish.)

I liked this little leprechaun skirt.

And I loved these furry green leggings!

One student brought me a cookie. He very gently reprimanded me when I took the picture after taking a bite. "You should have waited," he said, secretly pleased, "you should have taken the picture first!" I absolutely love it when a 13-year-old corrects me; it makes my day. The cookie was really good.

The idea of the My Town Shoot Out is to post photos of your community every Friday, and hopefully improve your photography skills. If you would like to see examples of this week's theme from other parts of the world, go here.