St. Paddy's Day

I wore my "A Little Bit Irish" shirt today - I figure that since Jeffrey was Irish, a little bit must have rubbed off on me... And, of course, today is the day everyone claims they are Irish. First, a few things about Saint Padraig - he was born a Welshman, into a Christian family; as a youth he showed no special love of the Church; he was kidnapped and served as a slave in Ireland for quite a few years; after escaping slavery, he became "a Religious," and returned to Ireland to convert his previous captors; he died anonymously and alone, without any fanfare; and there never were any snakes in Ireland, so he couldn't have driven them out (except figuratively).
It was really beautiful outside this morning - a bright sun and a cool breeze with azure skies above. This afternoon, a front has arrived, and we are now completely cloud-covered and expecting rain by 9 p.m. and snow before midnight. We've been in the 70s for the past few days, and hit the mid-60s today - but I can still look west from my apartment and see snow on Flagstaff Mountain and the peaks above the Flatirons. In terms of normal snowfall, we haven't received 2 feet that we normally do - and we're extremely dry. Due to our water coming from the mountains, we actually are at 118% of our usual snow pack (looking at water use for spring and summer) - but the ground is really dry, and one can see the surface soil blowing away when we have high winds... Yech.
So I took Rosie and Remy out for their regular walk this morning, then took Lucy out for her walk, and then I took out Annie and, last, Oly. Golly, they are big dogs! I feel as if I'm walking beside a great white shark when I take them out - and other people out walking seem to get the same feeling, for everyone gives us a very wide berth, and nobody wants to pet or scratch or hug the big girls (which happens all the time with the Irish kids and Lucy). Lovey and Nedi are doing well and have been really enjoying the warmer weather. And since I've been home in bed frequently, Lovey has made herself several little nests in the covers, and she gets upset when I straighten things out and re-make the bed every morning. Ah, well.....