Ah, St. Paddy’s Day, the one day when my gorgeous Irish roots get their due. Of course, this tends to show itself in the rest of the world swilling watered-down, green-dyed beer throughout the day, the world waking with a hangover on the 18th, but hey, you take what you can get.I’m Irish, and Catholic, and very little else. St. Patrick’s Day tends to be a day I wear green, pretend I don’t know that I should be at Mass after work instead of out with friends, and break my rule about drinking during the week to grab a pint. Basically, St. Patrick’s Day, for me, is a day to pretend I’m pretending to be Irish, much like everyone else. As of now, I have no plans whatsoever, which means I might just end up at Church because I’m bored when I leave the office tonight. However, this beginning-of-Spring holiday has gotten me (and a lot of fellow DC Tweets) thinking of (and longing for) the soon-to-come beauty of warm weather.

DC in Spring, I’m convinced, is unlike Spring in any other place on Earth. I’ve seen the sunset over Santa Monica in April, enjoyed haystack parties in the rural fields of Maine, spent a sweltering June on a bus in Cuba… and nothing can compare to the smell of cherry blossoms in full bloom, their petals covering the monuments in pink, the warm breeze hitting you when you get off the metro, and free events packing the Mall every night of the week. There’s Screen on the Green, James Bond nights in VA, and now for the first time a green fountain in front of the White House! What city in the world can match this? Who doesn’t love the White House Easter Egg Roll? The National Cathedral’s flower mart (one of the best free events in existence, in my opinion, as I end up there every year just wandering around and feeling far more crafty for it)? Have you ever been to the Smithsonian’s annual kite festival? The entire Mall dotted with brightly colored kites, live music, food vendors, and shouting kids. I’ll admit, I’m sad to see that I’ll miss it this year thanks to being out of town that weekend.

Spring in DC is a reminder to me of why I love this city as much as I do, and I look forward to the first warm day I can get out of work, wind my way down to Dupont Circle, and waste the night reading at the fountain in the humid warmth.