Did you know?

One of the great things about living in a state that’s been around, well, as long as states have been around, is that there are some really long-standing traditions. Some of these traditions are truly meaningful and lovely, like the Boston Pops, which began making sweet music in 1885. And some, like the blue law that says more than 7 women living together in one house makes it a brothel, are just silly (Though, the word around the interweb is that this "law," widely pointed to as the reason that sorority houses don't exist on college campuses, is actually just a rumor. Time to really re-evaluate some of my long-held beliefs!).

To the rest of the world, today might be St. Patrick’s Day, the day where we all get to be Irish, as long as that means short luck-bearing men and green beer (Did you know that Blue was actually traditionally the color associated with St. Patrick?). But in Boston, today is Evacuation Day, where we celebrate the day British troops were expelled from the city during the American Revolution. Coincidentally, both are celebrated with copious amounts of drinking and hanging out on the street. (Or, as Wikipedia says: “[Both] celebrations are notoriously spirited.”). Kind of like that other beloved tradition, Patriot's Day. What, you've never heard of it? It marks the beginning of the American Revolution (which kicked off next door in Lexington). Some people celebrate it by running 26.2 miles in the Boston Marathon. And the rest of us celebrate it by lining the streets of those 26.2 miles with keg cups (Or, equally likely, wishing they were drinking out of keg cups, but actually stuck at work). Ah, yes. Traditions.