Episode 91 Show Notes

Episode 91 Show Notes

  Watch this line of tractor trailers slowly pile up in slippery, slowed traffic 

Published:  February 21, 2025   By Wimberly Patton

Watch this line of tractor trailers slowly slide into each other on a slippery highway in Arkansas. Your truck wants you to take that deal!  The traffic cam footage was recorded on February 19th at 1:30 a.m. on Interstate 40 at mile marker 160.1 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. In the video, you can see traffic stopping up ahead, causing a line of tractor trailers to slow to a stop.   A number of semi trucks are able to stop successfully, but as the line of rigs piles up, some drivers eventually lose control.  The semi trucks then start a nearly slow motion, slippery pile up, until the line of rigs stretches back so far that it is out of view of the traffic cam. One driver even bravely exits his truck and stands in the road. 

Watch the slippery situation below 

ST. PATRICKS DAY

A day to celebrate but,,why? We all normally just use this day to have an excuse to drink green beer and Irish whiskey. But for non alcoholics it has more of a meaning.

KEGERATOR.COM BY JEFF FLOWERS March 14, 2014

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations include drinking alcohol, and the tradition originated as a feast day. The day honors the death of Saint Patrick, a Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland in the 5th century. 

Drinks associated with St. Patrick’s Day 

• Guinness: The most popular drink on St. Patrick’s Day
• Irish whiskey: Used in the tradition of “drowning the shamrock”

How the tradition of drinking started 

• Christians were allowed to break their Lenten restrictions on food and alcohol consumption on St. Patrick’s Day
• The feast day evolved into a celebration that includes Irish culture, history, and traditions

Other St. Patrick’s Day traditions 

• Wearing green clothing
• Pinching people who are wearing green
• Eating corned beef and cabbage
• “Drowning the shamrock” by dunking a clover into a glass of whiskey and drinking it during a toast

Why green is associated with Ireland

The color green has become associated with Ireland, and wearing green is supposed to make you invisible to leprechauns. 

Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of St. Patrick’s Day is aware of the fact that the celebration is inexorably tied to the excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. While some may believe that this is just another example of lively individuals taking advantage of a celebration, there is actually a solid reason why alcohol has long been a part of the holiday that is now celebrated worldwide.

While there is a justifiable reason for drinking somewhat excessively in celebration of St. Patrick, there are plenty of misconceptions that surround the history of the holiday and the man in whose honor the celebration occurs.

Photo Credit: Andreas F. Borchert

Who Was Saint Patrick?

Saint Patrick is considered the most recognizable of all of the patron saints of Ireland, though he was not of Irish descent himself. St. Patrick was born in Great Britain, and was first brought to Ireland as a slave after having been captured and taken from his home.

He eventually escaped from his captors, and returned home to Great Britain where he became a cleric. St. Patrick declared that it was a vision that served as the impetus for his return to Ireland, saying that the people of Ireland, as though speaking through one voice, called out to him, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” Of course, St. Patrick would return, bringing Christianity to the Irish people, who had been polytheistic to that point.

Perhaps the most well-known story about St. Patrick is also the most inaccurate tale about the patron saint of Ireland. According to legend, St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland.

This would have been quite a feat, except for the fact that there were no snakes in Ireland to begin with. The frigid waters that surround the emerald isle are too cold for snakes to migrate through, making it impossible that snakes could have ever existed in Ireland.

The story is more likely a parable for how St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland while also largely eradicating paganism, which often used serpents as a symbol. By eliminating paganism, St. Patrick symbolically drove the snakes out of Ireland.

Why People Drink on Saint Patrick’s Day

The St. Patrick’s Day tradition began as a feast day held in honor of St. Patrick on the anniversary of the day he died. Christians are allowed to put aside their Lenten restrictions on food and alcohol consumption on this day, which is why excessive drinking has become so permanently linked to the celebration.

Eventually, the feast day evolved into a greater celebration including not only St. Patrick, but also Irish culture, history, and traditions. Though the feast day began in Ireland, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade began in America. The parade tradition became exceptionally popular in the 1840s, when hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants came to America to escape the potato famine.

The Symbol of the Shamrock

The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day involves many symbols. On March 17, revelers worldwide will wear shamrocks on their clothing as part of the celebration.

The reason that the shamrock has become linked to St. Patrick is because, according to legend, he used the three leaves of the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.

In order to display their Irish-Christian pride and to honor St. Patrick, Irish people began to wear a shamrock on their clothing. Eventually, this practice evolved into wearing green clothes on the holiday

A Constantly Evolving Tradition

Though there are many misconceptions that surround this holiday, any tradition that celebrates the proud history of a culture is worthwhile. Yes, St. Patrick’s Day may just be an excuse for some to drink excessively on a weekday, but to others, it is an opportunity to honor a Christian missionary and the culture and tradition he helped to create.

It also provides a welcome respite from the many restrictions that many Catholics place upon themselves during Lent, which is the main reason why the celebration includes an overabundance of many delicious foods and alcoholic drinks.

It is also the day in which the old Irish saying rings particularly true: “There are only two kinds of people in the world, the Irish and those who wish they were.”