Wordless Wednesday: A Bit o’ the Green for St. Patrick’s Day

by Dorothy Reinhold on March 16, 2011


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What is St. Patrick’s Day without some green, whether it is in your skillet (lovely wrinkled cabbage!) or your river (Chicago River, being dyed neon green on Saturday, March 12)!

It’s technically not MY river, since I don’t live there, but I got to watch last weekend, and found it an oddly charming ritual.

Wonder what the fish think!

Dying the Chicago River Green from Shockinglydelicious.com

Boats pour orange and brown dye into the Chicago River, while doing donuts to swirl it around.

Dying the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day

Yes, it gets really, really, REALLY green! Kind of a green not found in nature.

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

riot February 27, 2014 at 2:36 am

you pee somewhere.. there will be fish next day 🙂 how could it be possible that there are no fish or other living creatures in that river and you are coloring the air they breathe

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Me March 17, 2012 at 4:54 pm

Such a waste of money. Plus can’t be good for the environment.

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Dorothy March 19, 2012 at 10:54 am

Yes, well…I guess many things we collectively do could be considered a waste of money! You might be heartened to know that 2 families privately fund this river-coloring each year, and it is not a government expense. I can’t speak to the environmental issues, though. All of us from California were wondering about that.

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Lorraine March 22, 2011 at 7:59 pm

I loved this line in the Harrison Ford movie ‘The Fugitive.’ “If they can dye the river green on St. Patrick’s Day, why can’t they dye it blue the rest of the year?”

(An Ex- Chicagoan)

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Dorothy March 22, 2011 at 9:50 pm

Lorranine,
I love that! I can never recall exact lines from movies. I envy you that skill!

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Kate March 16, 2011 at 1:13 pm

I cannot believe that river of green !! Is there not an outrage about polluting it in this manner – the poor fishies in this pea green soup !

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Dorothy March 16, 2011 at 3:11 pm

Kate,
It was interesting…all of us many thousands of people from other parts of the country all had the same question — “doesn’t it kill the fish?” And all the Chicagoites had the same answer — “There are no fish in that river!” I dunno. Seems kooky to me, but it sure was a spectacle.

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