Reader Beware...I'm throwing in some of the Best Irish Sayings so make sure to use the hyperlink on each of the phrases to find out what they mean...because we can't go a single day without "Any Craic!" ...And in your mind you MUST read those sayings with an IRISH accent...come on...PLEAE...it will be fun, now...back to my story!
My Grandmother, a refined and regal beauty, was just as lovely in spirit as she was in physical form! She had the great gift of making everything magical and was extremely convincing in all her plights...especially about The Little People! Living in Logan, Utah with her beautiful family, My Grandmother enjoyed all the help her three daughters provided! I'm sure she felt like "your son is your son today, but your daughter is your daughter forever!" Nestled in their beautiful little home located on 3rd South, they had a root cellar and unbeknownst to the girl's, their bedroom was constructed directly on top with only the floor and the cellar door separating the two rooms!
My Grandmother, being the clever, well-rested-type, convinced her daughters that the noises they were hearing at night in the cellar...were actually Leprechauns! Little people who were ready to come up through the floor to play tricks on children who got out of their beds before morning...Oh My Gosh...my Grandma was BRILLIANT! It wasn't until years later that the girls found out the cellar actually had a mouse problem...but they never got out of their beds to check! Remember...they risked Leprechaun Tricks! Just to engage in "Acting the Maggot"...the three Oliverson girls decided to act as Leprechauns and throw books at each other throughout the night...only to tell the person they threw the book at that a Leprechaun must have done it! To this day, my Aunt Alania remembers sleeping with the blankets up, over her head just to avoid the Leprechaun attacks!
Then there were the times that the Oliverson's would travel as a family past the Bullycorn Mountain near Preston, Idaho. It was legend, in the Oliverson family, to talk about the infamous Leprechaun caves that lined the rocky hills on either side of the interstate. The Little people could, from their vantage point, play tricks on the vehicles passing by. The re-telling of this legend became tradition and many of the Oliverson descendants still talk about to this today! Interestingly enough...I have told my children to beware of the Leprechaun infested rocks but still notice that when we near said part of the interstate, I slowly shrink about a foot in my seat and am on heightened Leprechaun watch until the Rocky lined hills disappear in my rear view mirror...Leprechauns beware...if you do anything to my family while we pass you on the interstate, "May the cat eat you, and may the Devil eat the cat!"
As years passed...and my Lovely Grandmother found herself widowed and living near our family...she engaged her grandchildren in wanting to have fun sleepovers at her house in her magical "pink bedroom." In so doing, she continued spinning the tales of the Little People she loved so much! It was on one such occasion, in March, that I must have been pushing the limits on an agreed bedtime when my beautiful Grandmother came into the magical "Pink Princess Bedroom" and retold the story she had told my Mother long ago only adding that if I lay quiet and listen...I may be able to hear the music of the Leprechaun King...(to this day, Angie still swears that she heard his music playing in the distance!) Just as my Aunt had years before me, I huddled under the covers of the "pink bed"...falling victim to my inspired Grandmother's antics and just lay there listening, hoping not to be discovered by the devious little devils and revel in the music of the King! Thinking of myself hiding under those covers, I want to slap my old self and say, "just look at the State O' You!" Snap out of it...it's a Leprechaun folklore for Heaven's Sake!
To say St. Patrick's Day, and all the Oliversonism's associated with The Little People, has been fun...is certainly an understatement. And what's more...I've realized the journey of life is sometimes cruel and having a little fun while enjoying the journey...well it's like the Irish say, "Two people shorten the road!" So THANK YOU, Grandma Hattie, for making my life so fun AND to all who have read this Lively Leprechaun Libretto..."May the road rise up to meet you...May the wind be always at your back...May the sun shine warm upon you face...and NEVER look back...Sláinte!"
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