Happy Patriots' Day!

Welcome to the world of the quintessentially Boston

Today is Patriots' Day, perhaps the most exciting day in the year to be in Boston. The Red Sox game starts at 11:00 so you can start drinking before Noon without feeling like an alcoholic and the Boston Marathon is broadcast on the local networks so you don't have to feel like a lazy drunken slob and stand on the marathon route to cheer on the runners. Many people have the day off and those that don't wish they did. And, this year it's not raining AND it's above freezing. So all in all, a very good day.

So why doesn't the rest of the country celebrate Patriots' Day too? Good question. It could be because they're not as patriotic as us Bostonians (although I think some people in the Red States may take offense to that assertion). Or because Bostonians will take up arms (again) and revolt against the powers that be (again) if you take away a holiday focused on drinking AND baseball. But I'll let you decide. Here's the history of Patriots' Day (thank you Wikipedia):

Patriots' Day (sometimes incorrectly spelled Patriot's Day or Patriots Day) is a civic
holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. It is observed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of Maine (once part of Massachusetts), and is a public school observance day in Wisconsin. Observances and re-enactments of these first battles of the American Revolution occur annually at Lexington Green in Lexington,
Massachusetts, (around 6am) and The Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts (around 9am). In the morning, a mounted reenactor with State Police escort retraces Paul Revere's ride, calling out warnings the whole way.

I also think there's a nice symmetry to the fact that Tax Day is occasionally postponed to accommodate Patriots' Day. Good to know that the idea of "no taxation without representation" is alive and well (although this time the lack of representation would be due to, again, the lawmakers and taxpayers likely being drunk and/or at a Red Sox game).