These follies are actually left over from yesterday, the feast day of St. Patrick, Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, which as we know is traditionally celebrated in the United States by the consumption of beer. Here are a couple of pictures of the early action at Valhalla–when it started to get crowded I skedaddled. The guy in the red shirt with his back to the camera is my friend Ed, who’s getting me a Guiness.

Here’s a leprechaun:

And here’s one for purposes of historical comparison:

Believe it or not, back in the day people used to walk around and smoke wherever they felt like it. Really! But they did know that it wasn’t a good idea to smoke in or around chemistry labs, so when they designed the Chemistry Building in the early 1920s, they put in a smoking lounge. That’s where Valhalla came from.