I opened my eyes this morning, recollected that I should wear a green turtleneck today, and started thinking about what films or movies would be the best to watch today (if I didn’t have so much work to do!).

When I think of Irish (or Irish-themed) films, I think of Ryan’s Daughter (too sad), The Quiet Man (too disturbing in terms of sanctified domestic violence), The Hand that Shakes the Barley (not quite right for this moment), Hunger (no green inside the prison), and a bunch of others that also seem not quite right to celebrate the green.

Funny thing is that my mind keeps returning to a Scottish landscape.

Douglas Henshall has some appeal as detective Jimmy Perez, but it is the landscapes that keep me enthralled. All of that green and water, too…

I’ve seen the first three seasons online and look forward to the fourth (set in Norway!) that is nearing the end of its broadcast.

Wonder when it will be streaming…

In the interest of full disclosure, I am 99% a Western European “mutt.”

The estimated proportions (who knows how accurate they are but track with family stories) are: 34% Great Britain, 19% Ireland, 19% West Europe (family lore makes that French and German), 11% Scandinavia, 11% Iberian Peninsula, 5% Italy/Greece, and less than 1% Pacific Islander.

The more I travel, the less I feel that I belong to any one place. Some of those travels take place on water and land…and some of them take place through screens and pages…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!