Happy Columbus Day . . . well, sort of . . .

It's kinda hard to get into the spirit of this holiday anyway.

It's even harder when you know that the REAL Columbus Day is October 12th (tomorrow).

But, I guess it's more convenient for all the bankers and federal government workers when holidays fall on a Monday or a Friday.

If the rest of us schlubs--at least those of us lucky enough to have jobs any more--still have to show up to work today, I think it would be nice for all those bankers and bureaucrats to deliver us some Italian food for lunch or something . . .

The Man Who Led Columbus to America

That's the title of a book written by Paul H. Chapman back in 1973 (ISBN 0914032011) about St. Brendan the Navigator.

Brendan was an Irish monk who led 60 pilgrims on a voyage to find the Garden of Eden, some time between 512 and 530 AD (almost a thousand years before Columbus). After sailing west from the emerald isle, they survived a battle with a sea monster of some sort to discover a previously-unknown land covered with lush vegetation.

Several accounts of the expedition were recorded and spread throughout medieval Europe, including one manuscript that an Irish scholar named Dougal carried with him to Italy when he founded the University of Pavia.

The U of P was old Chris Columbus's alma mater, by the way.

Starting to see the connection?

If you wanna be more "in the know," yours truly would encourage a persual of Chapman's book . . .