Scraps of my Life

Today is St. Urho’s Day…are you wearing your purple? I’m not, I forgot! David’s been home with the flu so I am completely lost as to what day it is. But, my dear friend Cheryl, was kind enough to email and remind me!

By now you are probably asking, “Who the HELL is St. Urho?”…I asked that very same question, once, many years ago after Cheryl had wished me a happy one.

First I have to give you some background on Cheryl! I met Cheryl when I started working for Vegas Instant Page.  I loved her right away, knowing she was “my kind of people”…she is beautiful, irreverently funny, and comes from Northern Minnesota with some of the most hysterical dysfunctional family stories I’ve ever heard in my life.

One St. Urho’s day, Cheryl came to me with the most ridiculous story about some Saint from Finland (I don’t remember what he did to attain Sainthood), and his day is 3/16 and you have to wear purple…I honestly thought she was full of shit.  Something she pulled out of her arse to get me going.  But the story stuck and we’ve been wishing each other a happy St. Urho’s day ever since.

One day I got an emailed copy of an obituary (another “Cheryl-thing” is that although she is still in her 30′s and healthy, she lives to read the obituaries…she has a morbid sense of curiosity) about the man who started St. Urho’s Day…at last, the confirmation she needed to prove she didn’t make the whole thing up.

So in honor of the great, Sainted, Urho, I have for you his story:

St. Urho – Patron Saint of grasshopper management?

Believe it or not…… there really is a Saint for grasshopper management, and his name is Saint Urho (pronounced ärrrr-hoe, stressing the rolling r). While he is currently recognized as the Official Patron Saint of Finnish vineyard workers, I would like to consider nominating him for mascot status for the Orthopterists Society.

Though fictional in origin, a monument to this legendary figure stands in Menahga, Minnesota. His statute stands about 15 feet tall, depicting St. Urho with a pitchfork in his hand and a grasshopper skewered on the end.

(Photograph -C. Bomar 1997)

As legend has it, he was responsible for saving the Finnish vineyards from a swarming outbreak of locusts. His method of control -a pitchfork and some strong words. “Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, meine täättä hiiteen” or roughly translated to English “Grasshopper, grasshopper, get the hell out of here,” was enough to eradicate the hoards of locusts from the vineyard. These Finnish grape farmers were pretty protective of their crop, considering the short growing season. As the legend goes, these farmers injected vodka into the individual grapes to ensure a high alcohol content. And because of this heroic act of pest management, Urho was erected into sainthood by the local vintners.

March 16th is St. Urho day, and properly celebrated by dressing in royal purple and nile green.

So a happy St. Urho’s to you all!

Filed under: Friends