The same “armeria” or “thrift” that we have for lawn at Lowecha gives new ideas for uses at home. Otherwise, just the same-oh wonderfully beautiful coastal scenery as we round the Ring of Kerry.
Image
Reply
Monthly Archives: May 2015
One of the many lakes passed as we rounded the many curves on the Ring of Kerry. Here in the wilderness we discovered a place with the best home made icecream.
Image
What fun! Ballydonegan, Inishfarnard, Miskish, Rossmackowen, and of course, Derreencarrin. What fantasy. Someone must know where these town names come from….. but in the meantime, let’s use them in nursery rhymes and childrens’ books.
Image
The Ring of Kerry is also very moody. No rain though. The absence of wind and rain made it quite pleasant even in the gray.
Image
County Tipperary, County Clare, Cork, Limerick, Donegal, Killarney, Shannon—all these places associated with romance, legend, tragedy, literature…… I was about to put up a short text about the people that we have met or have heard on the radio since we arrived—polite, respectful, gentle, soft spoken—when the news came down. Yesterday, the people of Ireland turned out in record numbers to vote on the Constitutional amendment referendum to authorize/legalize gay marriage. We have been listening to the debate on the radio all week. Even as the opponents continuously brought up red herring issues (e.g., impact on children, “what’ll they want next?”, “why can’t gays just accept their second class status?) and the Catholic church rolled out their unsupportable positions thrown down from the pulpit, the radio dialogue, young and old, church-going and not, etc., the people remained respectful and polite—unlike the trash that passes for news coverage in the US. Today, as the vote counting is completing for the record turn out, it is clear that Ireland has become the leader—the first nation on the planet– to pass by popular referendum AND by a large majority a measure to bring gay people one step closer to being full citizens. And the talk on the radio remains positive, civil, and accepting that Ireland has made this happen. The debate leading up to yesterday was interesting. While the opposition rolled out the historic lame arguments to say “no” adding the argument that it would be anti-government, the “yes” argument(s) did not go for the bait that would have let the campaign be swallowed up in some argument about religion, etc. The yes campaign stayed on the message about equality, civil rights, and (importantly) how this would be good for the nation. So the high road did not get swallowed by the low road.
Image
Poetry. We have had the good fortune to be in Ireland this week when two major events occurred. The gay marriage/equal rights referendum and the peace and reconciliation visit by Prince Charles have both generated a lot of dialogue and soul searching. To listen to people in restaurants and on the radio weighing both issues, was to recognize that thoughtful people can rise to the level required to govern well and to reconcile opposing views gracefully.
Image
We went to the horse races last nite—Friday night at the Cork races—in Mallow, Ireland. We contributed our share to the local economy.
Image
Bunny rummaging in her purse to place her bet according to her philosophy—for horses, life, and living, and I quote: “I can’t afford only to win”. And she IS a winner in life and living!
Image
Like I said, the poetry is pervasive.
Image
90% rain means, in a day of 16 hours of daylight, roughly 1 1/2 hours will actually be allocated to sunlight. The rest is gray and usually raining—mostly light rain. When the sun does shine though, it is stunning.
Image
thebunguycord 