Indiana vs. Ireland

Well, we’re back.  Returned in a whirlwind trip in November and I’m STILL adjusting.  I guess there’s this thing called reverse culture shock and it’s pretty common.  I didn’t expect it, tho.  I had no problem coming home for a visit and driving on the right for two weeks, but this time it took me more than two months to really feel comfortable.  (Plus some luck that there were no other cars on the road when I DID drive on the left!)  And that’s not the only thing that’s hard.

Indiana: flat, brown, straight roads, the same stores and restaurants all over, bland American accents. On the other hand, Kim and John are close, Bryan came out for Christmas, and I spent a couple weeks with my parents in January and will be going back in May.

Ireland: green, hilly, winding roads, lovely Irish lilts interspersed with unintelligible West Cork accents, fun phrases like half-seven (7:30), Tuesday week (next Tuesday), and “don’t get your knickers in a twist.”  On the other hand, the winters are are gray and rainy and, oh yeah, my family was way too far away.

So . . . we’re in Indiana again, most likely to stay.  House sitting for a friend right now.  Blaik’s sort of on TDY at the company – does make-work and gets paid while he waits for a permanent position, which aren’t so plentiful right now.  Some good interviews but not the right one yet.

I love being with my family, I love seeing old friends, and I enjoyed the snow up to a point (could have skipped the ice storm, tho).  But oh do I miss Ireland!

Read Full Post »

All-Ireland Football Finals

County Cork is going mad right now.  Cork is playing Co Down in the All-Ireland Football Championship on Sunday.  (That’s Gaelic football, not American, and not soccer.)  And since Cork is “the Rebel county,” there’s lots of “Up the Rebels” along with “Up Cork.”  But one of the fun things is that since we’re playing Down, not Dublin or Galway or Kerry or such, we’ll also hear a lot of “Up Down!”

Anyway, I hear a song called “Come On Ye Rebels” on my alarm radio almost every morning these days.  I went to find the lyrics, and found this Screaming Celts YouTube video instead.  The clips are mostly of hurling (Cork didn’t make it past the quarterfinals), but any with a soccer ball are from Gaelic football matches.  Oh- and the county teams are the pro teams.

Edited to add:  Cork won! Have the match recorded, but watching it will have to wait until we get back from Spain.  Blaik figures they’ll be missing a lot of people at work today after drinking celebrations last night. <g>

Read Full Post »

Overheard in Ireland

I actually heard a particular Irishism/Britishism for the first time tonight.

We were sorting something on Blaik’s mobile phone, which I had set up originally, so the customer service rep had to talk to me to verify identity.  When I had, she said,” and is it alright if I speak with Himself again now?”

Himself.  Wow, I’ve only read that in books – that’s grand then, so.

Read Full Post »

Touring Ireland with Jensens & Haskells

We had an awesome week being invaded by family.  Will, Ric & Karen Sue, and Rick, Leslie, Ritchie & Lauren arrived in Shannon on Saturday the 8th, the last UK/Ireland flight out of JFK before the ash cloud cancelled flights.  We spread all seven of them between our two big spare bedrooms and an air bed in my office, and made it work.

We went a lot of places that I’ve been with other visitors, so I didn’t take a ton of pictures, but got several good ones of all of us, plus a couple places that were new to me:  Lough Hyne and the Ring of Kerry in particular.  Lough Hyne  happened mainly because we went to Skibbereen to the Famine Museum, but it was Monday and it was closed.  You think I’d learn.  But the lough was gorgeous and we had a nice walk/hike around part of it.

The Ring of Kerry seemed over-hyped to me.  After driving in a lot of different places in Ireland, and especially around West Cork, it seemed like normal.  Some spectacular views over the coast and out to the ocean, though.  And the Torc Waterfall was worth the steep climb for the second time.  Click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger.

Lough Hyne in County Cork

On the Ring of Kerry. I think it's the Skellig Islands in the bay.

Town of Killorglin, just starting out on the Ring of Kerry

The clan at the Cliffs of Moher.

Atop O'Brien's Keep at the Cliffs. Can you see Will in one of the openings?

Ruins along the Ring of Kerry between the Stone Fort and Torc Waterfall.

Common view of Rich, Rick and Ric at home - gotta stay connected!

Along with Lough Hyne, Kerry, and the Cliffs of Moher, we took them to Bunratty Castle and the Irish traditional banquet, the other-wordly landscape of the Burren, and of course they kissed the Blarney Stone.  At the end of that, most everyone took a day trip to Dublin, and exhausted people stayed home!  Some of my pictures didn’t turn out well, and they took many more than me, so maybe I’ll invite guest posts here to share them.

We really loved having everyone here and highpoints for the family seemed to be Bunratty and the Cliffs, and just hanging out.  Lots of good chat, a few hearty laughs and just plain time together.  For me, it was not only seeing everyone again, but the Family Home Evening we had Monday night, and a family prayer before they started heading home.  Very powerful witness from the Holy Ghost of the importance of family and the eternal relationships we share.

It’s been a quiet house since Sunday, but recuperation turned into a jam-packed week trying to catch up on everything.  I’m knackered!  And it’s way past bedtime. <g>

Read Full Post »

Ad – Irish Summer

Heard on a radio ad:

Guy 1:  It’s May Day – first day of summer.  Let’s head for the beach, throw on the sunscreen, and hit the waves.

Guy 2:  Uh . . . remember where we live?

Guy 1:  Oh, yeah.  How’s this then:  head for the beach, throw up the brolly and take shelter from the storm?

Makes me laugh every time.

Read Full Post »

Galway – Connemara Weekend

I had a Branch Conference to attend in Galway on Sunday, and it’s a long 3-1/2 hour drive.  So instead of driving up by myself, or trying to organize a lift, Blaik took time out from his Cork Branch Presidency duties and we made a weekend of it.

One end of the pub for breakfast

Got into Galway on Friday night and stayed in a delightful little hotel called Ward’s. It has old-fashioned decor, soft seats in corners for a chat, a large room with a wide screen tv (perfect for watching GAA matches), and a pub on the ground floor.  I had read that they had a trad music session every Friday night, but evidently that doesn’t happen in the off season.  Staircases with twists and turns, old photos and paintings, an antique globe on a hall table, the whole thing took you back a century.  Except the rooms had modern en-suite facilities (bathrooms).  Overall, much more enjoyabe than a generic chain hotel, and a full breakfast came with!

Winter in Connemara

There’s not much happening in Galway in the winter, so we drove out to Connemara on Saturday.  Not much happening there, either.  The countryside is very barren – lots of rocks, peat bogs and sheep.  And a few ponies.

Watch out for sheep while driving!

Connemara ponies on winter grazing.

It’s interesting to see where they cut peat – basically harvesting a layer at a time over a wide area, then going deeper.  I don’t know if the peat that’s piled up will be dried and sold as is, or if it’s compressed into the peat briquettes that we buy in the stores.

Peat Bog - see the sharp drop where it's been harvested

Peat Stacks

We had lunch in Clifden and wandered the shops and bought some stuff (can’t help myself), and then headed back.  Connemara National Park is supposed to be great, with a visitor’s centre that explains a lot, but the visitor’s centre was closed and there’s no road that drives through.  Our clear day had turned to spits of rain, so we didn’t feel like getting out.  Around a few corners, there was suddenly a castle – Kylemore Abbey, magnificent against the hills.

Kylemore Abbey

I took a picture, but we didn’t stop to find out if it was open or not.  I want to go back in the summertime anyway.

Back in Galway that evening, we  headed down to an Italian restaurant near the hotel, but found a pub by the Promenade that looked to have good food and had their Saturday night traditional music starting at 9.  So we stayed, ate good food, and I had a ball!

It’s a family run place, and the gal that played the piano, the gal on the fiddle and mandolin, and the guy on the fiddle and flute were all part of the family.  It was good, just music, no vocals.  Then another fiddler showed up who I think was part of the band.  But then someone started playing the spoons with them, the mandolin player pulled out her bodhrun (an Irish drum) and handed it to someone – she knew he played – and another fiddler joined them after a bit.  A guy close to us pulled out his harmonica a while later and joined in.  It really was an awesome jam session, and I guess it happens every Saturday night.  Which is how they know the regulars who play, etc.  I want to go back!  (I have probably poor quality photos on my phone, but haven’t figured out how to get them off.)

Read Full Post »

Winter Weather in Cork

I’m finally getting around to posting the winter pictures from our house, instead of various other photos from all over Ireland.

Front corner of our house - looks better if you click it.

Snowy Sunrise in Kinsale - Click to enlarge

The cold continued, and we  ran out of oil!  They only gave us half a tank last time and we didn’t realize it, and of course it was Saturday afternoon when we figured it out.  They didn’t come over the weekend, and Monday it snowed (we did get our four inches – beautiful, although with no snow plows, nobody was driving anywhere).  But instead of another week of cold, it rained on Tuesday and washed it all away!  I was sorry to see it go, but it meant that the fuel truck could get out and then we had the plumber out to re-prime the boiler, and we had glorious hot water again!  We’d been warm enough – a bag of coal and closing the living room doors so the fireplace was only heating one room kept us warm enough, as long as you don’t count frigid toilet seats!  But showers were oh, so nice that night!

Overall, I’ve been enjoying this winter.  The cold that freezes the Irish isn’t so bad for us Midwesterners, and it’s meant lots of clear, sunny days and not the everlasting dreariness of last winter.  And they say that with a cold winter like they used to get here, perhaps that means we’ll have a lovely sunny summer, like they also used to get.  Here’s hoping!

Read Full Post »

Icy Ireland

Swans on the Canal

While all you American northerners live with three or six feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures, we’re dealing with snow, ice, and sub-zero here, too.  Of course, it’s sub-zero Celsius, but whatever.

Actually, it’s hit pretty hard.  Started in early December, and we’ve spend the last three weeks hardly getting above freezing.  Down in the teens (Fahrenheit) at night.  The frosts are heavy and very slick on the roads for some reason, and while there hasn’t been much sleet, we get freezing fog.  Roads are treacherous, and THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE IN IT!  (Actually reminds me of a college friend  who said she hated to drive in the snow.  I asked why, since she was from Montana. She said “because you Oregonians don’t know how!”)

Because it doesn’t happen often enough for them to learn, the Irish tend to be very very very cautious.  Long line of cars doing seventeen kilometers an hour going up a wet hill on  a good highway, and then, wow, up to thirty on the way down.  Then I got off at a roundabout, curved nicely around, and came to a dead stop.  Here, the road was icy.  Everyone had slowed down to about 5 mph, but there was another hill and we ended up in a line just sitting, with one car stopped in the oncoming lane.  (Yes, it was wide enough to have two proper lanes.)  The second guy in line finally got out, slipped and slid his way to the front car, talked for a bit, and we finally moved on.  Judging from the tracks on the ice when I passed, I think she had been going slowly, saw a car coming, got scared and either braked or jerked the wheel.  Anyway, got scared some more and just sat there.  And the oncoming car figured that if she was stopped, he better not pass!

Finally got home.  That was Christmas Eve, but it hasn’t changed much.  I wish they’d learn a few things:  1) drive smoothly, don’t hit brakes, downshift, or jerk the wheel.  2) don’t slow down to almost nothing on a hill or you’ll never make it up.  3) use the grass or gravel on the side of the road for traction, especially if it’s frozen.  (Two people were pushing a car up a hill, slipping and sliding themselves.  We were going the other direction, Blaik leaned out and suggested they get over on the verge, and once they did, they were fine.)

Current Snow in Ireland Mountains

On the other hand, we’ve got snow coming in, even in coastal Cork.  Four inches, if you can believe that!!  The county, which is large and very hilly, has only four “gritters,” so not very many roads or intersections get any help.  (They don’t sand the roads, they grit them.)  Met Eireann’s forecast goes out 10 days, and the cold snap has no let up in sight, here or across the country.  Part of Ireland have lots of snow already.  Cork ran through their year’s worth of road salt in the first 3 weeks of December, got some more in, and will finish that tonight.  More isn’t coming until Tuesday – not good for a city built on steep hills, or for the hilly highways running to Killarney, Bantry, Limerick, or even to Dublin or Waterford.  Dublin ran out of salt, got more in late last week, but will be out again and they say on the news that it will take the next ten days to source more from Europe (the UK is out), get it here, unloaded and delivered to local areas.

Lough Rea in Galway

City buses shut down sometimes (not good for a country where many people don’t drive, but rely on public transit), cross-country buses are on a very restricted schedule.  Schools are out, but kids are having fun.  Except for the stupid ones who fell through the ice on the lough.  Generally good for skating, but not out in the middle!

Ah well, hope you’re all warm, wherever you are.

Read Full Post »

I’m Ba-ack!

Well, it’s almost Christmas, and I think I promised a catch-up back in September.  That just means I haven’t changed, right?

Bryan arrived today, having finished his finals and a long work week.  We have two weeks until he goes back.  Fun time!  Christmas will be at the Peters’, some Irish friends here, and then we’re going to have a jolly time with Bryan’s big present.  Don’t know if he gets on here or not, so I’ll tell that secret after Christmas!

It’s been a crazy fall here, lots of writing.  I’m the Genealogy Feature Writer for Suite101 now, so I have a weekly genealogy article to write.  Takes a lot more time than the Writing Fiction articles!  I got my kid’s time-travel novel completely re-done and sent off to a contest, but didn’t place.  Drat.  I’ll start sending it out after the new year.  And I did NaNo again, and finished – 51,600 words!  A grown-up women’s novel this time, for a Mormon audience.  Still have a long way to go to even finish a rough draft, but it’s fun to work on.

I’ve been doing a bunch of music stuff, too.  My piano students somehow morphed from two kids and a mom last year, to six kids this year.  I’m not thrilled with two afternoons committed (Blaik says “awww”), but they’re fun.  And a couple who are really a joy to teach.  I’m also the branch music chairman, which means I do the choir for Christmas and organize the Christmas music fireside.  Being a choir director was quite an experience last year – lots of people who sing, but no men who know how to sing parts.  I was more prepared this year, so we’ve been practicing since the beginning of October.  The small groups and choir were awesome that night, but we had pianist problems and I ended up playing for a lot more than I expected!  Playing on the spur of the moment for Relief Society has made me pretty good at dropping unnecessary notes, and that came in handy. <g>

OK, that’s about it for now, catch up on such exciting things as Tim’s mission and floods in Cork coming soon.  At least sooner than six months from now!  Cheers!

Read Full Post »

2nd Place in Flash Fiction Contest

I spent 3 days at the West Cork Literary Festival last week in Bantry.  Not a writer’s conference, per se, but I got to spend mornings working on my writing and afternoons and evenings going to readings and speakers and such.  Went to some stuff I wouldn’t have normally, which was good, bought too many books, which maybe wasn’t.  Mostly had 3 days with friends, all wrapped up in words and stories.

One of the fun things was a flash fiction contest.  They gave us the first paragraph and we had to write the rest of the story – 750 words max, including the first paragraph.  I worked on it my first morning instead of the other stories I planned on, then the three of us that went together critiqued each others, then we edited the next day and turned them in.  Results came in Friday night late, and Mandy sent a text the next morning.  Cathy won and I came in 2nd!  She said the judge read them both out, said she had them both tagged for first, then finally just had to make a choice.  So we both did the happy dance – long distance because Cathy is in Tipperary this week.

I was going to post the story here, because although I like how it came out, I didn’t know any place I could send it.  But tonight on my walk, I had some ideas to flip it around a bit and I’ll be able to send it out.  If I post it here, it’s considered published, and I don’t know that I’ll be changing enough to consider it a different story.

Take the Flash Fiction Challenge!

So I have a challenge for you.  Write a story as if you were entering the contest. Post it here as a comment (or email it to me), and I’ll e-mail you mine in return.

Here’s the first paragraph.  It’s a little clunky, but you have to include it as the opening of your story.  No more than 750 words, not counting the title (if you change it), so use the word counter on your word processor.  And have fun!

Pavel’s uncle has left him a painting in his will.  Pavel’s delighted, his uncle had many paintings, he was a connoisseur.  Pavel waits to see which one his uncle picked out especially for him.  The painting is wrapped in plain brown paper.  The courier hands it over.  “And your signature here, if you please.” Pavel sighs, takes the painting and unwraps it.

PS – I’ll give any challengers two months, until September 15th, to post their stories.  After that, if anyone else wants a copy of the story, send me a note and I’ll e-mail it to you.

Read Full Post »