THE REST
Otherwise known as Miscellaneous
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UNSUNG HEROES
When my parents died we avoided the tradition of delivering a eulogy at the funerals, largely at their request. It simply isn’t part of our family culture to stand up and sing the praises of either the living or the dead. To be honest none of us ever seek attention and despite the fact I’ve spent more than 30 years working in education, many of them in front of class groups, I too was reluctant to expose my emotions on the day. Sadly The Ban Cheile’s* father died recently and it was the binary opposite of my parent’s send off. The comparison made me think about the purpose of eulogising a loved one when they die. Ironically one of the things that I’ve been critical about the catholic priest when he celebrates the funeral mass was the…
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LIFE IS SHORT
“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” – John Lennon I blinked once and 20 years had passed. Okay I’m obviously exaggerating to make a point but you can see where I’m headed. I remember thinking when I reached 50 that I had passed the point where I had lived for more years than I could reasonably expect to continue living (negotiations are still open on that one but high hopes indeed!). It was a negative thing but it was a bit of a wake-up call because for most if not all of that time I was planning what I would do with my life. There I was at half a century and still thinking about what I’d like to be when I grow up. You can, of course, take that either of…
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THE STONE
I recently wrote a post about a semi-conscious image that intrigued me enough to write a short “poem” posing an important question. The image was based on the notion of whether I believed I was best represented by a stone, a rock or a mountain. I wanted to use the imagery to make me think about how my current journey through life might be seen and therefore where this journey might lead me from here. The more I thought about the three elements of this image the more I realised each one had something to teach me and so I thought I’d see what lessons seeing myself as a stone, rock or mountain might open up to me. “The stone is a mountain that stays on the move At the mercy of weather and wind Facing no…
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THE STONE, THE ROCK AND THE MOUNTAIN
There’s a stone in the road just turning and tumbling A rock in the river fighting the flow And on the horizon there sits a mountain Ignoring the passage of time The stone is a mountain that stays on the move At the mercy of weather and wind Facing no set direction it goes with the flow Every turn is where it will begin The rock makes a stand Is resistant to change But is willing to be weathered and worn And the mountain so high With its head in the sky Is detached from the waters below The stone or the rock or the out of time mountain The question is which one are you Tumbling or fighting or just plain ignoring The tides of life passing through Just as I woke this morning, in that…
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SELFIE
“Other words were considered, as you will see from our shortlist, but selfie was the runaway winner.” Oxford English Dictionary – I tried to take up a 365 Selfie challenge once and made it all the way to day 40. It just didn’t make sense to me after a while. Don’t get me wrong I don’t have any problem with selfies, but when you get to my age you don’t look much different from day to day (you could tell weekdays because of the shirt and tie though!). I might try a 25 selfie challenge and take one shot a year. Honestly I’m not sure even then will there be a significant change.
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TINY
“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.” Henry David Thoreau.- These little guys were so tiny when they joined or family 3 weeks ago that Dasha’s shoulder only came up to the top of this Diet Coke can. They’re growing of course, but as you can see not a whole heck of a lot.
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OPERATION LUGHNASADH
Lughnasadh is the name given to the Irish harvest festival and in fact is the Irish word for August. Many years ago The Ban Chéile* and I decided to rename the cottage in the country Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-na-sa) for a number of reasons – 1) We didn’t like the name it came with “St. Jude’s”, 2) It was a major fixer upper and at times it seemed like “lunacy” to try (get it?) and 3) we planned to spend our Autumn years there when we retire. The name stuck, but only in our heads. The name on the gate stayed and a lot of work took place over the intervening years, but Lughnasadh remained the name for the final product rather than the current cottage. Operation Lughnasadh got underway for real at the start of last autumn…
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CROSSROADS
Have you ever set out to do something, fully sure of what it was you wanted to achieve, only to find yourself on the road to that achievement without a map or signposts? I’ve found myself in that unenviable position when it comes to this blog. I intended it to be a potpourri of thoughts that flow through my mind from time to time and to share these notions with other travellers through the blogosphere. Obviously I’m doing that (you’re reading one of those thoughts right now), but I don’t think I banked on how eclectic my tiny mind actually is and how following it down the rabbit hole could become more like rummaging through the town dump than browsing through a jumble sale on a warm summers day. (Sorry I got distracted there for a moment while three dogs engaged in…
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THE LEADER OF THE PACK (SOMETIMES!)
When I was born our family dog (Toby) immediately decided I was his responsibility and much to my parent’s horror anytime he got the chance he would squeeze his way into the carrycot or pram to protect me. When he got the message that getting into the pram with me could seriously affect his living arrangements he settled for tossing slippers and shoes into me. I reckon it was thanks to Toby that I have always felt most at home as part of a pack (preferably populated by animals rather than humans). I grew up and now I intend to grow old as a pack member. Over the years I’ve shared my life and my living space with a huge cast of animal pack mates and we always had a healthy respect for our individual positions…
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THE SEARCH FOR THE “PERFECT” LUNCHBOX
Some men have devoted their life to searching for hidden cities and others have searched for cures, I, on the other hand, have spent a considerable amount of my time in search of – drum roll – the perfect lunchbox (this is not a euphemism for anything worth sniggering about by the way). Now you might think this a frivolous pursuit for a grown man to engage in but I believe I will not, no cannot finally get into the habit of bringing nutritious packed lunches to work without that essential piece of equipment. At first this quest was hindered by a vague notion of what that lunchbox might look like and what its function actually was – not to mention volume, shape and durability because it would be on duty five days a week all…
