THE REST
Otherwise known as Miscellaneous
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SEEKER: COMMUNITY R.I.P.
I’m a self-confessed life-long lone wolf; always have been and always will be. Being one of those people who are quite comfortable in their own company has many advantages – not least of which is the lack of a need for an ever increasing cadre of ‘friends’ and therefore not feeling lonely as often as others might. That’s not the same as reclusive and introverted, I can and do interact well when in company, but if I’m to be brutally honest company is not something I seek out too often and when I do I’m ridiculously selective who I want to spend my time with. I explain this attachment to solitude by citing the fact that I work in a people intensive situation where my job requires me to talk to people all day long and when I’m…
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A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
Sure, a little bit o’ Heaven fell from out the sky one day And nestled on the ocean in a spot so far away And when the angels found it sure it looked so sweet and fair They said suppose we leave it for it looks so peaceful there! So they sprinkled it with star dust just to make the shamrocks grow ‘Tis the only place you’ll find them no matter where you go Then they dotted it with silver to make its lakes so grand And when they had it finished sure they called it Ireland! Okay so it’s so sweet and Stage Oirish that it makes your teeth ache but it helps me sum up how I feel about my home country. The weather changes with the flick of a celestial switch (four seasons in…
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SEEKER: RELIGION vs. PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY
“In a world beset by fundamentalists of both believing and secular varieties, it must be possible to balance a rejection of religious faith with a selective reverence for religious rituals and concepts.” Alain de Botton All of my adult life I have been what I would call a “Seeker”. By that I mean I have always felt there is a need for some sense of ‘spirituality’ in order to prevent chaos in the mind, body and spirit – not to mention society as a whole – and I have been searching for the elements of that spirituality for well over thirty years. I was raised a Roman Catholic, growing up in Ireland one had more than a 90% chance of the coin falling on that side, and was a reasonably good practitioner for most of my first two…
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DOODLES
I’m a Doodler. That’s it I’ve admitted it. It’s out there. I can’t say I like to draw because it’s not drawing – they aren’t good enough to be called drawings – and they’re rarely finished, but they do qualify as doodles.
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LE CHATEAU…DEJAVU?
Having just recently returned from France I had a stop-in-your-tracks-and-do-a-double-take moment last Saturday when strolling through Cork city. I looked up and spotted a bar called Le Chateau. My tiny mind took a minute or two to register the coincidence and make the dislocation disappear. Le Chateau had a plaque outside proudly proclaiming it was established in 1793 (34 years after the invention of Guinness) which must make it one of the oldest public houses in Cork, if not the whole of Ireland? The exterior is quaint and indeed reminiscent of a french tavern but inside the pub had more in common with Dr Who’s Tardis, it was much bigger than you would expect and went quite far back. I hadn’t the time or inclination to sample any of the enticing beverages on sale but the customers…
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WHO AM I?
Not that you dear reader have done anything wrong to deserve this momentary interlude during which I intend to let slip the curtain and ‘expose’ my inner me and set forth my manifesto to boot, but let’s face it it takes a certain amount of ego to release upon an unsuspecting blogosphere regular rantings about items that really only seem important to me (sometimes only mildly at that). The Ego has Landed you might quite rightly think. In a previously undeleted manifestation in cyberspace I described myself as “Middle aged and proud of the achievement. Working in Adult & Community Education for decades. Expanding my knowledge base but not at the same fantastic rate as my waistline. Trying to leave a record of my existence, like a tattoo on the blogosphere, before the Grim Reaper comes a calling.…
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THIS IS THE WEEK THAT WAS…
Ever think “darn it but my life is boring”! Or words to that effect. Well here’s the précis version of my week and I present it as my evidence that mine is of mild interest but only to me and possibly chronic insomniacs. Sunday We arrived home to Ireland from France onboard the Oscar Wilde and drove out of Rosslare towards Dublin through countryside that would do any tourist board proud. No matter how much I like to get away I love coming home even more. Monday Back to work and I have my usual trouble revving up my brain to anything approaching full steam ahead. A sad week for me because I’m relocating to another area and leaving my team behind after 6 years. Tuesday A packed work day catching up on things. Trying hard to…
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LISTENING TO THUNDER
On Thursday evening I sat in a French garden listening to huge peals of thunder rolling across the fields and vineyards and watching the rain clouds slowly head on collision courses through the heavens and I thought of two people and two lessons they taught me. The first was my late mother who never wasted an opportunity to draw our attention to thunder, and indeed even lightning, and remark how exciting it sounded. She would point out how charged the air was and the static electricity that made the hairs stand up on our arms. On those occasions when the thunderstorm would result in a power outage, she would light candles, cook on an old camping stove we had tucked away under the stairs and tell stories until bedtime. We loved every minute of these storms and…
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FRANCE 2013: BEDENAC
At the end of news broadcasts there’s usually a lighter item preceded with the words “and finally..” and I suppose this is it for our holiday in France 2013 (although we still have the 8 hour drive to Roscoff tomorrow and the sailing). We rented a gite in Bedénac in Charente owned by Sue and Paul Wright in 2011 and again in 2013 for three weeks each time. The village itself is very pretty and to a great extent typical of villages all across France. It’s a 30 minute drive north of Bordeaux and 55 minutes or so south of Cognac. The gite itself is lovely and big enough for the two of us. I really like the layout of the converted space – it was originally three tiny cottages. Sue and Paul have plans to move…
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FRANCE 2013: ARCACHON
In my mind there are Beach People and for the record I’m not one of them. Beach People thrive on finding a spot amongst hordes of other sun, sea and sand worshippers and laying out between swims like seals basking in the sunshine. They have mastered the knack of dressing and undressing under a multicoloured towel slightly larger than a facecloth, while standing on one leg and watching the world around them, meerkat style. The very word ‘holiday’ can be found in their personal dictionary under ‘seaside’ and they eat food surrounded by sand and without complaint for God’s sake! The only thing I like about being on the coast is the freshness of the sea air and you can get that in a harbour town, so I’m afraid a trip to the seaside is never…
