expotition #1: to the sea to see...
our first adventure took us just up the road to the coast —- it was a blustery day as pooh would say. perfect for the man who had spent the past 17 of his 18 days of being here trapped inside a clean room — the odd day off was spent in his hotel room napping and drafting the circumference of what will eventually become our new abode —that’s an entirely different story for a website all it’s own. THIS DAY was about rejuvenation — nothing like salty sea and the entire gamut of weather changes to make him grin. first stop was the rocky, slippery yet walkable ocean shoreline itself. r immediately hopped out of the car and was down to the water’s edge in moments whilst i contented myself with the tide pools, whimsically searching for the elusive egg of the waterhorse. (an excellent movie by same name if you aren’t familiar, and yes i do know the diff between scotland and ireland - but a celtic legendary creature surely is not bound by such nonsense…there must be cousins at least on other shores…) anyway — all i found was a sea star…which was still interesting, particularly as the view was mottled by the wind making gentle ripples on the water’s surface. nothing mythical mind you, but mesmerizing none the less in a zen sort of way. also it was helping me to NOT pay attention to how many times he’d slipped while scrambling out to the edge, nor to call out warnings when the waves came crashing a bit too close for comfort. this guy is an adrenaline junkie, even in the tamest of excursions. i did capture footage of him hightailing it away from the waves and then acting nonchalant when he saw that i was watching. the documentary of this moment is more about my own amusement…though it might make it to public viewing since i’ve now talked it up.
next stop was a few meters ahead — dun briste, down patrick head, and the rock croppings of EIRE 64. also of course to be found was a statue of st. patrick. turns out he’s so much more than the namesake of a day in the states to drink green beer and pinch anyone not wearing green. st. pat in fact, is an icon deserving of his own blog post at some point but for now i can say we’ve been formally introduced. (also in that statement i inadvertently revealed that i am NOT catholic. luckily no one here seems to care so much about that…but then again, i’ve also recently discovered that the northwest side of the isle is the last bit to have been affected by the english invasion and overtaking of christianity. (translated - if i’m to find any druids and the like, this is the place to be on the look out for them).
from the beauty of the rock formations, the lore of how things were formed, and the horror of realities of people sent into the depths of the sea cave never to return… all leave indelible impressions. a lighter entertainment was watching my husband enjoy the rain, sleet, hail, sunshine, clouds and rain again all in the time it took us to get there and back — maybe 20 minutes?
i think he had more fun once again walking way way way too close to the edge of the cliffs for my comfort…maybe i too was pushed over the edge of one of them in a past life as i am NOT fond of heights — or depths as it were, especially with no sort of barrier between oneself and one’s ultimate demise. so i was happier to be back in the car driving around the countryside getting a feel for the terrain and also to practice once again driving on the left, THE LEFT, stay to THE LEFT. another obvious fact is that this place is GREEN - so many colors and hues of GREEN i didn’t know existed — kermit would have to change his tune as here, it’s very easy to be green…and its all gorgeous. #irelandweather #downpatrickhead #waterhorse
r in eire — better now that i’m here too!
photo by dj
