Sea Day

September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 | Mairead

(I don’t know where I am…)

We’re on the high seas somewhere between Rosslare in Ireland and Cherbourg in France. Possibly already in the English Channel but can’t be sure. So we’re between places, in transition, not there yet, not started and yet begun.

(Blue is my favorite color, lots on this ship)

It is my joy to know lots of people who are waaay younger than me. I think I like younger people because I never wanted to grow up, to be an adult, to have that haggard oppressed air all adults seemed to have when I was a child. Or it could be that I know how difficult it was for me to make the transition across the space between before-adult and acting-adult, actually I might still be in that space. Or… maybe it’s possibility.

Really young children know possibility. They usually get it knocked out of them when they’ve been in school a couple of years though. But you can re-learn possibility and when you re-learn it you can see it in yourself and in others. It’s a yummy feeling, kinda of sparkly with little pops of joy!

(It’s a bit scary down there…)

I know two waaay younger people who are about to start third level education and I am awash with sparkle and poppy for them! I know their journey might be rocky and messy and scary but it’s also exciting and wonderful and interesting but mainly it’s incredibly beautiful. Because they are incredibly beautiful…

It’s something I learned from standing on the path cheering bus loads of women who had been in Magdalene Laundries… no matter what people say about you, or what you think about yourself, or what you’ve done that seems like a mistake, or what you can’t do that seems like a failure or what you’re afraid you can’t do because you’re not capable, there is at the center of you, an essence, that is pure and white and beautiful and it touches everything you do and all of your journeys.

I wasn’t so sparkly, poppy when it was me… noooo, I was more scared shirtless. I’m sure you’re sick of me telling you I failed third level education, didn’t get the marks, had to leave, no piece of paper, no graduation day. If I had known that failing was just part of my incredibly beautiful journey I might have been kinder, less angry, more patient, less ashamed of myself. It’s very, very difficult to feel sparkly poppy and shame, simultaneously. One kinda pushes the other away and shame is better at pushing.

(The coffee on board may not be great but the cups are an inspiration!)

For today, for me and for you and for those starting new journeys I’m going to give lots of attention to sparkly poppy… because I want it to push stronger.

How about you? Mairead.

First Steps to Portugal

January 17, 2016 | Mairead

(From a lovely little book called One Small Step Can Change Your Life, Robert Maurer)

We’re travelling again. This time, Portugal. We’ve never been to Portugal. It’s a long way, the sat nav says it will take 17 hours from our landing in France. It’s a bit difficult for me to imagine a journey of 17 hours, I think driving for two hours is long. Happily we won’t be travelling the entire 17 hours in one go. We’ll stop and go a few times.

(Travelling along the M11 towards the port of Rosslare)

We’ve known since we returned from the last trip that we would be going again in January. I have never liked January – it’s cold, it’s dark, there are grey skies and lots of rain. This year there was even more rain. What’s to like about that? Leaving it behind is a good thing, right? Right, but a funny thing happened this January.

(Our cabin, leaving Rosslare for our sailing to France)

This January everything seemed better… Yes there was rain. Yes there were grey skies. Yes it was cold (not as cold as usual.) But there were also blue skies and dry days, there was even sunshine! Was there sunshine last January? How come I’m noticing sunshine this January? I don’t know for sure but I have some thoughts…..

For now, we are about to dock at Cherbourg and do something we’ve never done before – experience France in January. I’ll be aiming to send you a couple of posts a week, so, talk to you soon, Mairead.

We arrived here in Austria.

July 3, 2013July 3, 2013 | Mairead

We’re staying in a little town in the Austrian mountains called Gries Im Sellrain. And true to its name there was rain. With my new-found appreciation for rain, you can imagine I was very happy.

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(Near Florence, notice how flat the land is)

So… we left Florence yesterday morning at 8.45am and we arrived here at about 5pm and it’ wasn’t such a bad day. We did have a high of 30 degrees but we had a low of 17 degrees also. It was a bit of a shock to the system when I realised I might be cold. Hadn’t felt that for a while. The reality was that it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t too tiring. And… it seems my body has got used to travelling for long periods in one position and it wasn’t complaining.

03 07e

(Now you can see some hills in the distance)

I saved myself a lot of worrying and imagining scary things for nothing. Instead I spent my time noticing what was exactly in front of me and appreciating the stuff I liked. Scenery and nature were in front of me. Although Florence is very beautiful, we didn’t see a lot of nature. Not that there weren’t gardens, there were, but we didn’t go to them. We spent time in the streets and the museums and art galleries. So even though we were on a six lane highway now, there was plenty of nature all around us. And it was changing all the time.

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(The hills and mountains are getting closer)

We stopped every hour (ish) at motorway services and we have it down to a fine art by now. First one, breakfast. Second one fruit and water. Third one, lunch. Fourth one, ice cream or coffee and pastry.Last one shower! That makes five hours of driving and three hours of stops.

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(And closer)

Yesterday I promised to write a gratitude list and that has made me realise that I appreciate being able to go on this journey. To be able to take the time to do something so different. To have the health, the means and the will. To be able to visit places I have only read about or seen in documentaries. We live in privileged times and we don’t know it.

03 07a

(And finally we arrive in Austria)

While on this road I have been remembering my Dad tell us stories as children about his trip with friends to Rome. The story goes that they drove all the way from Baltinglass in Co. Wicklow, Ireland to Roma, Italy, more than fifty years ago. Before air conditioning, before motorways, before wi-fi! I would love to ask him about it now, but it’s too late, I didn’t know when it was possible to ask that I would want to know. And I would love to see photos of his journey but I don’t know if any exist.

03 07b

(In a little town with a funny church steeple)

So here’s my gratitude list….. Nature, the landscape of northern Italy and Austria from flat lands to huge craggy mountains. Motorway services – really! The journey. Rain… And finally I am grateful that I have the opportunity to write, to take photos and to make you all listen!!!

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(This is just one of that many signs to tell us… we are welcome :))

Until Germany, Mairead.

The Journey of a Drain

May 30, 2011 | Mairead

(No more crossants)

Didn’t think I’d have something interesting to tell you about so soon. As expected putting the writing first has been a bit of a challenge today, but that’s not interesting, yet. Had an idea that I might play the tourist in my own area but needed to fit in a bit of “spring” cleaning first so that didn’t work out. Then the “interesting” thing happened.

(Nice shiny floor)

The interesting thing is that the drains got blocked… initially I thought they were the rain drains but no, it wasn’t rain…… Fortunately for us it was outside. I was brave enough to ask the man if I could take a picture for my blog. Only afterwards did I wonder who would want to see it……… trust me no one would. I didn’t even want to look when I was deleting it. The blocked drain subject is a bit more spectacular than I’m describing here but again, trust me, no one wants to hear the details… no one.

DSCN3073

(The N11 on the way to Enniskillen on Friday (haven’t been outside the front door today!), an advantage of rain, it keeps the screen clean!)

So, drains interesting? Yes, they are. Everyday we expect that when we run the dishwasher or empty the sink or flush, all will be well. The water will flow from our house into a pipe and that pipe will flow into a bigger pipe and then into a water treatment facility or maybe a septic tank. So we ignore it. We have no idea which way the water is flowing. We have no idea where the pipes run under our house. We have no idea where they might connect with other people’s pipes. And the potential for malfunction is enormous! The result of malfunction is also enormous…. and smelly.

(Flowers have grown while we were away)

The nice man unblocked our drains but said the problem had not been fixed, just postponed. He suggested a camera. It’s a special camera (like the one they use in hospitals…..) and will give more information than we have at the moment. This extra information will help them and us solve the problem.

(Some look a little raggedy because of the rain but still beautiful)

So that got me thinking about sorting things out quickly. I’d like this drain problem to be done, over, and forgotten about. And I’m getting a bit edgy about what the problem might be. And even edgier about what the solution might be….. lifting floor boards? digging tunnels? hiring a builder? Maybe we should hire a builder before we dig tunnels? I’m starting to feel a bit worried. A bit like the time I wanted the eight hour journey to the south of France to be over quickly? And until it was over I was prepared to make myself feel major pain.

(Others are just beautiful)

Maybe the drain problem is just another journey. If it is, then I need to be completely present to what’s happening now and not off in some possible future. What’s happening right now is the water is flowing freely and there’s nothing to do, but await more information.

Appreciate your drains, Mairead.