A Little Wildlife Adventure

     Soon, we continue our Irish travels to Dingle, in the southwest, a place not to be missed!

    Today we do a little wildlife spotting with grandson Henry.

     The elephant seals at Piedras Blancas on the

California Pacific Coast Highway caught his attention.

   "Nana" and he marveled at Zebras near the Hearst Castle at San Simeon.

   Even the wildlife seem mellow, as gentle we go into a new year and a new decade. I wonder if these '20's will roar?

    Wishing you well being and cheers as we continue on the trail. 

BEYOND EXPECTATIONS

          "When you have nothing more to say, just drive 
       for a day around the peninsula.
       The sky is tall as over a runway,
       The land without marks, so you will not arrive."
                   Seamus Heaney from The Peninsula    

      If it was only the land and sea, Ireland would provide this globe with a bounty of lyrical word and prose and a beauty beyond beauty. But the soul of those words and the guardians of the beauty are a people, unique perhaps, but certainly abundant of wit, spirit, explorers of the heart and resolutely independent.  

    It was our good fortune to see the Irish Republic with Irish friends, Kay, Willie, Kay and Jack.

     An almost constant companion was beauty and personality. 

     The presence of history and scenic nature are powerful, but this is a nation of a great people, sociable people. 

    Wit is a near constant companion. Consider the scene below...

    Glendalough in County Wicklow is a beautiful setting and the location of an ancient abbey, the home of a venerated Saint, Kevin. 
    Kevin was a pious man and lived as a hermit, shunning social contact, especially women. 
    While he is a canonized Saint and held with regard, there is a popular cultural remembrance of him as well. It is a tale  about drowning a woman who tempted him. 
     In a Song by the Dubliners are the lines

       "One evening he landed a trout, sir
         He landed a big trout.
         When young Kathleen from over the way
         Came to see what the old monk was about...
         
         fol di do fol di do day

         "Well get out o me way, said the Saint
          For I am a man of great piety
          and me good manners I wouldn't taint
          not be mixing with female society."

           fol di do fol di do day

           Oh but Kitty she wouldn't give in
           And when he got home to his rockery
          He found she was seated therein
          A-polishin' up his old crockery

           fol di do fol di do day

           Well he gave the poor creature a shake
           And I wish that the Garda had caught him!
           For he threw her right into the lake
           And, be Jaysus, she sank to the bottom

    A closer look at Ireland is onboard in coming posts.

     There is an Irish castle in the charming County Meath village of Trim, and chances are you have seen it, on the big screen, but not "where" you might expect. 

       We'll see how the land of writers celebrates the word and the wordsmiths. 

        There is an Irish social current I wish US citizens could take upon themselves. I can only assume it is born of a desire for Independence, not unlike that of our ancestors 245 years ago.
      Ireland declared their independence from the United Kingdom in 1919, following the Easter Uprising of 1916. There was struggle and bloodshed. Today the Republic is a place of pride and the history is close of mind. And in the North, there are still troubles.

            "And drive back home, still with nothing to say

        Except that now you will uncode all landscapes

        By this: things founded clean on their own shapes,

        Water and ground in their extremity."

                             Seamus Heaney

         

        Come along for an Irish journey.

        See you down the trail.

The Teaser

    Graham Greene spoke truth when he said, "There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and let's the future in."
     That moment occurred when I read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. My imagination was ignited and a desire for travel was launched. 
     Stevenson was an ambassador of travel and early I took to heart what he wrote; "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travels sake. The great affair is to move." 

     My life of journalism and documentary production allowed a decent bit of "moving," globe trotting and cultural immersion. 
   I was asked once to write a piece about the adjustment one must manage when returning from extensive travel. A meager truth I surfaced was this; the re-entry to normal also helps enshrine the intoxicating, psychoactive, or mind stretching affect of travel.

    As you have read we have been away for a while, celebrating a milestone in our marriage, connecting with ancestral roots. Ever the journalist and curious explorer we return with a couple thousand images and even more memories. 

    I want to share with you what we saw, did and felt.
   

   We were on country roads, navigating large cities, at historic sites, immersed in the local culture, in Scotland and Ireland. There was much to see and learn.

     There is history that makes ours seem youthful. Complexity, intellect, and human endeavor that is profound.

   Abundant beauty, nature and culture.

Always near is history that shaped humankind.

  We are fascinated by mysteries of ancient cultures, older than the great Pyramids, cosmic riddles.

Profound beauty, picturesque charm. 

Music and culture.

  Exploration and discovery. 

Food and other feasts of the senses. 

   Grandeur and majesty.  

   Politics, struggle, and the DNA of fighting for independence. 

  Whimsy, expression and stunning beauty.

  Intellect and impact. 

    And there are the people. Our exploration of Scottish history, genealogy, and nature was organized and moderated by research and experts.
    And so it was in Ireland, though our guides were friends, people we have hosted in California.
     We benefited wonderfully from the expertise of Irish friends who kindly shared the magic of their Republic. An endless gratitude to Kay and Willie,
  

 and to Kay and Jack. 

  So stay tuned. In the days to come there will be scenes, experiences, history, and the pastiche of travel and culture.

   I hope you will enjoy what you read and see, in a vicarious travel adventure.

   I'm tempted to say come along for a foreign adventure but I'm reminded of Stevenson's summation; "There are no foreign lands, it is the traveler only who is foreign."

   We have been the foreigner and now we seek to interpret and report.

   These are strange days on both sides of the Atlantic, a cultural metamorphosis is in the offing. 

    It is my humble suggestion we have reached these vexing times because we have become to tethered to small worlds, of small screens and small words and small ideas, and led by small people. 

    Greene said it well when he wrote in Burnt Out Case, "The more base a life is, the more we fear change."

     We have much to share. I hope you enjoy the ride that is to come. Let's move. 

     See you down the trail.