Old People

Just a little light-hearted joviality.  Click on "Old People". Enjoy.

Old People

A Thin Place

Natural Sculpture on the Burren, County Clare, Ireland

The Burren is a lovely, barren, haunting, thin place--where past and present meet.  Burren, we're told means stony place, and that it surely is.  It also is home to many rare and not so rare flowers that grow in the cracks.  http://www.burrenperfumery.com/

Walking the Burren

Today, is the day before the day before All Saints Day (Nov.1)  http://www.wf-f.org/AllSaints.html.  I find myself stocked with candy for the little beggars of Halloween--All Hallows Eve (Oct. 31).  Costumes, candy and childhood memories.  Let's enjoy!

Mother's Driving Lesson

I'm doing a short piece for my writing class and will share it here--for posterity. LOL.

Re:  Exclamation Point

Exclamations in our family were rare.  But one incident did occur and remains in my psyche, since it seemed so unlike Dad.  The tale came to be known as "Mother’s Driving Lesson."  It occurred before they brought my brother and me into the world.  And now the story has its place in our family lore.

John and Phyllis had agreed that she should learn to drive.  I’m not sure why, since they owned only one car--a used, stick-shift, 1926 Chevy coupe.  Nevertheless, on a certain Sunday-outing to visit her parents in Bancroft, Michigan, John placed Phyllis behind the wheel and off they went.  I can only imagine the preparations that allowed her to get to the "exclamation" point.  She obviously had some knack of starting and stopping or they wouldn’t have made it as far as they did.

She had to have known that the brake would slow and eventually stop the vehicle.  She also had to have known about the use of the clutch—how it helped in shifting gears and worked with the brake.  The pedals were pressed with the foot—right foot for brake and left foot for clutch—simple enough concept.  Phyllis could handle it.

So on that Sunday drive things apparently went well for most of the 35-mile trip.  I can almost picture it, because after my brother and I came along, the Sunday trips were still occurring.  Eventually the Chevy coupe was traded for a used Chevy sedan to accommodate the four of us.  On those drives I remember peering through the car window as we rode--searching for favorite sites such as Burma Shave signs or the large and colorful Red Man tobacco signs painted on the sides of barns.  Or trying to spy white horses during our games of "Road-side Garbage." Good times.

As I recall John's and Phyllis’s story, I can almost see their approach as they neared Grandma's house and can visualize the mature oak tree as it stood out front—its trunk, dark and unyielding.

Almost there, Phyllis tapped the brake pedal.  She may not have been slowing as much as John thought she should, since the car was supposed to stop just short of the tree.  She was headed straight toward it, but still had time to stop.  John couldn’t take the suspense and began to speak up, “Throw out the clutch!  Throw out the clutch!”  Phyllis knew how to push in the clutch, but had no clue how to throw it out. It was then that the bumper of their Chevrolet coupe and the trunk of the tree met and exclaimed, “Kerchunk!”

I’m happy to report that no one was physically injured.  There may have been a gouge in the tree's trunk and a scratch on the bumper, but the upshot of it was that Phyllis refused to ever drive again.  She managed to carry on nicely through life as a non-driver, because she had good friends and family who did drive and had a husband who didn’t mind chauffeuring her wherever she wanted—quite like royalty. 

Doolin Seascape and Crab Island

On Doolin's rocky shore looking toward Crab Island, County Clare

From Doolin you can catch a boat to the Aran Islands--heartily recommended.

Today is Saturday,October 24, 2009.  Personal stuff not going according to plan.  Lost yesterday to what I thought might be flu, but today am feeling fine.  Got up this morning, threw a load of clothes in to wash and when they began to rinse and pump out, my half bath in the kitchen overflowed.  Thank you Lord, that the water was clean.  After soaking a few towels in the wipe-up, I talked with Rebecca, who told Jon, who called me with a plumber's name.  Plumber will be here Tuesday, since all seems quiet now on the drainage front.

Then, the call came that someone wanted to show the house from 3 to 4 pm.  I hurried around with the vacuum cleaner and feather duster, left at 2:45 to kill time at the Arboretum after which I returned home.  Then I picked up a message that the agent or someone had canceled.  The house wasn't shown and no reason was given. And another day as a homeowner is nearly complete.

It's early Saturday evening.  I'm thinking positively and with good reason, since Jesus is here.  Matthew 11:28-30 comes to mind. Guess I'll ponder awhile.  More later...

Some of Dot's favs  (Click on this)

Ponderings

Reminiscing St. Patrick's Day Parade in Tulla, County Clare, Ireland

The local and world news these days is usually full of mayhem. In order to stay informed, I take a peek at the latest happeings on t.v.. It doesn't take long for me to change channels or simply click off the tube. So, to maintain sanity when going online, websites are carefully selected,. Some are serious, but hopeful and logic provoking.
This morning I came across one I'm saving for further pondering. It has to do with 'cash for clunkers' and its ramifications. I'll see if I can post it below. Here is the link. http://spectator.org/archives/2009/10/20/clunker-nation.
--more later--

October 14, 2009

March at Moygalla, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare

Cold weather has hit Charlotte, yet not quite as bad as the above. I took this pic through Winnie Keogh's kitchen window on the morning of my arrival to Ireland, March of 2009. Snow is generally short lived there. Next day the white stuff was completely gone. (I've got to start planning a return trip.)

Weather here is cool--in the 50s--and rainy. There's the feel of nature's getting ready for its yearly rest. Today I made more of Julia Child's Potage Parmentier. I can't get enough of it. This noon I took what was left of a previous batch and added a can of cut green beans to the soup, blended it all together (in a blender on 'puree'), warmed it up in the microwave. Yum! It's a fabulous way to eat one's veggies. I'm going to try it with cooked carrots, pumpkin (maybe), and whatever else might blend up smoothly.

The pureed soups are big in Ireland. I wonder if it's not the French influence there. Not everybody likes pureed soups, but I find them soothing. Julia's recipe is so easy and absolutely wonderful. If you'd like the recipe, I'll pass it on to you. More later...

October 13, 2009

Atlantic Sunset in Lahinch, County Clare

It's early evening here in Charlotte. Lee Garden's Chinese cuisine is digesting. It was delish. The fortune cookie said something about the joy of getting something you desire after much waiting. I'm wondering if it is prophetic, in that I might have to wait a long time to sell my townhouse. It was being shown this evening. An earlier showing to different people, turned out to be too low. Seems I'm going to dig in and hunker down. It's a game I tend not to play...haggling, don't you know? More later...

Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland...matchmaker-village of legend. I was travelling the Burren and came upon Lisdoonvarna in the off season, yet these two have no off season. They dance straight through time. T'would be nice to see them again.

It's Friday. Had a session with my dulcimer group this morning at a nursing home. The audience clapped, tapped their feet and smiled a great deal. As I said goodbye to a gentleman in a wheel chair, he took my hand and kissed it. Made my day.
To the right is a photo taken near Doonbeg, southwest County Clare, Ireland in March of this year. The pot of gold is somewhere near Dublin, quite a bit north-east.
Tomorrow I have to go to WalMart for a large light bulb and to the MailBox to send 5 copies of Shannon Song to a book group in Lake Lure. Their club has invited me to meet with them next month. What an honor. And I get to speak about Ireland!
More later...

October 6, 2009

Stayed around the house today with a sense of a bug or something. Maybe it's paranoia about staying away from H1N1. I went to Bally Fitness Monday evening and never again. Too busy, too hard to find machines, too old and decrepit feeling. I'll stick to daytime workouts and the (woe is me) Silver Sneakers class, which is targeted to oldsters who want to stay independent. That's myself.
I heard recently from two friends in Ireland. Claudia, my Brazilian friend whom I met in Limerick at church and Elaine, my landlord in Sixmilebridge. Elaine's dog, Peig, was a delight. I'll scrounge around and find a good pic of Peig. She's a jumper or a leaper, you might say. If the car window was down, she would greet you as you drove in the driveway by jumping through the window.
My friend, Ana, remarked today that she found it odd that people drive on a parkway and park on a driveway. She's our neighborhood 15-year old clever, brainy gal. If you borrow that, please credit Ana. :)

What Day Is It?

The questions bothering my psyche today are, "How did I get this old, and it's October, you say?"
Today I hope to hold myself to a bit of discipline and write something often. Nothing deep, I'm sure, but at least a little trail of thought to pinpoint my journey. Something like this. Today, this October 3rd, 2009, I brushed my 10 year old Sheltie, D'arcy. Also, dosed her with flea, tick and heart worm meds. She looked somewhat surprised that I had remembered. I'll enclose of picture of the pretty creature, taken after her 'mama' groomed her. So as I attempt to post a pic in the correct position,

I'll do so with increasing befuddlement. Anyway...please forgive the sideways shot. I have tried any number of rotates and saves, yet here it is. More later...