August 5 .... Peak Experience #1 - head up in the clouds.

All right, I had a reprieve.  So we get to Dublin, and I loved Dublin. Crazy, bustling, funky, noisy, old, architecturally totally interesting, there's a castle in the middle of the city - I mean come on! Our holiday was split into three parts: three days in Dublin, 7 days cycling the Connemara region, 3 days in Killarney, and the last night in Dublin, then home. These next few posts are pieces of the adventure...

I have to share that my first peak experience came when I got to the top of the Partry Mountain that we had to cycle up and over on our first day. Holy Cow ... what an amazing feeling. I was communing with nature, I was cycling through a cloud, a real cloud, I was talking to sheep, I was inspiring myself, having biblical moments - maybe I was hallucinating because of the effort required to cycle up a mountain? I don't know. I felt at one with God and the universe a number of times. All along the road we were cycling up, someone had the kind heart to paint how much further there was to go, cheering us on from another time and dimension so it seemed. At the beginning I didn't realize what the painted messages were. Finally at the top of the mountain there was a sign saying I had made it! When I came to that spot I was alone, Honey having cycled on ahead of me. We were a group of 21, all of us in our own head space, challenging ourselves to make it, to not give up, to keep pushing - this despite wind, rain, clouds, a vertical ride rather than a horizontal one! I was alone up there - and it was stupendous. The scene when I crested the mountain totally breathtaking. I cried. I was overwhelmed, feeling like the beauty and grandness of the mountain was going to swallow me up.

And yes, that is a cloud you see just behind me, and yes, it really is that low, or I really am that high :)

That, was peak experience number one.

August 5 .... reflections...

Well hello everyone. I'm back from Ireland. I have lots of stories to share. However, I'm so mindf*&^ed from jet lag I can't think straight enough to write what I want to write.

So I'm just letting you know I'm here, I had an awesome time in Ireland. I aim to write about the several peak experiences I had, about people I met, about things I saw.

Happy Day ... see you tomorrow.

July... oops not sure of the date... or the day... oh my!

Well here I am at the train station in Dublin. We leave today to meet up with the tour for the cycling part of our trip. Here is a sampling of the things I would say I'm grateful and priveldged to have experienced....

First of all you need to know - the food in Dublin as amazing (except for the full Irish breakfast - stay away from that!!). So far we have not had one bad meal - at all. Our first lunch at the Jameson Distillery was wonderful; excellent; first dinner at Hedigan's, lovely Michael teaching us about how the used to serve whisky straight from the barrel over 50 years ago, and even better, that night, an authentic session! Eight musicians, sitting around two tables just playing - banjo, mandolin, two piccolos, a fiddle, two drum skin things, and an eigth guy doing I don't remember what...

The next day we found a fantastic little hide away restaurant - a small, organic friendly, funky little place - we went there for lunch on both days. Delish.... Night number two found us in the shi shi part of downtown Dublin, we had Asian, was fantastic.

And last night, well so ok .. you knew it was going to have to happen ... last night we did the pub thing (and God help me.. it starts early!)... first downtown in Temple Bar ... lots of musicians, lots of pints (eek) ...meeting new people, from Finland, from Texas, one from the Gatineau!! We older women upset that the young and beautiful Jacynthe from Gatineau got picked up by the equally beautiful guitar player!!! Ah.. our misspent youth ... 

And finally last night - we went to the Gravedigger's Pub... holy cow.. its the real old thing for real.. shellaced plaster walls and ceilings, locals only... we were for sure the only tourists! Was great...

And today we're off to Galway.

That's it for now... train whistle is a blowin'!

July 19+ .. for Andrea....

Sometimes, when life throws us the curve balls it inevitably will, our compass points get knocked off a bit. We get so wrapped up in our dramas, don't come up for air enough, maybe get lazy, complacent... maybe I've done all that.

I have a dear, dear friend. I have known her longer than any other friend... something crazy like since we were four, five or six... I forget which. Our stories are so intertwined it's eerie sometimes. We share a culture, we share the bane of alcoholism in our families, we both had three kids, a failed first marriage, a divorce. We have been there for each other, lent an ear, cried and laughed with each other. Grown up together. We have had periods of our lives where we have been in and out of touch - and while that may have been ok in the past, it certainly is no longer.

Sometimes, we take our friends for granted. We think they are there, living their lives, happily, busily, without us. Sometimes we each think the other so busy, we think ourselves so busy... Sometimes we don't recognize the impact our words might have ... like even in a Blog.

I promise to pay more attention to that. I promise to honour our friendship. It's funny how we both think the same, both in truth felt somewhat forgotten.... but that could not be further from the truth.

I love and cherish you, always.

July 19.... Adieu...

And I'm on vacation!!!!! What a blissful feeling that is no? And what a blessing that my last day was filled with warmth, insight, hard worker bees making me proud, love and care. I love my work. Now I feel my brain kind of melting, letting go, dissolving... on to new and exciting adventures! Yay me!

I'm plenty grateful. Seas are calm here at home, I aim to keep them that way. I'm packed, I'm excited, let's go!

See you when I see you....
xo

July 18 ..Fresh Air...

It's a balmy 26 today. We turned the AC off and threw open the windows. Lovely. It's nice feeling a breeze caress you. It's nice having a home that smells good. We've been tidying, taking care of the nest, each in our corner, but like a team anyway. I feel grateful for that.

Dinner will definitely be out on the deck tonight. That will be lovely too.

Sometimes there's lots of lovely. I just need to soften some to see it.

Tomorrow will probably be the last post for a few weeks. I promise, that while away, if I find an internet cafe I'll send a shout out. If not.. I promise to take notes of my moments of gratitude and share them upon my return.

Be well, and a warm heart to you.

July 17 .... sun, water and poo...

I had an awesome day. We went kayaking with new friends. The bad news is we went to Riviere du Nord. Little did we know that last year there had been a huge issue with sewage being released into the river and it is no longer safe to swim. Yak! We kayaked down it anyway. Didn't see anything but still - that people can treat the land the way they do is just terrible. The irony too of our newspaper today saying there is only one lake closed in all of Quebec (not this one) - when there is a huge sign on Lac Raymond saying it is closed (even though it's dated 2009). And even though the sign was up - lots of people were swimming!!! WTF?

Anyhow - after the kayak we were treated to an amazing picnic lunch our buddies brought. Yumm! Then they took us to a lake that his brother has a cottage on! And we did swim! And it was spectacular! Nothing like a good swim in a Laurentian lake I always say! Yes of course I ached for Winnetou. I'll be going there in August, bring my dad along, let him have a day there.

The countdown is on for Ireland that's for sure. We'll be wrapping up final details tomorrow - and off on Tuesday! Exciting stuff...

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As the tide ebbs and flows between Honey and I - I sometimes find it difficult to find the voice and heart that is authentic. While I'm thrilled with the things I did today - there is a stone in my heart - which makes it hard for me to feel grateful. I guess the stone in my heart - kind of parallels the marbles in my mouth I wrote about the other day - only it's not the words that are obscured .. but my feelings. So I end up feeling distant from what I am writing, sometimes feeling distant period. I soldier on.

Why am I sharing all this? Cause I need to be truthful.