Today's Random Pic...

The silent halls of Quin Abbey where Irish monks once lived and worked...

Bloody Sunday...

As you may know... the Irish don't like the English very much. In fact, most /all of the Celts don't like the English. When you think of all the historical baggage (700 years of occupation) and abuses ( kicking people off of their land and letting them starve during the famine), it is easy to understand how there could be a few hurt feelings.

All of these ancient wounds were brought to the surface this week because of a Rugby match. England and Ireland played yesterday in Dublin. This is not the first time that the two have played, but it was the first time that they had ever played at Croke Park.... and it was the first time that "God Save the Queen" (the English national anthem) was played there.

I know that you have never heard of Croke Park, but this field is sacred ground to the Irish. It is the sight of the November 21st, 1920 massacre known as "Bloody Sunday". It was on this date that English troops occupying Ireland raided a Gaelic football match. 10,000 men, women, and children sat in the stadium watching the Gaelic game when the English troops begin firing pistols and machine guns into the unexpecting crowd. The casualties included Jeannie Boyle, who had gone to the match with her fiancee and was due to be married five days later, and 14-year-old John Scott, so mutilated that they thought he had been bayoneted to death. Another two victims were aged 10 and 11. Two players were killed and one man was killed as he performed the last rites. The soldiers kept shooting for about ninety seconds and as the spectators streamed out, an armored car fired its machine guns over the heads of the crowd, trying to halt them.

Major-General Boyd, the officer commanding Dublin District, said that in his opinion, "the firing on the crowd was carried out without orders, was indiscriminate, and unjustifiable, with the exception of any shooting which took place inside the enclosure." The findings of the courts of inquiry were suppressed by the British Government and have only recently come to light.



All of these old wounds began to ache as the English national anthem was about to play. In the end the 80,000 Irish fans treated the team and the anthem with respect... and the Irish rugby team went on to whip the English by a score of 43-13!!!! What a game!

In the Bookshop...

Well... I finally finished reading 'Little Women'! I have to say that I absolutely loved it! As a friend here once said (about another book), "It was like eating chocolate all day"! Every turn of the page evoked emotion. I found myself laughing out loud while reading in coffee shops and almost in tears late at night as I read in bed (yes, I am man enough to admit that!). The strange thing is that people reacted in strange ways when they found out that I was reading it. Mostly my guy friends would just chuckle a bit... and the women would say, "aahh.... you have never read it!?!". I'm glad that I took some time off of my adventure/boy books to read this little heartwarming story. I found it refreshing to read a simple character based book. I really felt as if I was right there with them in their little old house. Anyone else read it? Any thoughts? Comments?

The reward for finishing 'Little Women' is a trip to my favorite bookshop! I went yesterday and spent the longest time searching through the maze of bookshelves for my next classic. I picked up several books and carried them around for a long time, but finally decided to only buy the one book that I am going to read next. I don't want to overload myself (I am, however, reading several books at the same time - This is just my pleasure reading). So - I found an older copy of a book that I have always heard talked about, and have even discussed in history classes, but I don't think that I have ever actually seen a copy of - much less read. I decided on "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We visited Mrs. Stowe's house this past summer while visiting our friends Blake and Mary in Connecticut. We had taken a day trip with our friends to see Samuel Clemens' (aka Mark Twain) house, and she happened to live next door. It was at that time that I thought to myself, "I would really like to read that book..." So, here I am. I am going to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Today's Random Pic...

Someone didn't tell me that I had stick up hair!

Us on a hike with some friends last weekend.

Today's Random Pic...

Where Am I?

From time to time I have to travel to Dublin with work... This last Monday I took a train ride to the big city for the day. I didn't have a lot of time to enjoy the sights (only about an hour or so) before I had to go to a meeting, but I felt like 'country come to town'. The capital city is so different from the rest of Ireland... It is truly overwhelming! The mixture of languages, the crush of people waiting and running at every cross walk, the double-decker buses flying by, the sounds of horns, and the silhouettes of statues out of the corner of my eye make me wonder if I was really in Ireland at all! Ireland has a population of about 4.5 million people. 1.5 million live in greater Dublin. Dublin truly is different from all other areas of Ireland... I enjoyed my day there. There are always things to see and things to do... and I love to wander the streets with my camera...

Today's Random Pic...

Making Up For Lost Time...

I have a confession to make. I was not always the best of students. I don't know if it was because I was a part of Generation X and watched too much TV or if it had something to do with my dyslexia, but I have developed a deep regret that I didn't take the time while i was in school (especially High School) to really read all of the literature that my teachers were attempting to force upon me. In all honesty, I think that I really missed out on a lot by simply skimming most of the books (or not reading them at all). It was not until I was out of High School and then in college that I developed a love for reading. After college Dee and I married and moved to North Carolina where I never had time to read anything that I wanted. I was drowning in an unrealistic sea of required reading for my Master's degree......... (a drowning so severe that I feel as if I am just now (four years later) really recovering). Dee has always loved to read - a trait that I really admire in her - and I (because of her example) am attempting to go back and re-read many of the great classics that I have always heard about, but have never actually read. I don't have any system... just that I plan on picking the next book after I finish the current book from my favorite little used bookstore in the city. My only requirement is that the used copy has to be picked on the day I go into the shop, and that the book must be of some age (i.e. not a paperback!).

I started this new adventure with Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" while we were in the states this last summer/fall. I found it refreshing to be reading a book with great American / Southern flare while in the states. It was truly an exciting "can't put this down" book. No wonder it is a classic. I then read "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe. I loved this tale of isolation and creativity on a deserted island. I found myself lost in the pages wondering if I would have been so inventive and methodical. I just finished reading Jules Verne's classic "A Journey to the Center of the Earth". This early sci-fi book was far beyond it's time, and I really appreciated that it paved the way for many of this centuries books and movies... but it was a hard read, and I found it a bit outlandish. For my new book - I have just picked up an old copy of "Little Women" by Louisa M. Alcott. Dee and some of my friends here think it is a bit funny that I am reading this one, but I am ready for a change in pace. I've read several adventure novels and now it is time to settle down with something a bit slower paced. Dee has assured me that I will love the book... especially the fact that they really are tiny women (Who would have guessed?). So... I am going to give it a go.

A "Frank" Update...

Life down on the bottom floor continues to be well... we have occasionally heard a noise or strange sound upstairs... and we really don't know what all Frank has been up to. I'm really quite envious. think about it... he has his own penthouse suite with food brought to him on several wooden platters. We have been treating him to a selections of cheeses, peanut butter, and even a chocolate spread (Nutella). Frank seems to like all three but seems to enjoy the chocolate best of all. He has this superhuman... I mean super-mouse power to completely eat all of the food off of the trap without setting it off. In the end, the chocolate spread was just too tempting... and well.... let's just say that Frank is no longer with us. Dee and I are going to continue living down here for a couple of days just to make sure that there isn't a Frankina or little Frankies still living up there...................

We Shall Call Him... Frank

We have not slept for virtually two nights now. My head hurts... My back hurts... And I am ready to fall asleep even though it is only 9pm. Why you ask? We have had a visitor.... Not so much a visitor or guest... But more like an invader. Yes, we have a "wee moose". A wee furry friend that decided two nights ago that he prefers our bedroom to his own little nest in the neighboring field. We first heard him as I was drifting off to sleep around 1am on Tuesday night. It was a scratching sound that made both of us flip on the lights and jump up... Just in time to see the cheeky thing hop up out of a paper bag about three feet from our bed! He looked like a miniature winged squirrel... Vertically springing out of the bag... Legs wide out... Tail straight... Little toes stretched to their limit. In a really cool slow motion 'matrix' like move - I jumped out of bed grabbing my glasses and chased the pointy-eared little guy out of our room and down the hall into the hot water closet. I immediately went to work setting up traps in the hot water closet. An hour later (2am)- as I was falling asleep - we heard a snap. I jumped out of bed - flung open the closet door only to see the cheeky guy still eating the cheese! I couldn't catch him... And so I reset the traps. Around 3:45am we decided that it was hopeless. No sleep for us.

It is extremely common for mice to invade everyone's homes this time of year. Everyone seems to working to get rid of at least one... And we have not had one yet... So it is our turn. Dee and I retreated. We made our way down to the living room. Dee took the couch... And I got the recliner. We have decided to name him Frank. We have also decided to just give him the upstairs. Now... Before you laugh... You didn't see Frank. He is scary! Really fast..... They will claw your eyes out while you sleep - you know. Scary and fast! ...And don't start me about their teeth! So... We are content to living down here and let him live in peace up there. We had been talking about taking a vacation and staying in the guest bedroom down here for a change of pace. I figure that we can live down here for about a week... You know... We want to give Frank his space.... We value hospitality.