Today's Random Pic...

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Behind the camera...

As you know... a photo is worth 1,000 words.... unfortunately, it rarely tells the whole story. From time to time I like pull the veil back and reveal what is really going on around me while I take a photo...



What you see: lobster pots and brightly colored buildings through the fog....






What you don't see: The ruckus of feeding seagulls and swans as they fly around me!







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More from the fog....

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Life in the fog....

Things are slowly warming up here... but the frost and snow has been replaced by a thick fog. All weekend long we lived and walked in this eerie gray soup. We normally would just hunker down and wait for it to lift, but I ended up in the city with the camera for a few hours over the weekend. I'm so glad that I took the time to explore and see the city in a new way. The streets and spots that I have photographed a thousand times had magically transformed into a new and sadder place.

This photo was taken in one of my favorite spots. During the long warm days of summer it is a popluar picnic and hangout spot for college students.... but in the fog it just felt abandoned and lonely.








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Today's Random Pic...

A frozen spider's web







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Nuclear Jesus

I have passed it many times over the years.... The bizarre glow always catches my eye as I zoom by in my car. Tonight, however, was the night that I actually grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out to the little church. I have always been intrigued by nuclear nativity scenes... I don't know what it is about the soft glow that seems to always be emitting warmth and welcome on cold and frosty winter nights...... I stood with my camera for a long time looking at the glowing faces that silently tell a miraculous story............ I don't actually know how long I stood there before I looked up and noticed that right next to the nativity scene stood another (more gruesome) scene from the life of Christ (that is always located there). The glowing face of the baby was now that of grown and bloodied man who seemed to have compassion and wisdom in His eyes and in his hands. Standing there on the side of the road in the light of the nativity and in the shadow of the cross, I was silently reminded that the story does not end in Bethlehem... and it does not end on the cross.........


The nuclear nativity scene...





Nuclear Jesus











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Today's Random Pic...

Taken at sunset







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The Walls

I love the rock walls here. I love that everywhere you look these lumps of history seem to hug the contours of the landscape. Many of the fields here still don't have proper gates that open and close. In stead, farmers have small gaps in the walls or certain spots that they dismantle and rebuild on a regular basis. I often look at these walls and think of the generations it took to reclaim this rocky land by clearing the small fields and building these walls...




This picture was taken a few days ago while on a walk with a friend...



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Winter

November 1st is the first day of Winter in Ireland. Let me just say.... winter has truly come and it has come with a vengeance!! We have (over the past week) had a few moments of sunshine... but only for a moment or two at a time... most of the weather has been extremely wet and gray. The change in weather has really played games with my sinuses. I never had these problems in the states, but here I seem to get these sinus headaches that can last all day. So.... needless to say the last week has not been full of a lot of photo opportunities. I took the following photo a while back on a very wet and gray day (just like today). I love the trees here. I love how their shape paints a picture of the strength and shape of the wind.








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The Pub...

Just a few quick pictures taken outside a pub...













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Today's Random Pic...

in slow decay...







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"Mary in the window"

I took this photo last week while on a short walk (not too far from the donkey and farmer picture below). The thatched cottage was beautiful, but it really was the little statue of Mary looking down at me from the tiny window that caught my eye.








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Street art

There have been some interesting things taking place on the city streets during the arts festival. Last week there were several street performances that took place at night. There were not really parades, but rather were stories being told by actors in a creative way. For instance: One night last week we were in the city around 10pm and witnessed a flying race. Five "inventors" had created "flying machines" and were racing through the city's pedestrian center. The only problem was that they kept breaking down. Once one stopped they all stopped and started trying to sabotage each others machine. Oh... did I forget to mention that some of the flying machines were equipped with weapons? And that they would occasionally kidnap bystanders and take them for a ride? It was crazy and funny! We walked down the streets and watched the madness! here are a few pics!

Off to a fast start the vehicle in front soon lost the lead. Notice the child that has already been placed on the front of the flying machine!





Racing in luxury...





No doubt that this was the fastest of the group... it also had the most 'flair'.



(see next post!)



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A few more pics...

(See the post above)



Showing off for the crowd... I'm sure that the kids was scared to death!..... I was!





The winners celebrate...










After the race - trying to extinguish his flying machine!




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Today's Random Pic...

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More pictures from the race...

I really like this picture... I had not planned on having this guy in the picture, but he stood up right as I snapped the picture... I kinda like it.




Some of the 110,000 people watching the boats and baking in the sun!




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The rest of the story...

So... I didn't spend all of the bank holiday weekend asleep in the garden! In fact, I had just come back from a very exhausting (and fun) adventure. You probably didn't know this, but Ireland is playing host to the world's fastest sailing boats as they race around the world. The two week stopover here has turned out to be a lot of craic (a real festival atmosphere). The west coast greeted the boats as they came in last week with giant bonfires all along the coast. The fact that the boats started coming in around 1am didn't seem to dampen any of the excitement. The docklands where the boats are being kept have been transformed into a concert and exhibition fair ground, and free events are being held every day of the two weeks. On Saturday (before my nap in the garden) the boats went out for a set of short races. Before the races began, however, the 'Red Arrows' (The British version of the 'Blue Angels') performed a free exhibition. It is estimated that around 110,000 people showed up to sit on the beach and watch the races and exhibition. This great crowd and the hottest day of the year (around 74F) made the whole event a blast to see and photograph. I ended up going in with a couple of friends and walking around for a couple of hours... needless to say - I was exhausted when I got home. Here are a few pics from the day.



















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Today's Random Pic...

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Views from the kiln...

You might have read on here before that I do a bit of pottery (for fun) during the winter months... well, last night was probably one of the most memorable firings I have ever been to. Let me explain... Once a year a local potter has a special firing in an outdoor kiln (pronounced "kill-in" here). We wait and wait for a nice night to drag the big metal kiln outside to bake our pots and sculptures that we have been working on for a couple of weeks. The evening is usually a lot of fun as we all stand around the kiln talking and warming ourselves as it heats up to 1000C.

As I walked down to the pottery studio last night I noticed that there was a very faint rainbow out over the sea. I stopped along the way and took a couple of pictures, but they really didn't look all that spectacular. As the night progressed, however, the rainbow kept growing brighter and brighter... and longer and longer... until it was the brightest rainbow I had ever seen and it reached completely across the sky. I stood out there with my pottery friends in amazement at the beauty of this somewhat common occurrence in Ireland.... One of my friends in the class made the statement that she never gets tired of watching the sea and the weather, that they are always so amazing and magical.... I had to agree... In the end, the rainbow must have lasted an hour and half before it faded away into nothing, and we all had a fun and memorable time around the old kiln...


















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Today's Random Pics...

An old rusty bike...











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Fairies dancing in the garden....

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This is the first and only picture I have ever taken of fairies. The three little guys danced and played in the sunny part of the garden for only a few moments before my camera scared them off...

I have to tell you... getting pictures of fairies in Ireland is not as easy as you would think. They don't just come out and pose like a leprechaun - you know...! You really have to know where and when to look for them. The best time to spot them is in the evening when the Sun bathes the countryside with magical yellow glow - when the smell of peat fires is starting to grace the air... They always seem to be in green leafy areas... and only can be seen on the stillest of days.... You have to be very careful photographing them. If they see you trying to take their picture they will quickly disappear.


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Today's Random Pic...

I came across this strange sign this past week. It was hanging on the side of an old coffee shop in a little village. Does anyone else find it a bit strange?






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Today's Random Pic

Sunset in St. Stephen's Green - Dublin







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The third day...

'When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back - it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and the were alarmed. And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here.'"
Mark 16: 1-6






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In honor of it being Good Friday...

"It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things."
Luke 23:44-49






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Today's Random Pic...

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Today's Random Pic...

Have I ever told you that I love it when people paint buildings such brilliant colors here? It isn't uncommon to see building after building painted a different bright color... and I still can't help but sit back.... look at the yellows, oranges, reds, blues, and purples and smile. I don't know when they started doing this.... but it sure makes the place look so cheerful.


"Painting the wall in Ireland"





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Today's Random Pic...

This is a pic that I got last week while on a little dive through the mountains...






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Today's Random Pic and Question...

I came across this while on a hike this weekend.... It is a stressful life - being a sheep in Ireland!

What do you think they worry about? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts....







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Today's Random Pic...

"Reflections"





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Pottery

I was really sad for my pottery course to come to an end for the summer. I always look forward to my weekly time to play in the mud. I think that there is something therapeutic about hanging out with friends.... listening to good music... and making a muddy mess!


We ended the year with a special outdoor firing. We worked for weeks preparing our sculptures and pots with a special crank clay and eventually had a nice calm night to fire everything. My instructor ( a local potter) has built a special outdoor kiln that heats the pottery very quickly to a very hot temperature. After the pots reach 1000 degrees Celsius we open the kiln. All of the pottery were still glowing bright red when we fished out and quickly put each pot into a rubbish bin full of sawdust. The sawdust instantly caught fire and made an awesome display! After all the pottery was put into the bin we covered it with it's lid. The rapid cooling and lack of oxygen made the potter's glaze crackle. The end result was amazing.










Here are a few of the things I made this year.