I got my foot stuck on the baby gate earlier this week and went down on my side, yielding a bruise the size of a small country. It is hard being empathetic: while it gives you the appearance of emotional… Read More ›
Travelogues
Famous Last Words
My mom’s older brother Dave had a dream the night before my grandfather died. In the dream his sister, who had died from a heartattack, was in a car trying to warn Dave about something. Dave contacted the family the… Read More ›
The Old Barn
Now that we are leaving in a week, we have a list of things to do. We’ve been away from work so long, it’s hard to get anything done as our brains have just about dried up. There are a… Read More ›
The Rattling Fan
We got back from Ireland this week, and my mom was tweaking about her refrigerator, which rattles when the door is shut. You have to keep the door ajar to stop the rattling, but that lets out the cool air,… Read More ›
The Dénouement
I am a big fan of putting things away. I even like putting away Christmas decorations, and if it’s been a bad Christmas, I’m not as gentle. This is the beginning of our German denouement, and soon, my sabbatical denouement…. Read More ›
Dick Mack’s
I finally had my quintessential Irish pub moment today: a windy, misty Sunday in Dingle. Dawn and Charlotte went back to the B&B in hopes that Charlotte would nap there, which left me and Lily on our own down in… Read More ›
Go Mall
We are in Irish-speaking country now, on the north side of county Kerry, near the ever-popular “Ring of Kerry,” which we will avoid. “Go Mall” means slow down in Irish, and it’s painted on the roads in many places. Despite… Read More ›
The Burren
Dawn said with photography, you have take the picture right when you see it – otherwise, if you wait and try to do it later, the light is different. The same may be true with writing. When I was working… Read More ›
The Stars Are Projectors
Tomorrow we fly to Dublin, then drive across the island to Ballyvaughan, Burren. We chose not to make hotel reservations for most of our stay, so we can be flexible and stop wherever we want. We’ll be driving stick, on… Read More ›
The Buten
I spent most of today picking grapes in a nearby village. It hasn’t rained here in two months really, but it rained like hell while we were on the steep slopes with our buckets and clippers. Our friend Uwe has… Read More ›
Bill Pearse 