Pre-midwinter Hike

What’s this remind you of? (My first thought was pasta)

We were out hiking in our local forest when I can across this beauty.  I have no idea what kind of mushroom/fungus it is (I suppose I could google it, lol) but it was huge!

We were out collecting branches and fallen pine cones for our mantels in the house as mid-winter approaches (and christmas).

The pinecones here in Ireland are VERY heavy.  I was used to the ones we found in the various states I lived in, in the US.  They had more the weight of a household sponge.  These are over a pound/kilo in weight.

Our carry basket got very heavy, very quickly.  However, our mantels have some very lovely greenery this year (including those hefty pinecones).  [don’t worry, we left plenty for the trees to propagate]

The air was so dark and misty (and this was mid-day) that we all had trouble seeing.  As the darkest day arrives, I find that any sunny moment is deeply appreciated.

Today, I woke up to the sun dancing across our very green grass in the back yard.  Of course, the clouds came again, but in the one moment, Joy danced in my heart.

Stones

A different trail

Standing Stones     We went for a hike, there was this path leading off to the side that reeked of skunk.  We stopped and decided against it.  We walked along for another few minutes and I felt this pull to go back to the “skunk” trail.  This is what we found at the bottom.

 

 

 

It just takes time

We’ve been in Ireland for nearly 10 months now. Every day I feel more at home and less stranger in a strange land-ish.

The sun has shown for three days straight (which must be an Irish record of some sort) and to be honest, it’s been a bit much. I’ve grown used to my misty, windy, rainy, rainbows and flashes of sunlight Ireland. Three straight days of sunlight is almost a bit much.

My newly planted veggie plants agree, as they have both sunburn and windburn. More lessons learned about “hardening off” baby plants, sigh.

Everyday, I feel more like I’m in a place I could stay. Which, if you knew me, would make you gasp in surprise. I’ve never felt that “homely” feeling most people seem to be born with. My stone is a rolling stone and it comes to rest very infrequently.

But Ireland has been working it’s charms on me. Living on the East Coast, we finally had a chance to take a short trip to the West Coast. I found it “familiar” and “fun” but not really where I want to be day to day. If you are traveling here, that would probably be the place you’d want to visit. It’s full of quaint villages and international towns. But I like my quieter and more agricultural eastern coast. I feel less jangle-y and more in tune with the flow of life here.

I grew up with the international vibe and the buzz of all the new things to be found in the world. Now I want the more grounded and simpler version of life that was mine as a younger child. Gardens, pottery, cooking, music, nature walks and kitties. Time to think and time to feel. It’s not all that exciting but it fits me better than anything else ever has.

I guess it just takes time to find yourself. And it just takes time to find your way in a new country.

Autumn Berries

Cotoneaster integrifolius, Small-leaved Cotoneaster

Autumn Berries

Who Needs to Look For Halloween Creepy When…

It’s everywhere you look in Ireland 😉

Mushroom Hike

There were so many kinds…

While we wandered here and there in the forest today, we found out just how many kinds of mushrooms grow in one small forest in Ireland.  The more we walked, the more we found.  I’m no mushroom “specialist” so I have no idea which one’s are which.  Something to look up later 😀

Cooley Mountains

Went for a ride on a foggy misty day in Early Autumn

In My Eyes

Every time I move I have to adjust how I see.  The world view I had in one place often doesn’t fit into another.  This takes time.  Our magnificent brains, which are capable of so much simply can’t process that much newness in one big gulp.  

While I’m sure there are some very special people who can, I’m not one of them.  I feel that, for me, it is like falling down through layers of what I am observing going deeper and deeper.

When I first arrived in Ireland, I honestly wasn’t that impressed.  I was tired, overwhelmed, and probably just plain cranky.  I kept waiting to see the Emerald Isle, but all I saw was bushes and roads.  My mind simply couldn’t take in any more information.

After a few weeks, I became fascinated with small plants and old stones.  Like a camera trying to get it’s focus on, I started with those things closest to me and worked my way out. I spent a great deal of my free time wandering on paths and snapping endless pictures of flowers and herbal plants.

I was trying to get my  mind around where I was, and how that felt to me.  From there I wandered on to big trees, rivers, and winding paths.

As my footsteps moved along on the earth, my selves (on all levels) were absorbing everything around me.  In between my walks, I spent time crafting, cooking, writing, and just going out in public to watch and listen.

Three months later, I was driving down the road and the sun was shining, (like it does) in some spots and not in others.  It lit up the mountains that surround the area that I live in.  It highlighted just spots of the ocean, turning them a peridot green.  I gasped.  Oh My!  How beautiful is that?

Suddenly, I could see the Emerald Isle.  Like a curtain had finally parted in front of my eyes and the beauty all around me could finally reach my whole self.

Gratitude, I think this place might just be what my heart needed.

We Went to Visit A Well

Brigit’s Well

We went to Visit a Well
It was shallow and dark
Many had trod this holy ground
before our feet came near

Ribbons covered a nearby tree
dancing with the breeze
that blew past pasture
and grave with equal detachment

I was left with an emptiness
these weren't my rituals
I honoured those whose place it was
But I just felt curiosity

I believe in prayers
In sacred waters
In ancient powers and sites
but today, my detachment was showing

It's tattered dress waving in the breeze
brushing up against the bushes
and tangling in the stones
I remained adrift

Until a strangers words
prodded me with gentle fingers
to go to My Well and not to Her's
Oh! I had forgotten it again.

Down, down I went
Dropping for miles waiting
for the Splash! that told me
I'd arrived

Only to find, chagrined
A silted, dry bottom
Dark, stone walls
Sandy Feet

What? Where is the Water?
I called out
Whispers echoed back "water?, water?"
"you've blocked the way"

With What? I yelled
"despair, un-joy" came the
gentle voice in return
OH...I sighed

And I jumped UP and Down
Digging with raw fingers into
the silt like a crazed mole
praying for LIFE

And I found the Water
and still I dug,
Deeper and Deeper
Till silt sunk away

I paddled in the well
Water surrounding
Praying for Light
To Bless

Rising cross-legged
to float above
and think
Now what?

Imagining the well
Going Deeper and Deeper
Till there was no End
Thirst Quenched.

L. Ross 31/08/2013 (All Rights Reserved)