Saint Patrick's Day & Cancer-Not

Well, March is marching on and Saint Patrick's day has been and is gone. The festivities were brightened by a nice day in Louisburgh and were kept in check by my parenting duties. Anna and our nephew, Caoimhin, carried some of the gifts up to the priest as part of the mass. My mother's house in in the centre of the town, I like to call it the financial district or the "West End", across from the parochial hall and this affords us a prime viewing location with occasional hot tea and coffee available from the kitchen of my childhood.

The parade was impressive . Some locals noted that the "yanks" (a contingent of current  students from Duluth Minnesota who come here every year for more than 20 years) had not taken part in the parade. "The American Students are always in the parade." So, no news yet on why their absence was a fact.

Many (including family members) went "up-the-town" for a few and the reports were very positive. It seems this is a day for family outings with kids running, climbing, singing, shouting, crying, laughing, sobbing, fighting, making up, etc... in the local pubs. I didn't indulge. Perhaps next year or ......

It was nice to be home for Saint Patrick's day. Last year my friends sent a photograph on the mobile to Anna (my phone is an antique) of my family at the front door enjoying the parade without us. Such is life.

Included in Saint Patrick's day this year was a little concern for a family member which I can now report was unfounded, thankfully. Also my mother was in bed with a cold/throat infection. She has recovered. My brother, who is a couple of years older than me, was scheduled for an exploratory procedure the day after Saint Patrick's day in Saint Jame's Hospital in Dublin. This procedure would discover that his throat was not infected by cancerous cells which was the worry.

So, really, the day after Saint Patrick's Day in 2010 was a great day. I travelled to Dublin and waited to hear that Basil got the all-clear, and 6 weeks of worrying, for the family, was unfounded and over. A day after Saint Patrick's to remember! Of course the 5 hours hanging around a hospital always gives rise to sobering thoughts.

Enjoy life!

What is there to not enjoy? Happy day to you.

March 1st, Ridges, Turning the Feirbin & Clothes Line.

Spring is in the air during the day and winter consumes the bright moonlit nights.

Today I was outside working and the daylight stayed until nearly 7 p.m. I thought of the future nights of summer when the daylight will exist from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. This is a lovely part of living in Ireland - the long days of summer. In San Francisco, the longest days of the year keep daylight until around 8 p.m.

The days are beautiful, dry and sunny. The nights are clear and freezing. Our forecast for tonight is -5 degrees. The moon is bright tonight and it is beautiful outside but yes it is freezing.

The other day I posted a question on Facebook asking for advice on where to erect my clothes line. The problem is that the view from my house is a stunning panoramic of Mweelra. No matter where the clothes line is put, it will be in the view-line. So I decided to put it outside the kitchen and to leave the view clear for the sun-room and the sitting room. I am comfortable with the decision.

On the other hand, I wonder why no one voiced an opinion on facebook. Social media is supposedly connecting us all to share and deliberate and interact virtually. Is it so that a simple question like mine is too trivial for the millions on facebook? For me personally it is indeed the simple, mundane, repetitious issues that are life, which can be given new life through social networking.

Some are attempting now to discover new ways of using social media for education, for monetary gain, for networking business, etc. etc. Perhaps the elephant is in the room? Maybe social media is just that - Social Media - nothing more or less? Maybe it is simply an extension of our social networks and as such it should be used for social networking issues.

Issues like - Where should I erect my clothes line? What washing powder do you use? Where is a good spot for grub? Do we over intellectualise some things?

I wonder if I went on Facebook and asked "what is 'turning the feirbin '" would I get anywhere? Would any one out there take my question seriously or is it too trivial again?