Shane Peko

It does the heart good to learn that Shane Peko has joined us on this merry-go-round called Life. Our good friends in San Francisco will, no doubt, be celebrating.

It would be nice to be there to celebrate with the new parents, Brian and Finu, but our hearts and thoughts are with them.

Keeping in touch with friends from San Francisco

I was at the Connacht football semi-final between Sligo and Galway a couple of weeks ago. As I stood inside the gate distributing Into the West, a friend from San Francisco said hello. It really is funny, where you bump into old friends and acquaintances.

In the last week I got calls from four friends from the US. The first, a Kerryman called just to say hello and to tell me how impersonal emails are and how personal the phone is. He is right. Then he got his wife to email me after the previous blog to call my turnips "mangles" or as he put it "cow fodder." Hmmmm...

Then Sean, my good friend from Louisburgh, who has lived in San Francisco for approx. 50 years called up to tell me the weather had broken in Ireland and that the introduction of property tax in Ireland will be the straw that will send me back to the US with my tail between my legs.

Brian, who has lived in San Francisco for many years, is from London. He's great craic and a great chin-wagger (talker). I was very sorry to have to cut my chat with him short as Sarah (1 year old) was demanding my attention. He seems to be in good fettle and enjoyed the World Cup.

Cormac called and informed me that there was a seisiun of music in Ballinrobe last Sunday. I went. Met Kenny, Cormac, Dave, Liam, Chris and John. What a great time we had. Music, Song, Sean Nos dancing and good honest chat.

Anyways, it is great to have such good friends. Such good friends are the kind that you can talk to as if you never lost touch, after long periods of no communication. After all, do we really need to be talking to each other to know that we love each others' company, that we miss each other (from time to time) and that when we do meet we will savour the moment(s).

Well friends, even if you criticize my turnips (or mangles in Kerry), I haven't forgot you. And I know that we will enjoy reunions.

The Fruits of Our Labour

Those days spent digging hard stoney soil are now paying off. This is a sample of what we have harvested.

Old Head Beach, Louisburgh, Ireland

Picking up litter on the beach is not the preferred occupation while strolling along but if I/we don't do it, then who will?

I was down at Old Head yesterday with the young fella and he loved it. Old Head Beach is one of the most popular beaches in this area and until very recently held the distinguished prize of being a "blue flag beach ." I don't know why, but that title is lost now.

This is a heavenly place and by coincidence you can see Croagh Patrick from the beach (as in the photo).

We walked to the pier and I noticed some litter. I must admit, my call to action was slow to evolve.

As we walked back from where we came, the litter caught my eye again and I had a moment of clarity. Why not me? Why wouldn't I pick up the plastic beer can wrapping and then the brown beer bottle and deposit it in the bin?

I did. My son saw this. Others' children saw this. Others saw this. I hope they might do the same the next time they are on the beach. If we pull together we can make our beaches clean, enjoyable, safe and catalysts of community interest. Am I too optimistic or will you join me?

Rain, at long last!

At approximately 6 a.m. on July 4th, otherwise known as Independence Day (in the US), I awoke to the beautiful sound of wind and rain on the skylights. This is a beautiful sound. The other day a man said to me that the June just past waas the most dry June he remembers in his 80 years. My potatoes are growing well but I dug three stalks the other day and they were mostly pooreens (small to tiny potatoes). My farming friends said that they, the potatoes, needed some rain for the next couple of weeks to "finish them off." So it has arrived - the rain.

The giver of life - rain (after all the sunshine that is). We landed in Ireland on August 27th, 2009 and we have seen about 2 weeks of rain since then (event hough I lost a car to the floods, but they were in Galway). It's been beautiful weather throughout. We got the real hard freeze with sunshine and then the dry spell with sunshine and now - Hallelujah - rain. We could do without the wind (it might break the potatoe stalks) but we'll take it as it is.

When I grew up in Louisburgh, I slept in the top-room. This was the converted attic in the house in which I grew up. So I could hear the rain on the skylights when I was in bed. And I loved to snuggle myself up in the bed and slowly doze off to sleep to the lovely sound of the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof and the skylights. Nostalgia.

So, this morning, July 4th 2010, Independence Day (in the US) I was drawn back to my childhood by the sound of the rain on the skylights. The wind was blowing and I snuggled up to my wife and two young kids (they come in to us in the morning) and I thought about how my friends in San Francisco hadn't even rose to greet the day yet - indeed in San Francisco it wasn't even Independence day yet (they are 8 hours behind us) - and I thought to myself...

Isn't life great. It just doesn't get much better than this!