Challenges

A little perspective.  I do not normally walk 7 or more miles.  Hubby and I do walk about 3 to 4 miles when we take a hike in our local parks and woods during the warmer weather.  I do run between 3 and 4 miles on the elliptical in my basement about 5 or 6 times each month.  So, the 7 miles, while strenuous, was not a super challenge.  We started about 11:30 in the morning and got back to our cars about 4:30 P.M. stopping frequently for photography and once for lunch.  You can do this.  Perhaps not on a tree root covered path, but on a sidewalk around your town.  I think you would be surprised.  Even if you have serious health issues, just walking a little ways is good for you.  Just add a quarter or half mile each time and breathe sweetly the good air.

Those First Steps

The best advice I got from my readers to improve my health was to walk.  It requires no special equipment and can be done almost anytime and anywhere.  I just read a recent study that revealed that the best way to lengthen our telomeres which lie at the ends of our chromosomes and keep us from aging was walking and standing...even better than actual exercise!

So two days ago I took a 7 and a half mile walk in the woods around a nearby artificial lake.  Yesterday I spent several hours wearing a weight vest as I cleaned house, vacuuming and mopping all the floors.

If you want to enjoy with me the beautiful walk I took,  go here.

A Bite of Reality.

Since the Ebola epidemic is on almost everyone's mind these days, I think it is time for me to do a health post.  I just wanted to update a few of you who know that I have been struggling with some small health concerns prior to my trip to Ireland and after my return.  I will not do this again as I hate writing about my health!  What a bore!

Anyway, there was a time just last year when I could brag/blog that I was under no prescription medications.  I was shooting toward 70 and still in reasonably good health.  Then this year I changed doctors and after a whole battery of new tests and a couple of lingering illnesses and resulting doctor's visits I have been informed that I have osteoporosis and must take a prescription for that along with calcium and vitamin D supplements in goodly number.

Also, since my lungs decided to turn themselves inside out this summer and I had a chronic cough for no discernible reason,  I was given an an x-ray just before my trip.  I was also given heavy duty cough medicine.  The X-ray showed several things: that I "probably have underlying mild COPD," I certainly have a mild scoliosis and definitely have some bone degeneration in the scapula.  This diagnosis and a collection of prescriptions to loosen phlegm in my lungs and reduce coughing at night made me pull up for a time. 

Then 4 days upon my return I got a sore throat which went into an upper respiratory virus and I was back to coughing once again.  Upon my return I was given something even stronger and the result was that I lacked energy for a while and the contrast from my high energy activities while in Ireland gave me pause about all this drugging.  Last week I still was weak from my flu that I probably caught in the Dublin airport or on the plane and added to  all of the above I added a mild depression to my disposition.  The depression seemed to me to be both psychological and chemical!  Researching COPD was not helpful.

As I weaned myself off the medicines for the lung infection I got my energy back and my creative urges have now returned along with a better disposition.  I am almost back to normal.  I am lifting hand weights again trying to strengthen back muscles for my lungs.  I am sleeping much, much better as well. I have far less health issues than many of my loved ones, so no complaining here.

But, reality bites, doesn't it?

Broken

I was thinking about the comments that I got from my last post about the young man in the grocery store.  I guess I did give the impression that I looked down my nose at grocery clerks.  I do not, although it is not a job I would want to have.  I respect anyone who can stand on their feet all day and deliver a presence in their work and still have the energy to be pleasant and make small talk.  I also realize that it was my shortsightedness that indicated he would have no future in this career path.

My own view on savings, though, comes from my history.   I had to save money all of my life, even when I was a kid.  Money was set aside for holiday gifts long before stuff for myself.  As I got older, a certain percentage was set aside for college expenses.  Maybe I felt free of money pressures when I was under ten, but never after that.  I grew up in a family where saving money was as important as praying is in other families.  Save for life improvement, save for a rainy day and if there was some left over save for something fun.

I never went on vacations (except for camping or visiting relatives) until much, much, later in my life.   As a young woman clothes were purchased when necessary and repaired as needed.  Fashion was considered a way to lose money easily.   We grew much of our own food.  I sewed most of my clothes and those of my children...all as a means of saving money.  I am now in a very different economic group ( I think, due in part, to being frugal in my youth), and feeling thankful if sometimes a little embarrassed for that.

I have a republican nephew who feels strongly that poor people are poor because they are lazy and stupid and that liberals are short-sighted in wanting to raise the minimum wage to reward these low-class people who have demonstrated a lack of effort in furthering themselves.  He thinks that hamburger flippers are stupid for taking such a low paying job in the first place.  He feels you make your own breaks.  To a small extent he is right.  But to a large extent chaos reigns in peoples lives and many people get broken through no fault of their own.

But for a liberal such as I, when in front of such a cavalier young earner as my grocery clerk in this day and age, I almost think a little more like a republican.

Priorities

Waiting in line at the grocery store, I am once again at the register of that young man not much older than 20.  He is easygoing and carefree, reflected in his chubby size and casual smile.  I wonder how someone his age can be happy working as a register clerk checking people through with coupons, asking if they want their chicken in plastic, counting the bags they have brought, and then making small talk before reading their gas points to them from the receipt.  Maybe it is because I am not a fan of small talk.  I can play the game with the best of them and I can cheer anyone up at this game or ignore them if I have to.  But he has to do it for a living.

Since he has been working at the store for a couple of years I have been able to draw him out in the small talk game we play as he slides my grapes across the scale.  I have learned that he loves fantasy games, Comic Con, science fiction novels and Halloween.  He is already way too set in his ways for someone so young.  He already knows it all, and is the first to reach any conclusion that satisfies his view of the world.

This week he was talking to a heavy set customer with feathery blonde hair and a smoker's wheeze in her voice as she finished paying for her groceries.  They were discussing how expensive food had become, how the minimum wage was too low and other familiar subjects about making ends meet.   He handed her the receipt and then turned to me as she left and said he really was not too worried about raising the minimum wage because he already made over ten dollars an hour and he was also due for a promotion and even more money.  (Check Out Clerk Level II?)

I felt a small dark cloud move in behind me.

"I hope you are saving something,"  I said trying to catch his eye as his hands moved my yogurt containers across the scanner.

He looked up with his self-same grin and said that he most certainly was saving.  He said that he had $400 already set aside. 

"I have been saving for some time.  I am waiting for a certain flat screen TV to go on sale and then I want to add an X-box to the system."

I kept my smile as tight as a Marilyn Monroe sweater and tried not to sigh too audibly.  That was not the saving I was thinking about.   I was thinking about saving for tomorrow, that tomorrow which for his age never comes.  I thanked him and collected my groceries, knowing his world view right now was very different from mine and that this generation is never going to get old.

Faces of Ireland

It seems that everywhere I travel I find a song of life that grabs me and worms its way deep into my heart.  It adds one more thread to that tapestry that is mankind and is also another puzzle part of me.   I felt that song with the brave energy of warrior songs in Hungary last year and I felt it again in the lyrical beauty of this Ireland where human bravery took on a heartbreaking honesty and gentle love.

Here are a few faces of that magical Ireland.

An artisan cutting crystal at Waterford factory.

Good looking, full of jokes and stories, following a family tradition with his own carts and horses and becoming the perfect romantic horseman for our carriage ride.

A busker outside the National Library who stopped to talk to me and told me he was working on a Masters in Literature and Language.

Originally from Brooklyn and transplanted here with his Irish wife to enjoy a better life.  Full of the gift of gab and flirted with my DIL.  Told us he still dragged his wife out on weekends to look at "stones."

Our teacher and guide in the church bell tower.  Tight as a whip and probably too devout but patient with our messy efforts to attempt to ring those historic bells.

Our very first guide and our first red-head to remind us that Vikings had been here.

A busker on the mall, unique in face.

More evidence that Vikings has been here.

Such abundant red hair!

OMG!!  Hoping these guys are wearing wigs!

My last post on this trip, and I thank you for keeping the tea warm.

Dubliners--Part III

The next day after breakfast at the same B&B and just before leaving, we spent some time talking with the man of the B&B who informed us that we were going to be in Dublin fortuitously during the National Hurling Championships.  We were told that it would be a busy crowded weekend with the numerous fans.  He had also booked a place himself to be there on that evening as he was a big hurling fan.  Our B&B host was a short but well-built man in his late 50's just full of energy and full of the gift of gab.  He reminded me of a bull dog with his stance and a leprechaun with his expressive waving of his arms as he talked about his love of the game reenacting his favorite hurling plays.   He had in some way been affiliated with a team that won the hurling championships a few years ago when playing off a tie game.   He was so excited to talk about the sport and had several enthusiastic tales to tell of that event.  He spoke rapidly and we were trying hard to understand through the strong accent and the idiomatic expressions what he was talking about while we did catch the familiar four-letter words sprinkled like spice through-out his tales and several funny jokes.  It seemed at that historic game there was a "mystery" player that had replaced an injured primary player at the very last minute.   Since they do wear helmets the fans and press could not recognize him by his face as they made him keep his helmet on.   This fill-in player was young, maybe 19(?), and thus they didn't want the opposing team to know how far they had gone to get a last minute replacement.  The mystery player made some very impressive plays and was important in helping his team win.  Such a typical sports talk!  He then told us which pub we absolutely had to go to in Dublin to watch the game which is about 80 minutes long, and if it ends in a tie...so be it...they play again the next week!

The walk to the area took us through typical Dublin crowds in a major shopping area.  Most of these people are tourists, I am guessing.

The Dublin Canal is in the photo above.

We had the two young people (son and DIL)  to make sure we found the "Living Room" which actually seemed to be several pubs together and was a rather large sports viewing place.  We got there about an hour before the game and most people were watching the Ryder's Cup, so we lucked out on getting a table for the six of us at the time that golf game ended.

All the typical fan stuff (Kilkenny and Tipperary) was being sold on the streets and the bars had colored balloons representing the teams hung across the doors outside.  The little lassie above with the heart shaped face was so excited for her team.

I nursed a glass and a half of Guinness, while some of the others in my party polished off a couple of pitchers of the respected ale.

Sorry no photos of the actual game..but you can Google it.

What a lucky time for us in Dublin!

Next let me talk about the people we met.

Galway Folks--Part II

The most important part of travel is, of course, the people that you meet. The whole point of travel is to stretch your mind and test your ideas and learn new ways of seeing the world, and to be happy that the ugly American has not ruined it for us all.  You can see all the stone edifices, drink and eat at all the pubs, and take all the tours, but the real richness is in meeting the people, the ones you can actually have one on one time with.  While I have photos of lots of interesting buskers, tour guides, shop owners, etc, the time we spent at two B&Bs on our adventure is one the best ways to talk to real citizens of the area you are visiting.  B&B owners are some of the most interesting characters because they usually love being a host or hostess, and therefore, you get a genuine feel for the area.  They love to answer questions, to tell tales of their country, and tell tales of other visitors.  Unfortunately, while Ireland has many B&Bs, as the older owners retire, new B&Bs are not being opened and the numbers of B&Bs are shrinking.

One B&B where we stayed was just outside of Galway.  The owners were the ones that told us that the first day of the International Galway Oyster Festival was the very next night ...which also happened to have free admission!   So, we headed out that Friday evening and Hubby was looking forward to tasting a few of the famous Irish oysters.   He was impressed...although the prices were not cheap.  The festival band was truly energetic and fun!  I had a camera backpack and camera and had no where to leave them (that is my excuse), but hubby was hands-free and joined in the merriment.  By the third Irish dance the young girls were down to their tank tops and other young men joined the circle.  I was a little surprised that more people were not dancing.  The band also played for professional Irish dancers in between times.  What a pleasurable experience!  You cannot listen to Irish music and not at the very least tap your foot.

Since my readers seem to want to learn more about this trip I will next post photos of our two hours watching people hurl in a bar in Dublin...;-)

Those Oldies But Goodies--Part I

I selected 14 photos to represent the vast history and the interesting architecture of the island of Ireland.  If you have no desire to see someone else's "slide show," I will understand.

Ireland has a rich and ancient history and  we were able to see all kinds of buildings and ruins in our quick week.  I will post just a few here.  Lets start with the oldest.  A neolithic stone circle dating to the bronze age and also known as Druids Circle.  This one is the Stone of Kenmare which is a five minute walk from the center of the town of Kenmare.  There was an honesty box for a small fee to enter, and we were the only ones there on that afternoon which made it most spiritual and enjoyable!  There was a thorn tree hung with prayer ribbons and whatnot, but not so much stuff as to clutter the tree or the peace of the place.

Keeping on the history time-line we visited the burial tombs from the 12th Century.  This one in the photo below found in the area called the Burrens, named after a clan that lived and ruled in the Cork County Area, was haunting.  The Burrens is 260 kilometers of limestone pavements criss-crossing the hillsides.  In the 1640's Cromwells surveyor described it as a "savage land, yielding neither water enough to drown a man, nor tree to hang him,nor soil enough to bury."  The limestone surface we saw dated from 10,000 years ago.  Winters rarely go below 43F in winter and above 59F in summer and thus it has a long and mild growing season with lovely alpine flowers in the cracks in the stone in the spring.  The last photo below is the Poulnabrone portal tomb where human bones had been found.

We also saw the Cliffs of Moher on this region, but I will spare you at least some photos!

More modern in time are the ruins of castles and we saw three in one day.  I wish we could have stayed in one, but it was too rich for my traveling companions and it is always good to leave some reason to return. There are ruins of castles all over Ireland! 

The most famous is, perhaps, Blarney Castle.  The Blarney Stone is believed to be half of The Stone of Scone upon which the Kings of Scotland were crowned and was believed to have come from Jerusalem.  Half the stone is now in Edinburgh, Scotland and the other half in Blarney according to legend.   The owner makes money on these legends, but it seems that no one really knows the real history of the stone.  To kiss the Blarney Stone you have to lean backwards out of the parapet.  While some of my party kissed the stone, I am full of way too much blarney and passed.

The Rock of Cashell has a stunning view of the countryside as well as the ruins of a distant Abbey in the second photo below.   The buildings included in the complex: 12th century round tower, High Cross and Romanesque Chapel, 13th century Gothic cathedral, 15th century Castle and the restored Hall of the Vicars Choral.  You must take the tour as the history is worth it.  You can see in the photo below that they are working to maintain the walls of the chapel which are beginning to erode from moisture.

And then on our trip we saw the more modern buildings such as Christ's Church Cathedral in Dublin where we actually got to ring the bells!!  I had watched an old British mystery on TV which revolved around the bell ringers of a small village church.  I never realized how much strength and balance goes into ringing bells as well as how dangerous it can actually be!  I was totally out of breath by the end of the few minutes I pulled that rope. Three of us rang at one time and we had to remain in sync.  The first one to ring had to get the rhythm and ended up ringing for the longest,  I was the last to join in with the assistance of the "Towerkeeper" and I was certainly out of breath by the end.

And finally Trinity College also in Dublin where the young man, our guide, was both funny and knowledgeable.  It was his last tour as he had graduated and was on to bigger and better things...journalism.  We, of course, saw the Book of Kells and passed by the shelves of the many rare books in that same library.  (Note his "Harry Potter" jacket which all tour guides are required to wear.  It is so old that the black has faded to green.)

It amazes me that these leather bound books are in bright sunlight and even some areas had windows open!  We were told that books were shelved according to size rather than subject!

Well that is a brief review of the structures made of stones.  There is a lot of stone on the island!!

One Green Day at a Time Introduction to Ireland

I started with a Friday night red-eye flight against the sun and landed in the morning of  the next day in my vacation country, staying through that week until leaving on the following Monday morning. Then I arrived home the same Monday around 9:00 P.M. in the evening East Coast time but about 2:00 A.M. vacation country time, and I yet I still survived!  As some of you guessed it was a trip to Ireland.   I never had the chance to visit this Emerald Aisle, and this time ventured forth with my son and his wife and her parents.

I took over 2,000 photos, the sun shined about 80% of the time, we got lost very briefly a few times, we saw a LOT of the island, we lucked out several times, and we had a stupendous trip. We (hubby) was successful in driving on the left side of the road in both the cities and along the very narrow country roads.  We mostly followed our son's car as his phone GPS was more accurate than our rented Garmin GPS.

I will not bore you with all the pictures as travel photos can be a bit of a drag after the first 4 or 5!!  I will post a few in a themed review in the coming posts just to share for those who like to see another's travel experience or who have an interest in going someday.

I learned that paying for most of the tourist tours is really worth it.  The Irish are great at telling tales and keeping you informed about the castle, or factory, or garden, or history of the place you visit.  They are truly friendly and VERY helpful.  We did not make it to Northern Ireland, which I am told is more somber and reserved and really another country.

All of the people I traveled with had various percentages of Irish blood in their veins (and since there are more Irish people outside of Ireland than on the island, perhaps even I have a drop of such blood ;-) and perhaps this is what made the trip so wonderful.  Bits and pieces to follow.

(My cough was suppressed by heavy duty codeine which also helped with sleep!  I am slowly returning to normal.)

In a Fog.

Leaving on our trip tomorrow.  Checking out the webcam to see the "ocean view" we might have on our second day "there."  I am hoping this is not accurate but all other webcams that I checked out in the country are either live or black if they are down.  Now you have a pretty good idea of where we are going?  And, yes, I am bringing a raincoat.

Up in the Air

I am getting ready for a trip (yes ANOTHER travel opportunity) and I am doing a little jig about it.  I just read somewhere that some rental car companies in other countries will not rent to someone 70 years of age.  So I only have a few years left to get around on my (our) own!  Then the only opportunities are more expensive.

Yet, the plans for this trip are in the hands of someone else (my son's in-laws), and I am sure we will be glad with whatever transpires and wherever we stop---hotel, a few bed and breakfasts and then a hotel.  I will tell you where when I return and bore you with at least a few photos.  (My biggest issue is how much camera gear to take!)  I am determined to take only one small suitcase.

To bring me down to earth, I have been juggling doctor's appointments as I have had a chronic cough this summer that will not go away.  The next step on the path of health discovery is that I have asked for an MRI since an X-ray ("probably underlying COPD"--whatever in the hell that means) showed nothing of significance.  But the cough is annoying everyone around me as well as myself.  Thus, I now have to take it on the trip with me and I am sure with the Ebola scare I am going to be taken aside and given a temperature reading and lots of space from passengers while others are being scanned for weapons.

This life is such an adventure, isn't it?  Makes you stronger.

I do not mean to leave readers up in the air...maybe I can blog more from there?

Stay safe from fires, floods, volcanoes and loud people until I return.

A Night Out and A Mellow Out

My husband an I too rarely take advantage of the many activities in nearby Washington, DC.  It is over an hour's drive and we have to stay at one of the kid's houses in the suburbs and sometimes these activities are expensive.  But this past weekend we decided to take advantage of a Pink Martini pops concert at the Kennedy Center.  The Kennedy Center has several stages and presents all types of musical and dramatic events.  Some are free and some are very expensive.  When I had first moved to this area decades ago and first went to the Center I asked my neighbor if I had to dress up.  She laughed and said unless it was an "opening" I would see everything from nice dresses and suits to students with back-packs and in jeans.

This last weekend I saw the same.  Although some of these folks looked familiar and clearly were a celebrity of some type.  Nothing I could place in my limited cultural background.

Pink Martini is an international cultural band and now are based out of Portland, Oregon.  This particular evening they also showcased the talents of four of the great grandchildren of Maria and Captain Georg von Trapp.  These young ones are also now working out of Portland, Oregon, moving recently from a lovely little town in Montana.

It was a great experience because it was supported by National Public Radio, one of my favorite stations.  Ari Shapiro, one of their international correspondents, sang TWO solos and one duet.  Who knew?  What a talented and entertaining young man.  The very next day he flew back to Scotland to report on the independence vote in that country!  Also making a special appearance was Scott Simon from NPR, who cannot sing, but was most entertaining with his attempt at yodels.

I brought my small point and shoot camera and captured a few throw away shots.  My mind was not really focused and thus the camera had the same problem.  But I thought I would share the elegance of this concert venue for those who cannot visit it.

Just past the Hall of Nations into the North Grand Foyer where President Kennedy's bust towers over everything else.

Outside on the terrace where stunning weather allowed ticket holders to sip their wine or eat their candy while having quiet conversations before the opening curtain.

This view from the terrace looks across the Potomac river toward Georgetown.  (Maybe you will remember we ate dinner from that side and I posted a nighttime view of the Kennedy Center across the river?)

We were blessed with a stunning sunset looking toward the Virginia side.  This photo is blurred...like most of these and it "might" have been that great "Pink Cherry Cosmo" that I had with dinner at P.F.Changs in Arlington that increased the sloppiness of my photography.

But this last photo below turned out really fun...sort of like one of those rainy day impressionist paintings from a French painter.  Even mistakes can be rewarding.

Redisovering Cooking

Most of us get a lot of landfill in our mailboxes. If you contribute to even one charity or political action group you get on the mailing lists of hundreds of others.  I am in that demographic group (upper middle class old farts) that would get the type of mailing the Great Courses group sends out.  They offer courses on history, music, and science.  These courses come with textbooks and DVD's (downloads if you wish) and usually run well over $200 for a complete course.  Thus, I usually throw the catalogs away figuring there are enough free courses on the internet for most of my needs.  (http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses  -  https://www.edx.org/ - https://www.open2study.com/courses -  Some of these need Apple interfaces but most can work on any computer.)

Anyway, when I received the recent catalog I noticed that the usual courses had substantial discounts.  The course titled "The Everyday Gourmet: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking" which had been priced at $269.95 was reduced to $39.95!  This includes 4 DVDs and a book.  This course comes out of the CIA (the one at Greystone, New York) ...not the spy agency but The Culinary Institute of America.  (I know, you were wondering just what type of meals they taught!)  This CIA is a premier institution and I actually ate at one of the school's restaurants after a conference a long time ago.

So envisioning long winter months ahead, I opted to purchase this course.  Yes, I know it is dated and that is why they reduced the value, but it meets my needs.  There are 24 lessons at 30 minutes each taught by Chef Bill Briwa.  They are designed for home cooking and not commercial venues.  Thus far I have gone through lesson one which is an overview of ingredient, techniques and flavor, and I did learn a few things.  The second lesson was about essential knives and I learned even more.  Next I listen to the lesson on more essential kitchen tools---from pots to shears.

The lessons are a little dumbed down for my tastes, but I like the fact that they are short and to the point.  The book that comes with it follows exactly.   Oddly enough the chapters come with a list of ingredients to shop for but no recipes.  I will have to see how that works out as I move forward!  I guess if you have to know how much of something to add, you shouldn't be cooking???  Anyway, I am looking for an improvement in techniques and not new recipes!

I will keep you posted on how my spatchcocked chicken turns out.