A visitor

Gone a little off the Engine 2 diet as my brother Seamus is visiting currently--although not very much as we're eating delicious veggie dishes five times a week.

So far I've managed to lose 10 lbs so I'm quite pleased with my progress--very pleased actually since I'm hooking up with my writing group on Tuesday evening and Marie wants to see how much I've lost on account of how I raved about the diet.

I'm also submitting a couple of chapters of the new novel--less than I'd have liked but I'm showing my bro' the wonders of Bucks county. Next week, Larry he and I will spend three days in NYC doing theater and restaurants, etc. Looking forward to being a tourist there myself.

It's great listening to my bro yak with his kids Oran and Eimer on the phone (the other two are older and out of the house; Seams really is a dedicated Dad, but being an Uncle is definitely the way to be. Love 'em on your own time. LOL

Tomorrow we're holding a BBQ for him--looking forward to kicking back with some vino and friends.

And a big shout to my nephew David and niece Ciara (Seamus's daughter) who've just completed their exams and second year at the Queens University Belfast.

Back in the USA

I returned to the United States last week and find myself trying to start a new project this morning. It is something I have mulled for the past two weeks yet it is difficult to begin because so much of my head is still back in Ireland. I see the churchyard and fringe of sturdy beech trees in front of which my father lies sleeping. I see the flagstone path up to his grave which I helped to lay in conjunction with my youngest brother Dermot and brother-in-law Michael and my nephews. I see my mother sitting alone in the living room saying her novenas, praying for me, for Dad, fore all of us. I see Siobhan hugging Max, the lovable puppy she fell in love with at first glance despite her insisting my nephew had to have a dog that wouldn't shed. I see Floss, the Springer Spaniel puppy my brotehr Dermot's children had to get when they knew their cousin had a new puppy. I see the enclosures my father built for the puppies just before his death. I see my sister Deirdre at work in the broadband I helped set up for her. I see my brother Seamus wait fro the letter telling him he can come up for the epidural to Belfast for the epidural that hopefully will take away the pain in his back. I see Dermot gazing at our Dad's photograph on his bedside table before tuirning off his light.

Time will let us all move on, but he will be with us and we will never forget him.

With Family

View of whinbush-pocked hills near my late grandparents old farm

Had a wonderful time in Ireland catching up with nephews and nieces and brothers and sisters.

My youngest brother Dermot and I and his kids Dierbhle (my Goddaughter), Jermaid (Irish For Dermot), Fergal and Callum (fraternal twins) and their cousin Ryan went up to a place called Rock Ess in the mountains. It's a wonderful waterfall with a deep swimming hole where my father and his siblings used to play as kids.



Photo of me at Rock Ess with niece and nephews
--see primroses on bottom right hand side

How wonderful it was to see (and smell) the primroses sprouting near the moss-covered rocks and hear the kids running noisily around. It was also great to chat and catch up with my brother.

My other brother Seamus lives in his house near my parents (as does my sister Siobhan)--I joke about it being a compound a la Kennedy's in Hyannisport. I stayed with Seamus and we had good evenings of wine and chat. He's having trouble with his back--had an accident as a kid that left him with a bad limp--and his discs are runbbing together badly. He's due to have some kind of injection in a few weeks--so slow is the National health Service--which we're hoping will alleviate it greatly.

Siobhan and her hubby Micheal had Larry , Mum, Dad and I in for a good old-fashioned Sunday lunch on the Sunday. It was mega yummy--roast beef, Yorkshire Puds, roast potatoes and all the trimmings.

And my sister Deirdre and hubby Micheal (a lot of Micheal's) had us over after my parent's 50th Anniversary for drinks--lots of vino, chat and laughter. It was a hoot. Deirdre didn't want the night to end, but we managed to drag our butts home at two in the morning.

All in all it was a wonderful week seeing my parents very happy, and it sure made me appreciate the importance of family and unreserved love.

On reacquainting

Spent a lovely evening a little while ago in Portrush in the company of my cousin Adrian--a guy I've been friends with since we were kids--and two of his lovely friends Molly and Smokie who live now in the England and Wales but come to vacation at their family home here. Marvelous girls and much laughter and vino was consumed by all. Their house commands breathtaking views of the East strand--a gently curving golden sand beach that dips without fuss until engulfed by the cold, frothy Celtic eye-blue waters of the unpredictable Irish sea. Waking up was a treat because I pulled the bedroom curtains open to look down on the beach where a two muscular chestnut and black horses were being put through their paces, first cantering then galloping along the length of the beach.

The previous evening--after first meeting the ladies and sipping a few glassfuls of champers--Adrian took me out to dinner at a very decent Italian restaurant where we caught up with a lot of family stuff (immediate and extended) and stuff we'd been both been doing for the past few years. The week prior my sister Siobhan and her hubby Michael had had him and our Aunt Mary over for a delicious supper (a supper that included my favorite sherry trifle pudding for desert) during which Adrian regaled us with anecdotes from a recent Russian trip he'd made that was hilarious, so much so indeed we were doubled over with laughter. He should have been a writer, too. I think its in the familial genes.

As I watched him at my sister's and then at Molly and Smokie's, I thought how grateful and happy I am to have re-acquainted with him. Life has many twists and turns and it becomes so busy we can never seem to carve out space and keep up with the doings of cousins and past friends. I love meeting new people, immediately knew Molly and Smokie will be good friends, but it's wonderful to be able to make time to spend with relatives and old friends. It's what life's about.