WWI tour & Twitter

You may (or may not) remember when I wrote two months ago that I was going to Belgium on a World War I tour. Well, that day is here. I'm off in the morning on my two day trip. You might think that means a break from me and my ramblings, but no such luck. In fact, if all goes well, I'm going to be posting more! My WWI tour will have a distinctly Irish flavor and I'll do my best to share that with you. Oh, and it's now one day in Belgium and one day in France (just over the border).

That's where that new sea-blue Twitter box comes in. See it there on the right? I hope to be able to do some brief posting inside that box throughout the days and longer posts - with pictures - here when I can find an internet connection.

You might also notice that I've changed my Twitter name from unquiet_man to AmericanIreland. Makes a bit more sense, right?

School's out for summer ... FINALLY

Today is the last day of school and thank God. The month of June is a nightmare when you're trying to get your young offspring to bed so that they can sit in the classroom on those all too rare warm, sunny days. As anyone who has ever visited Ireland during June knows the sun shines bright until late. As you can imagine it's hard to convince little Sean or Siobhan to go to sleep on time when the sun is still high and bright in the sky until around 10pm, or later if you're in the west or north.

For reasons that are beyond my comprehension, the older kids (13+) finish a month earlier even though they are the ones who can better accept the late sunsets. So not only do the younger children have to endure a month of classes on at least one hour's missing sleep they also have to put up with their teen brothers and sisters being barely out of bed by the time the school day is over.

I'm just glad that my son is finally finished with school. I only wish I was looking forward to a whole summer of playing ball, riding my bike and going swimming (but not in the Irish Sea!).

On the Luas

A few weeks ago I wrote about the DART. The DART is special because it runs right along the coast for stretches and gives you a great view. Between Dalkey & Killiney it runs along a cliff on the coast, which only makes the view more special.

On Saturday I had a rare opportunity to ride the Luas, Dublin's light rail system.

The Luas doesn't offer the scenery that you can get from the DART, but it is quick getting into the city from Sandyford on the southern outskirts of Dublin. Takes about 20 minutes. I like it because it's got a different feel from the DART and it's newer and cleaner. And because it's light rail it runs along the street for a while, which gives a different view than a train that is kind of cut off from the city around it.

And the Luas stops right above the Grand Canal, which is a great place. I spent a few years working near the canal and I loved walking along it and eating my lunch there when the weather was good. Also, back when I was an impoverished and hungry student in this city I used to go for long walks along the canal with my girlfriend (now my wife).
I'm only sorry that they needed that steel girder right in the middle of my picture!

No longer going to "Linger" in Ireland

Shock is too strong a word, especially on a day when there are deaths - Michael Jackson & Farah Fawcett - in the world of popular culture. Still, I have to admit I was pretty surprised to read that Dolores O'Riordan is moving to rural Ontario. Why am I so surprised?

Well, first of all, this is the first time I've heard any pop star/movie star/whoever say they were leaving Ireland due to the pressures of fame in Ireland. Irish people have had a reputation of leaving famous people alone, but maybe that's more myth than reality? I don't know, but O'Riordan clearly believes it is. I guess.

Somehow Bono and his family manage to endure the pressures, which I would have assumed would be far greater than those that Dolores O'Riordan has to put up with. In fact, I would have bet that if she didn't make a big deal of it her children could have lived pretty anonymously here. Maybe she just wanted to go live in the woods, I don't know.

Another reason I'm surprised - and I'm really surprised by this one - is that O'Riordan is turning her back on a nice little tax break that people who write music or books or film scripts get here. Now, admittedly, there are rumors that those tax breaks are going to be eliminated in the next budget, but as of now they're still in place and O'Riordan is turning her back on them to pay full tax in Canada.

Unusual decision.

Are those icebergs out there?

I don't live too far from the coast, which is almost always a good thing. One time I question the benefits of our location is when we get nice weather, like we had today. The day was pleasant, probably got up to about 70. No stifling humidity and a fresh breeze. What could possibly be bad about that, right?

Well, my family likes swimming in the Irish Sea. And the Irish Sea is COLD. I've heard Americans refer to the waters off Maine as cold and maybe they're comparable. I don't know. I used to swim in the Atlantic on a regular basis, but off Long Island and the Jersey Shore and it was never anywhere near as cold as what I experienced today and every other time I've gone into the Irish Sea. I once scraped my leg in the water and I swear it was on a chunk of ice.

And I go through the same emotions every time. I park the car and as I walk along I say to myself, it looks so beautiful. It looks refreshing.

A quick check tells us that the EU's blue flag is flying, which means the place is clean. I think. Not sure what it means, really.

Everything's looking good, but looks can be deceiving. No, not that. It's clean all right and the next view is tremendous as well. But oh so telling.

The water is lapping at the shore and the beach is not too crowded, all of which is great. There aren't many people in the water, though, are there? Why? I'll tell you why - because all people - even Irish people - have come to realize that the Irish Sea is FREEZING.


My family doesn't seem to care about that.

We make it down to the beach and while I'm already chattering in anticipation of the cold, they're happily discussing the prospects of their pending death-defying plunge into icy waters.

We all head to the water's edge. More dread. They're in and I'm not. Not really. Up to my knees maybe.


I'm always the last one to get down. It's part of the ritual. You must get your head wet. I generally spend about 15 minutes psyching myself up (& making an Act of Contrition) before I finally force my head and shoulders down into the water. In that instant my breath is sucked from my body and I feel like I'm going into shock.

Less than a minute later - it takes me that long to regain consciousness - and I'm heading for dry land, where the fresh breeze now feels like a winter's gale. But I'm alive and I think to myself that by August I'll almost think this is normal.
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Comments:

nygalwaygirl wrote:
Oh my goodness! This sounds dreadful! You should tell your family that you need to mind your ticker and should be excused on medical grounds... Irish people are like seals, with a secret insulating layer that the rest of us are missing... Invest in a wet suit or give up the whole deal, I say!
6/26/2009 8:15 PM EDT

TheYank wrote:
A wet suit? A great idea, but not one I'd be allowed. And if I start complaining about my "ticker" I'll almost certainly be forced to abandon all those foods that make life worth living. Besides they know I've recently been checked out and given an all-clear. No, I don't think my ticker is going to cut it.

What's worse is that there are people here who swim all year round. And we have friends who go swimming pretty much daily from St. Patrick's Day to Nov. 1. They're nuts, I know, but to my family their behavior is a bit extreme and only serves to emphasize how sensible our attitude is.

I've been looking for a good excuse for ten years and haven't found one yet. I guess I can live in hope that someday my ticker will be plausible.
6/27/2009 3:46 AM EDT

Irish? American? Irish-American? American-Irish?

A recent article in the Gorey Guardian caught my eye. Andrew Cody, from Gorey Co. Wexford, graduated from the US Naval Academy last month. Cody got to shake hands with President Obama at the ceremony.

I like this article because it's clear that the Gorey Guardian believes that Cody's accomplishment is a source of local pride. It's not a tone that you'd find often in the Dublin-based media.

I was also struck by the Gorey Guardian's claim that Cody is the "first Irish person to attend and graduate" from the Academy. Hmm. I guess the first thing we'd have to agree on is the definition of an "Irish person" because clearly the Gorey Guardian is excluding Irish-Americans, who have been graduating from Annapolis probably since the day it opened back in 1845.

Okay, so they're focused on people (a) born or (b) raised here, I guess. I can live with that. Yet, one of the basic eligibility requirements for admission to the Academy is that you are a citizen of the United States. So I have to assume that Cody is American as well as Irish. So, maybe not Irish-American, but Cody is at a minimum American-Irish. See how confusing this gets? Probably better to leave off the "first Irish person" stuff.

How much better it would have been if the Gorey Guardian had simply linked Cody with Wexford's own John Barry, father of the American Navy.

{Statue of Barry outside Independence Hall, Philadelphia.}

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Comments:

Padraig wrote:
I love this article. truly. truly.
6/27/2009 4:58 AM EDT


TheYank wrote:
Thanks Padraig.
6/29/2009 1:39 PM EDT


Ajreaper wrote:
I have to offer props as well Yank very nicely said- I had the good fortune a number of years back to spend three days at the Naval academy on business and it is a most impressive place by any standard you could choose to apply and the most impressive thing is the quality of young men and women who are found there. My heartfelt congratulations to Andrew and one can certainly understand the pride in his accomplishment back home regardless of how it is spun.
6/29/2009 2:10 PM EDT


Padraig wrote:
keep'm comin yank.
6/29/2009 2:31 PM EDT


TheYank wrote:
Ajreaper,

I've never been to Annapolis, but my best friend from high school went there. It is a first rate institution and attracts the best America has to offer. That Andrew from Gorey was accepted and graduated from there is no mean feat.
6/29/2009 4:46 PM EDT

Ajreaper wrote:
Yank- should you ever get the opportunity to visit you'll never forget it. when we were there it was pre 9/11 and we had freedom to go where ever we chose when we chose, the grounds, chapel, and museum everything left one in awe. To be accepted and to graduate speaks very highly of an individual without question.
6/29/2009 10:31 PM EDT


TheYank wrote:
Ajreaper,

I'm hoping I can get there someday. I really want to take the family to Washington, but so far that hasn't worked out. Maybe when I finally get that arranged, I can detour towards Annapolis.
7/3/2009 7:14 PM EDT

What a difference a year - errr - 28 years can make

My daughter finished her leaving cert and has now gone to America - to my parents - for the summer. She wanted to get her driving license so that she could get around while there, but that's not as easy these days as it was back in my day. You have to pass a "mandatory pre-licensing course" now. That wasn't case when I was new to the road. You got your permit, did some learning and practicing and when you were ready you made an appointment for a test. If you passed that was it. No MV-285 or whatever it is was required.

The only way my daughter could take that course this summer would be if she were willing to tell her employer that all mornings are now out. She's not prepared to do that, which means she'll need a ride to work. Oh well.

Mid summer

I can hear you from here. "What is this guy talking about? Summer's only just begun. June 21st, right?"

Well, yes and no. Yes if you live in America. Summer starts on June 21 the longest day of the year. In Ireland, however, summer begins on May 1 and that means ... mid summer is right now. To prove the point, Cork is in the middle of the two week Midsummer Festival right now.

And, as you might imagine, there's a religious feast to mark the occasion. Tomorrow, June 24, is the feast of St. John the Baptist and in parts of Ireland the eve of St. John's feast is marked by bonfires. I've never been to a St. John's Eve bonfire, but it's on my list.

The 23rd always reminds me of the song Spancil Hill, which is a great 19th century emigrant's song.

Being on the twenty-third of June, the day before the fair,
When Ireland's sons and daughters in crowds assembled there

{If you want to read a bit more about the bonfire tradition, you can find it here.}

Just snapped this

One of the few pluses to the Irish weather ...


Looked even better with the naked eye. Too bad that house got in my way and prevented me seeing where it ended.

New name

If you look closely - doesn't have to be too closely - you'll notice that the name unQuiet Man is gone and replaced by the more obvious The American in Ireland. I loved the other name, but it was too ambiguous for today's world of trying to explain something in under 5 words and 5 seconds.

What to do about my twitter name - unquiet_man - is now the question.