Dia is Mhuire díobh go léir a chairde, and welcome to my weekly report.
The month is moving on, some days are as sweet as summer, others with a brrr to send you searching for your woollies. Showers come sending us running, well trying to run for cover. In our minds, I speak for those of my own ilk of course, we think that we can run and bend and twist and turn as we did in our youth but alas putting it into practice is a different matter. Old habits die hard and how we’d love to be able to tear around at work or play as we did in our young days. Days of hard physical work, days climbing mountains, engaging in long walks, never having to stop and think if I can make it or do it, in your youth, yes you can and what a joy it is when the task is complete. But you never lose the feeling of achievement that such challenges bring and today when I see younger people doing great things I pat myself on the back and say, “I’m so glad I climbed Carrauntoohil twice when my girls were in their teens we cycled from Achill Island to Millstreet twice on bicycles that had no fancy gears and the Ring of Kerry also. Those were great days for cycling, roads were not too busy and safety was taken for granted. On a bike you can see the country inch by inch, smell the air, stop for a better look at something that caught your attention, talk to people along the way. You can discover places to come back to with the car and tell others about it. Eating at the side of the road was a joy in itself. Apart from a welcome break, the food tasted so much better and over night stays at a friendly B&Bs, gave you the opportunity to meet the residents and get the story of their particular place. But nobody can do it all, I never climbed Mushera Mountain, why, I don’t know and I can safely add that I won’t now, but I’m pleased with what I did and my advice to any one starting out is to do it all while you’re young because the years mount up faster than you think. A nice walk in our Park still fills me with great satisfaction, sometimes with the aid of my walking stick, it’s best to slow down but also best never to give up.
[read more …] “Eily’s Report November 9th”