desktop quote & manifesto monday : the sea

this week is a week to celebrate the irish...
and i, like so many others, love to claim my
irish heritage though i've never set foot on irish soil
{that will change this summer}.

but something i have been thinking of these days
is at the core of all irish hearts : the sea.
though i've never touched irish soil, i have experienced
the immensity and wonder of the sea, and have been
smitten by its profound reaches and endless waters.
on the coast or on the water, something happens to a soul:
your heart beat slows to a deep and certain rhythm
and your lungs find healing with salty air while your skin
collects the humid drops of air. ears tell a body to keep still
and eyes to scan every detail. breath becomes rich.
and then you know. you just know.

am looking forward to my next visit to the sea...

i was born with ireland in my soul...

1. sheep's wool 2. bluebell field 3. fiddle 4. bodhran 5. home on the sea

"there is something in their core that belongs to their birthplace.
it is like uranium with a half-life so long that it becomes
part of the genetic makeup, passed down two, six, generations.
it is that DNA that makes the american who is one sixteenth irish,
whose great-great-grandparents came to america during the famine,
who has never set foot in dublin, wear green on march 17."
-ireland in mind, alice leccese powers

that's me. never been to ireland.
but i'm irish. my ancestors were. so that makes me irish.
today is my favorite day of the entire year.
hands down.
am weeping inside that my sixth annual irish night will only
be attended by one soul tonight: me.
i was too timid to ask neighbors to write limericks,
perform jigs, tell stories, and sing songs...it's an overwhelming night,
to say the least.

1. fiddle 2. walk on the beach 3. boys 4. red woman 5. boat

how can you not be in love with this country?
a place that seems to value
the sea, farming, story-telling, music, family, red hair.
it sounds as if the irish have the simple life perfected.
this little country pulls on my heart strings daily.
i used to get anxious about visiting...feeling that i had to go now, right this second.
but now i've calmed down a bit because there's no question that i'll get there,
and visit often. i'll get there when i get there.
i'm already there in my heart...truly.
and by the way, if you want to learn about st. patrick
click here to watch a wonderful little snippet about him.
and did you know the irish saved civilization? well, they did.

1. cliffs 2. thatched house 3. man at yellow house 4. farmer

so i will be spending my day listening to Cathy Jordan and Dervish,
Leo Rowsome, Liam Walsh, Molly's Revenge and Moira Smiley,
and many more.
i'll probably make some boxties, potato champ, or soda bread.
i'll take a walk along the river {pretending it's the sea}.
i'll close my blinds and do some dancing and singing.
i'll attempt to play the bodhran.
i'll write a limerick or two.
i'll read about the good people and banshees.
i'll watch the secret of roan inish and waking ned devine.

1. cellist 2. girl near thatched house 3. pub 4. bicycles 5. sheep 6. farmer

since i've never been to my "homeland"
i've provided with you with some images by other photographers.
click on the descriptions to find out more.

happy st. patrick's day!!
what are you doing to celebrate?
why do you love ireland?

sebastopol celtic music festival...where i decided i wanted to play every instrument on the planet

the drive to sebastopol is just what you'd hope for
on a saturday morning after a long week.
you pass garden after garden,
antique store after antique store.
i could tell it would be a brilliant day.

so many fiddles, bodhrans, and accordians.
heaven.

moira smiley.
you've got to hear her live.
especially her bosnian folk songs.
you'll think you've entered another sphere.
{plus, check out those amazing tights!}

i'm pretty sure that if i did my wedding over,
i'd have a celtic band play for us
{the bagpipe would be a must}

this was an amazing session...
four beautiful, talented, kind women all singing together.
it was every girl's dream:
singing, harmonizing, and dancing.
my brothers would NOT have been invited.
the teasing would have been unbearable!

there was no end to the dancing.
at one moment i was frustrated with the dancers who stood right in front of cj and i, blocking our view of the stage. but then i realized they were not the rude ones...we were the rude ones for actually staying in our seats. so, i let it go, and was happy to watch the dancers.

i took a picture of these little irish dancers.
my niece takes irish dance lessons, and they remind me of her.
i think i'm going to find some adult dance classes.
what do you think?

can't wait for next year.

photos by ceej and me. sebastopol 2009.

let's get back to the heart...especially where it's dark

yesterday i broke one of my rules.

i listened to a playlist that is only to be

played in the fall time.

i'm glad i broke the rules.

because it reminded me of the things

that truly make my head and heart swoon:

this first photo we took two years ago

on one of our many visits to boston.

my favorite city in the country.

it's old. i love old things.

the older, the better.

i love walks, especially when they require a scarf.

and my heart sings when it is an overcast/rainy day.

i am finding that i have a bizarre condition:

i get depressed when it is sunny for too long.

my happiness comes from storms and darkness.

it is about august now, and october can't come soon enough.

rainy days mean hearty harvest soups and delicious sandwiches

at lovely cafes. this one here is on beacon hill in boston.


i have always been attracted to death, the dead, and what happens after this earth. usually, i think i would tell people that death does not scare me. but, that is not completely true: i have found that my anxieties over whether or not i will complete everything i want to in this life are a fear of death and time. so, i am reminding myself to slow down, and embrace the phases of life. and, i must add, that i LOVE cemetaries...especially these centuries-old cemetaries in the heart of boston.

oh autumn!
when will you bring rest to my over-heated soul?!
i look forward to cool air, bright colors, and the harvest time.


i need to spend more time in places like this.
surrounded by books
and quiet.
learning what other brains have thought
and what other hearts have felt.


i want to spend more time with people who have experienced life.
i love their stories.
i just want to listen, and listen, and listen.



and, i have been neglecting my goals to get here:
ireland.
where my ancestors are from.
i could learn much about them and about myself
that would bring me great joys.



i am reminded of my goals to have a modest-sized home,
with a garden
on a small road
out of the way.

another dream destination:

estonia.

and the surrounding areas.

this will be well worth your time to watch and listen.

i remember that i want to sing

especially folk songs from america, ireland, and the baltic countries.

yes, i love music.

especially the thoughtful, heartful kind

that comes from places and people

who have known suffering and heartbreak.

this is what i mean when i want to get back to the dark places of the heart:

in the dark places are the places where we hide our suffering.

it is where we are most vulnerable.

but it also where we are the most beautiful,

the most human.

these mysteries of the heart are what bring me chills,

they make me aware of the goodness of a life experience here.

those dark places are my brightest places.

so, i ask for more darkness to bring me light:

more rainy days,

more stories and songs that are from the deep places of the soul,

more mysteries revealed,

more time spent in lovely libraries in dark corners,

more ancient ruins,

more love, more words, more beauty.

Point Reyes Drive

i LOVE driving through Marin County. it's such a beautiful and peaceful place.

i took so many photos...it was hard to choose which to share with you.

there's a lot of photos. enjoy!

i couldn't get enough of these pretty yellow blossoms. there were fields and fields of them!


i couldn't believe how many wind-blown trees we saw like this. how powerful the wind is!

the rain and the fog moved in...i couldn't have been more giddy about it!

in the city of point reyes station there is this lovely little general store. i usually just "window" shop and look at all the pretty and yummy things.

just pretty. love the dismal weather more than anything.

beautiful trees, yes?

how would you like to live in this barn in this little valley? what a dream!

i wish this drive could have lasted forever!

ceej brought along his graflex...it makes the most wonderful photos.

more yellow flowers. just so pretty.

can you see the ocean there in the distance?

we took a walk down to the beach.

at first the rain was simply a mist...

no need for umbrellas yet...

as ceej set up his camera the rain wasn't too bad, but as soon as he was ready to take the photo it started to come down in a mad fit...we continued on with the photoshoot nevertheless. we'll see how the photo turns out (it takes 10-15 minutes just to get the graflex ready for one shot!)

if you come visit us, we'll definitely take you on this drive.

hopefully the weather will be perfectly rainy for you!

i took about a bazillion photos from the car window...there wasn't enough time to stop every 10 feet as i would have liked to.

sigh.

and, of course, we took a picnic along.

hopefully next time you can join us!

I Couldn't Resist...

For those of us who wish we were in Ireland, but couldn't make it today.

W.B. Yeats

photo by me 3. 15.09

down by the sally gardens, my love and i did stand

and on my leaning shoulder, she laid her snow-white hand.

she bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs

but i was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

Read more Yeats, an Irish poet/author/etc, here.

They Saved Civilization

photo via symposiumgbi.org

Who saved civilization?

The Irish, of course!

Read Thomas Cahill's book if you don't believe me. Here's a bit of a teaser:

As the Roman Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish, who were just learning to read and write, took up the great labor of copying all of western literature--everything they could lay their hands on. These scribes then served as conduits through which the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid the rubble and ruined vineyards of the civilization they had overwhelmed. Without this Service of the Scribes, everything that happened subsequently would have been unthinkable. Without the Mission of the Irish Monks, who single-handedly refounded European civilization throughout the continent in the bays and valleys of their exile, the world that came after them would have been an entirely different one--a world without books. And our own world would never have come to be.

Irish Music Recommended

photo by CJ 3.15.09 my red wellies, by the river outside our door.

01. Moira Smiley, Rua

02. Van Morrison & The Chieftans, Irish Heartbeat

03. Caera, Traditional Irish Gaelic Children's Songs

04. The Irish Guards, Magnificent Music of the Bagpipes

05. Molly's Revenge with Moira Smiley, The Western Shore

of all the money e'er i had,

i spent it in good company.

and all the harm that e'er i done,

alas it was to none but me.

and all i've done for want of wit

to mem'ry now i can't recall;

so fill to me the parting glass,

good night and joy be to you all.

-the parting glass

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This fantastic little cartoon was sent to us by our dear Irish friend, Susan. Please watch it! You'll be ever so glad you did.

happy st. patrick's day!

Irish Night In Review

Irish Night was perfect this year...it was a good combination of fun-filled activities, but very relaxed. We started with food: potato & cabbage stew, potato soup (made by the lovely Holly Jo), champ, yummy breads, raspberry swirl bread (brought by Mary & Matt) and a lemon-poppyseed cake with orange frosting and shamrocks.
We had maybe a bit too many of these edible gold pieces.

I found this milky green vase at a consignment shop, and thought it would be the perfect green decoration for our party.

A look at our delicious breads.

Mikey & Matt teamed up to MC the Limerick reading. Mikey's lounge-jazz piano was the perfect back-up for Matt's "prairie-home-companion" voice.

Hasen & Holly Jo listening intently to Limericks.

We ended the night with a viewing of Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I hadn't seen this since I was in elementary school. It was the perfect treat!

Below are all the Limerick's that were written for the night. ENJOY!

Writing limerick me no likey

It hurtin' me bad in the psyche

I'd rather be bloggin'

Than hurtin' my noggin

Does he ever stop tappin', that Mikey?

-Mo

I set out to write some Limericks

Instead I shook my shimericks

The boys like it more

My woobies get sore

You heard it, now wiggle your wimerick!

-Holly Jo

A duckly wuck duck duck McGoogan

'twas playin' a duck duck a goosin'

When doggly wog dog dog

Fell down in the fog fog

And smashed duckly wuck duck McGoogan.

-Mikey

Michael Peck's a burgeoning linguist

Holly's potatoes came from a steam dish

By the look on his face

He quite liked the taste

Or had gas--his looks are hard to distinguish

-Hasenpfeffer

In this room there are eight lord Christs

(I know cause I counted them twice)

I can't help but feel bad

For the thoughts that I've had

As they stare with their all seeing eyes.

-Matt

My bonnie sweet Irish lass

With a body like an hourglass

Shaped like a fiddle

With a wee little middle

And bosoms as big as her great big ___

-Matt

If you want to talk about eating

I'll just tell you you don't know the meaning

I came from a land in

Where it's always a famine

Like I told you, you don't know the meaning.

-Ashley

It's Time!

irish night!

my very favorite night of the entire year!

Here's what you need to know...

When: saturday march 7th

Time: 6:30 pm

Where: mama peck's house

Dress: come dressed as anything/anyone from irish history, folklore, or culture (i.e. silkie, faerie, banshee, sir thomas moore, st. patrick, etc.)

Prepare: write two original limericks for contest...

AND if you're really dedicated, tell us an honest-to-goodness Irish folktale

Bring: a traditional irish food to share (please bring only tasty things, or not).

Expect: a truly lovely evening...lots of laughs for sure!

remember: jigs are mandatory!

hope to see you there!

images from the secret of roan inish

Save the Date!

You know what's coming!

IRISH NIGHT!

It's our 5th Annual celebration of all things Irish.

SATURDAY MARCH 7TH

Keep checking the blog for more details.

(there might just be some serious jigging and reeling this year).

everyone is welcome!

Weeping...TRULY!

This is Dingle, Ireland. I've been looking at study abroad programs to give some "umph" to my graduate school applications. Since I want to go into Irish studies, the best thing to do would be to study there for at least a semester. So I found this school in a most beautiful location. I can study Irish folklore, anthropology, language, music, literature, arthictecture, theology & spirituality, etc. I've never wanted to do anything more...I read through the website and started weeping (yes, I've always been a bit dramatic). Wouldn't you love to go to school here?! I can hardly stand it!

Someday

Someday I will visit the British Isles for many months and years. That is where my daydreaming takes me...to green hills and jagged coastlines, to places where my ancestors lived, to a place where my studies of Medieval British Literature and poetry will drench my soul. Here's a little somethin'-somethin' from James Joyce, the famous Irish poet.

The twilight turns from amethyst

to deep and deeper blue,

The lamp fills with a pale green glow

The trees of the avenue.

The old piano plays an air,

Sedate and slow and gay;

She bends upon the yellow keys,

Her head inclines this way.

Shy thoughts and grave wide eyes and hands

That wander as they list--

The twilight burns to darker blue

With lights of amethyst.