OUR TRIP TO IRELAND THANKS TO SARA

I have been to Ireland several times which have all been wonderful. This trip was unique because our daughter, Sara, not only organized our routes, she was able to share the history of the various towns we visited.

 She drove remarkably well on the roads, often so narrow that she would have to pull way over to allow another car to pass. We were close but avoided the dreaded ditch many times!

Nien-he was most helpful and Mika and Emi gave us the pleasure of their youth. Being next to Joan all the way has always been such a pleasure and I appreciated every moment we were seated together.

Ireland was beautifully green. So many pastures with cows, sheep, or horses that I could well imagine another life with animals, apart from dogs. As smart as MaggieMae is, we experienced a smarter dog who on the order of his master got many sheep over a very large field to go a certain way so that they could be fenced in to enable their owners an opportunity to explain the process of shearing sheep so that we could wear warm sweaters.

Sara was able to identify so many restaurants with most tasty food. I always loved hearing music while enjoying the food. Occasionally the music was live with a person playing a guitar and the other a banjo. 

From the sheep herding demonstration to the girls surfing in the Atlantic Ocean to an ecology foraging tour on a river inlet to a walking tour on the Cliffs of Moher, it was all perfect!

Ireland has always been historically a mixed bag for me. My mother never talked to me about Ireland even though she often took me to her relatives in my home town. She never had me sit at the table with those relatives. When she died when I was 13, I never celebrated St. Patrick’s Day until after one of our visits to a movie in Dedham, “Out of Ireland”, that answered my problem. If you were not the first born male or married the first born male, you had to leave. But the word used was not “immigration” but “exile”. The only way to not cry about leaving Ireland was to never talk about Ireland. It surely answered the problem I had, but it surely only saddened me more that I was never as “Irish” as I could have been.

With gratitude to Joan, Sara, Nien-he, Mika and Emi, I appreciated every moment.

OUR POLICAL NIGHTMARE

 It is virtually impossible to read or listen to news without their being events and discussions regarding the upcoming 2024 election. You would think that one would so a sick of listening to voices of those for or against candidates. Even candidates within the same party disagree on much. Yet, I am one of those that persists in knowing what is happening.

One could well understand differences of strategies to address real problems, e.g., inflation, global warming, poverty, homeless, migration, Russia’s attack on Ukraine. I admittedly think that answers require those who have should agree to give, e.g., those making $X above a certain amount would pay proportionately more taxes. The underlying problem that is not generally addressed is the inherent biases shared by political leaders and viewers. I, for one, am clearly a Democrat. However, I can clearly recall from my young years when our political system was reflected by general Senate votes of 98-2. Now, each party struggles for 51.

The dichotomy is also demonstrated by religions. One struggles to comprehend how one could love the Divine while hating those who share other or no religious views. To think that the Divine is bigoted seems absurd.

I admit to having no answer. I appreciate that I will be dead before how this dichotomy works itself out. My concern is for our children, grandchildren and their descendants. 

WAR AND PUNISHMENT

Reading WAR AND PUNISHMENT by Mikhail Zygar was a difficult to read. Essentially  it focused on Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky and the struggles between Russia and Ukraine. However it was more than worthwhile. Amazingly the author captured quotes between the leaders and others who were in their nations. 

I continue to read the news coming out of the current conflict. Admittedly, I am one of those who considers Putin a disaster not only for the Ukrainians but also for the Russians. I am impressed that Putin is apparently losing support among his peoples, displayed most recently by his need to gather with real people on the street. He usually sits at a homogeneously long bureau with his person of interest seated on the other edge. 

There are so many conflicts throughout the world. China and its twisted approach to Taiwan, North Korea and its approach to South Korea, many African conflicts, e.g., Niger today makes the news constantly. But I am also fretful of what potentially is happening to our nation.  Our dichotomy is extreme. We seem to be so divided on political issues that it is not hard to think what would happen if the 2024 election resulted in a win by Donald J. Trump! We could then experience conflict comparable to what Ukraine is experiencing with Russia.

The long and short of it all is that we humans are still evolving. We can hope for the future, if not on this planet, but another.