Unlikely Bedfellows I arrived at Cornell University in 1971 with an army jacket and a duffle bag. I had not led a conventional suburban life, and I was not entering college in a traditional middle class American manner. I had hitchhiked from Cleveland, where I had spent the summer learning about sociological research studies at Case Western Reserve University and learning that rivers in the United States were so polluted that they could, indeed,…
Getting Smaller I was watching an obscure little film from 1993 called Indian Summer. It had a great cast with Alan Arkin, Diane Lane, Matt Craven, Bill Paxton (RIP) and Kevin Pollak. It is another Big Chill movie with a summer camp twist. I am sure many can relate to the ensemble of characters and roles, not to mention the reminiscences of summer camp summers past. At one point in the story, there is a…
Chasing Fireflies I read a report by The Farmer’s Almanac, a strangely vestigial but somehow authoritative reference point on things both naturalistic and Americana, that fireflies were at risk of being eradicated by a combination of pollution (both pesticides and light pollution) and the civilized landscaping of our properties. I do not pretend to know what the firefly does for us ecologically, but these Lampyridae are bioluminescent reminders of things past. That bioluminescence during…
Home Again Home Again, Jiggety Jig Vacations are supposed to recreate and relax. I believe we have found the perfect formula for that. Yes, Ireland has been wonderful and greatly exceeded our expectations. We really enjoyed Normandy, and Rome is very special to me and would always be a pleasure. México, both Cabo and Akumal, were fun and restful. Todi in Umbria was perfect for exploring the hill towns of central Italy. Next, we’ve spoken…
The Silence of the Rhododendron The Irish countryside is as lush as its name, the Emerald Isle, conveys. Everywhere you look where there is no stone, there is something vital and green growing. In fact, when I learned that the Irish soil was generally lacking in the nutritional qualities to support much agriculture, I was surprised. I would have guessed the opposite. The give-away is that when you look at the hillsides you see what…
Our Trip to the South Pole Killarney is a fine old town that has a grand cathedral in Saint Mary’s, the Killarney National Park and plenty of other attractions and shopping. That said, I’ve been in Killarney four times in ten days and have been in the cathedral (the stained glass and the stonework are indeed exceptional), have been to Ross Castle twice and Muckross House once and driven through the National Park twice on…
High Tide at Westcove Southwestern Ireland is comprised of four fingers that project out into the Atlantic Ocean. There is a road that meanders through all four peninsulae called Wild Atlantic Way (it actually covers 2,500 km from the top of the island to the very southern part of Cork). The common aspects of that road are that it follows the sea and it’s about as narrow as any road you will ever drive on.…
Tempus Fugit I am no Latin scholar, but I did take four years of Latin in high school. My mother, who had never taken a moment of Latin during her education through graduate school, was convinced that Latin was an extremely useful course of study for a young man heading out into the world. You may recall that doctors used to write their prescriptions in Latin so as to make it less likely that scoundrels…
Flags of the Realm In case you haven’t been paying attention, we are in Ireland for a few weeks. The length of a vacation is a tricky thing. It seems like the biggest risk is to under-book and leave yourself wishing you had a few more days wherever you are off to. That is certainly less than ideal since fulfillment versus being left wanting does help soothe the demons within. I went a lot to…
The Keogh Connection The Keogh family of Killarney is a long-standing part of County Kerry and has had great influence on all of Ireland and, indeed, all of modern civilization. Its descendants include a young lass, Fancy Nancy, who hails from Ithaca, New York, and who has come back to Ireland and County Kerry in search of her roots. Of course the irony in all of that is that her roots are firmly entrenched in…