Ireland 2022 -- Part 1

Donna and I spent two wondrous weeks in Ireland to belatedly celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary. We had intended to go in January, but Covid at the time was still raging, making travel an iffy at best proposition, so we postponed to October. During this, our fourth Ireland trip, we:

Contributed to the decline in the world fish population and beer reserves and enjoyed the craic and comfort of the outstanding restaurants and pubs across the Republic...

Walked and hiked many, many miles in towns, villages, and a national forest, and made at least one very bad choice along the way that led to a perilous situation...

Were awed by the wild, majestic beauty of the sea-dominated geography...

Learned about the history of the inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, toured ancient churches, monasteries, and cemeteries, and visited Killeagh, the village from which Donna’s mother’s family (O’Keeffe) emigrated three generations ago...

And, in addition to much, much more, engaged with many cheerful, kind, and selfless people, all of which reinforced our belief that western Ireland, and particularly Dingle, is about the most wonderful place on Earth.

I'll be posting more about our adventures and experiences in Ireland soon. Until then, slainte!

Comments

Jack and Erin's Wedding!

This past weekend Jack married Erin Breslin in Santa Barbara. Erin is smart, sassy, strong, funny, and beautiful. She and Jack are nearly inseparable, and when they are together, they talk and laugh nonstop like two school kids. As Donna noted in her beautiful, heartfelt remarks at the rehearsal dinner, it's hard to know what they have left to talk about after carrying on this continual conversation for more than three years. It is obvious to anyone who sees them that they are head over heels in love. Donna and I had met Erin's parents last December in Philadelphia. We immediately became friends and found that we shared a lot of common values -- particularly the importance of family. It was great to see them again in Santa Barbara and to meet their son Gerard and many of their siblings and in-laws. It also was great to meet some of Jack's fellow YouTubers. There's a culture of camaraderie in the industry, and many of them were eager to help Jack when he was g...

Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-Mile Swim

I swam the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-Mile Swim last Sunday for the fourth time. It was the first time I had participated since 2011. Back then I wasn’t in the best of shape and the conditions were very tough. The air temperature was 95 and the water temperature above 80. It was a grueling, unpleasant grind. I remember telling Donna to never let me do it again. This time it was a completely different experience. I really enjoyed the swim. The air and water temperatures were just about perfect (80 degrees and 72 degrees), although seas were pretty rough—especially during the second half of the swim. I had a better attitude going in, I was physically and mentally prepared, I had a music player—a gift from my kids—to keep my head clear and I was excited for about a week before. Maybe I needed something to be excited about. I was excited on the early-morning drive from Columbia, past Annapolis and acr...

Call Me Ishmael

I’ve just finished re-reading Moby Dick , Herman Melville’s American masterpiece about Captain Ahab’s battle with destiny, madness and the great white sperm whale that demasted him of a leg. It’s one of the most remarkable books I’ve ever plowed through. Ishmael, the book’s narrator, signs on to be a shipmate on the whaling ship Pequod for a three-year expedition because he’s drawn to the sea as a way to clear his head and experience the ocean’s vast wildness. As fate would have it though, Ahab, captain of the Pequod , has no intention to harvest as many sperm whales as possible, but to hunt down and kill Moby Dick. I’m fascinated by literary names. Ahab was named by his “crazy mother” after a biblical king of Israel who devoted himself to the worship of false gods. Like his namesake, Captain Ahab is devoted to the maniacal pursuit of his false god, vengeance. Ishmael in the Bible was the bastard son of Abraham and his wife’s slave Hagar. Abraham’s wife Sarah ban...

What's in Dave's Head

Search This Blog