Ireland

This sign makes me laugh. I took this picture in Killmallock Co. Limerick Ireland this last July. The town is a beautiful spot with castle right downtown and an awe-inspiring cathedral and the Kerrygold dairy at the entrance. There are picturesque homes and buildings along the main street, a quaint little pub, baskets of flowers hanging above every door and in window boxes at every turn. It is everything you would expect if an Irish village AND, apparently, it has oodles of soprano-barking dogs lurking about. What do you suppose that's all about? It is going to be my new metaphor (or maybe simile). When things are not going so well I could say, "Geesh, I feel like Dingo's Dognuts today. I should get home and under the blankets. Do I have a fever?." Or how about when someone's acting a bit off, "Man, he's as high as a bark in Killmallock!". When somebody does something very bold you could comment; "Boy, you've got some Dingo's on you, pal!" Whaddya think?

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, sheep gotta cross the road to get to the other side.....Can't help loving that land of Eire. I could wait in this traffic jam for days. Aren't those guys adorable? One day while driving around we stopped for cows to cross the road. Unfortunately the poor woman herding them didn't have a firm hand on those big ol' sweeties and they took off running in and amongst the cars snarling things up for quite some time. Swearing with an Irish accent - well that's just a gift.

My friends and I traveled all over Ireland in our little rented Opel. One day we ventured out to the Dingle Peninsula. This is on the west coast of Ireland and the panoramic vistas will take your breath away. We shopped and had lunch in the town of Dingle at a little pub called Adams that was delightful. I had the best fish and chips I've ever eaten and for dessert, an apple and blackberry crumble. Liz begged a bite and of course I let her have one. When I asked if she wanted another she said she'd really only wanted the one so she could tell people back home that she'd eaten "Dingleberries." The town was very pretty with the sea to the west and the landscape of rolling green hills beyond. And as you can see by the photo they have "boots that dingle, dangle, dingle" with flowers no less.
"Come you back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow..."

Yep, I hear the pipes acallin'. And I can't wait to go back.