I am back in New York City. I am home.
Our friends Chip and John have come to visit tonight. They are best friends to Mom and I. The fact that they have actually viewed all 1,300 photos of our Ireland trip puts them in a whole other category of best friends just for enduring all those photos.
"Oh, you've got mail...a post card", Chip said as he enters my apartment. He hands it to me and I say, "What are you talking about, Chip?" as I hug him hello. "It's 7p.m. I already picked up my mail".
"Well, you forgot this", he tells me.
It's a post card that Chip and John saved from a trip John took to Ireland back in 1998. Being funny, they thought they would pretend they were there when we were. Last week.
"Oh, wait a second. Where did you get this post card?" I ask as I look at it...and look at it again because I can't believe what I am seeing.
"When we were in Ireland. We thought we'd bump into you," Chip states, thinking he's being oh-so-clever.
"No, really. Stop kidding with me. Did I send you this post card and forget that I did?", I ask him although why I would send a post card with no note, no address and no stamp? I keep asking these senseless questions because what has me blown away is the picture on the front of the post card. Out of all the thousands of post cards John could have bought back in 1998, he bought THIS one.
"Come over here for a second", I say to Chip and John as I lead them over to a photo - 8 1/2" x 11" that is hanging near my living room over a doorway. It is a photo of the exact same photo that's on the post card.
"You see that picture? I bought that in 2003. I never had the chance to visit the spot back then but this time.... Wow, wait until Mom sees this," I say. "She'll tell you why out of all the post cards you could have chosen back in the day, I am beyond shocked that you picked this one".
Back in Ireland, we are planning to drive and tour around the Dingle Pennisula. Mom pulls out a post card that she bought in 2003. It's a photo of a herd of sheep making their way around a steep, winding road with a stone wall acting as a buffer between the road and the sea. The road leads down to a pier and the sea and there are some rather dramatic and distinctive black rocks jutting out of the sea in the background.
"I want to go to THIS spot", Mom announces to our friends Erin and Tom. THIS spot, the post card notation states, is somewhere beyond Dingle around Slea Head. THIS spot being reflective of the same photo that has been hanging in my living room for seven years. THIS spot is the same spot that is on the post card Chip and John gave us.
THIS spot is predestined. Now all we have to do is find it.
We drive to Dingle, have lunch at Brenner's Hotel and ice cream (honeycomb flavored) at Murphy's of Dingle. We all look long and hard for Fungie, the dolphin that is rumored (true rumor, actually) to live in Dingle Harbor. The closest we come to frolicking with Fungie is "riding" on a bronze statue that sits near the harbor. Needless to say, but lets say it anyway, it was a very smooth ride.
Dingle was a must-do on our list because we were on a shopping mission as well (there's a surprise for those of you that know me). There are only about a handful of craftsmen that still hand-cut crystal. One of them resides in Dingle. Sean, formerly a Master Craftsman with Waterford has set up his own shop, Dingle Crystal (check out www.dinglecrystal.com) where he creates the most gorgeous works of art, be it an Iced tea glass or a chandelier. Mom and I were looking to add to our collection of glassware. A monetary indulgence to be sure, but can a price truly be placed on glorious yet functional works of art? (Yes, a price can be placed on said items but lets not mention cost, shall we? So declasse or should I say, de-glasse? Oh, dear, lets blame that on the jet-lag)
Glasses in hand (makes for lovely carry-on), special orders placed and a get-reacquainted moment with Sean, we are off to find THIS post card spot.
"This is it, Mom. I'm sure of it", I announce as we come around Slea Head and yes, there are sheep (where in Ireland are there not sheep? :) and a winding road and the sea and jutting rocks. All the components are there but...
"Nope. This isn't it", Mom says. Tom, Erin's husband and driver-for-the-day, being young and spry goes on a walk-about to see if maybe, from a different vantage point, this is it. It holds so much promise and possibility but it's not quite right. Beautiful to be sure but it's not our THIS post card spot.
Back in the car, we pass stunning seascape, staggering beauty. Somewhere around the 156th bend in the road between Dingle and the end of the world...
"That's it. THIS is the spot. Stop the car"
It is. Our band of intrepid travelers. We found it. It felt as if we were the very first people to stumble upon this beauty. Never mind that it is the road that leads to the ferries that go to the Blasket Islands where puffins reside during the summer months. Never mind that there are quite a few tourists that seem to, in this same moment, have made the same discovery. Never mind that a young man dressed like Robin Hood is making his way down the road with a gang of very merry men (yes, he is well-aware Sherwood Forest is in an entirely different country. We asked. He knows. As for why the Robin Hood costume? I think some questions are best left unanswered).
"We did it. We found it." Tom, Erin, Mom and I can't stop smiling. Do people who get to the top of Mount Everest feel like this? Is this how the explorers felt when they discovered the New World? Maybe...
...with crystal stemware in our carry-on luggage and memories with dear friends to last a lifetime, we come home...
...and receive our post card of the THIS spot. We smile.
We know exactly where THIS spot is now. It's just around that next bend.
Our friends Chip and John have come to visit tonight. They are best friends to Mom and I. The fact that they have actually viewed all 1,300 photos of our Ireland trip puts them in a whole other category of best friends just for enduring all those photos.
"Oh, you've got mail...a post card", Chip said as he enters my apartment. He hands it to me and I say, "What are you talking about, Chip?" as I hug him hello. "It's 7p.m. I already picked up my mail".
"Well, you forgot this", he tells me.
It's a post card that Chip and John saved from a trip John took to Ireland back in 1998. Being funny, they thought they would pretend they were there when we were. Last week.
"Oh, wait a second. Where did you get this post card?" I ask as I look at it...and look at it again because I can't believe what I am seeing.
"When we were in Ireland. We thought we'd bump into you," Chip states, thinking he's being oh-so-clever.
"No, really. Stop kidding with me. Did I send you this post card and forget that I did?", I ask him although why I would send a post card with no note, no address and no stamp? I keep asking these senseless questions because what has me blown away is the picture on the front of the post card. Out of all the thousands of post cards John could have bought back in 1998, he bought THIS one.
"Come over here for a second", I say to Chip and John as I lead them over to a photo - 8 1/2" x 11" that is hanging near my living room over a doorway. It is a photo of the exact same photo that's on the post card.
"You see that picture? I bought that in 2003. I never had the chance to visit the spot back then but this time.... Wow, wait until Mom sees this," I say. "She'll tell you why out of all the post cards you could have chosen back in the day, I am beyond shocked that you picked this one".
Back in Ireland, we are planning to drive and tour around the Dingle Pennisula. Mom pulls out a post card that she bought in 2003. It's a photo of a herd of sheep making their way around a steep, winding road with a stone wall acting as a buffer between the road and the sea. The road leads down to a pier and the sea and there are some rather dramatic and distinctive black rocks jutting out of the sea in the background.
"I want to go to THIS spot", Mom announces to our friends Erin and Tom. THIS spot, the post card notation states, is somewhere beyond Dingle around Slea Head. THIS spot being reflective of the same photo that has been hanging in my living room for seven years. THIS spot is the same spot that is on the post card Chip and John gave us.
THIS spot is predestined. Now all we have to do is find it.
We drive to Dingle, have lunch at Brenner's Hotel and ice cream (honeycomb flavored) at Murphy's of Dingle. We all look long and hard for Fungie, the dolphin that is rumored (true rumor, actually) to live in Dingle Harbor. The closest we come to frolicking with Fungie is "riding" on a bronze statue that sits near the harbor. Needless to say, but lets say it anyway, it was a very smooth ride.
Dingle was a must-do on our list because we were on a shopping mission as well (there's a surprise for those of you that know me). There are only about a handful of craftsmen that still hand-cut crystal. One of them resides in Dingle. Sean, formerly a Master Craftsman with Waterford has set up his own shop, Dingle Crystal (check out www.dinglecrystal.com) where he creates the most gorgeous works of art, be it an Iced tea glass or a chandelier. Mom and I were looking to add to our collection of glassware. A monetary indulgence to be sure, but can a price truly be placed on glorious yet functional works of art? (Yes, a price can be placed on said items but lets not mention cost, shall we? So declasse or should I say, de-glasse? Oh, dear, lets blame that on the jet-lag)
Glasses in hand (makes for lovely carry-on), special orders placed and a get-reacquainted moment with Sean, we are off to find THIS post card spot.
"This is it, Mom. I'm sure of it", I announce as we come around Slea Head and yes, there are sheep (where in Ireland are there not sheep? :) and a winding road and the sea and jutting rocks. All the components are there but...
"Nope. This isn't it", Mom says. Tom, Erin's husband and driver-for-the-day, being young and spry goes on a walk-about to see if maybe, from a different vantage point, this is it. It holds so much promise and possibility but it's not quite right. Beautiful to be sure but it's not our THIS post card spot.
Back in the car, we pass stunning seascape, staggering beauty. Somewhere around the 156th bend in the road between Dingle and the end of the world...
"That's it. THIS is the spot. Stop the car"
It is. Our band of intrepid travelers. We found it. It felt as if we were the very first people to stumble upon this beauty. Never mind that it is the road that leads to the ferries that go to the Blasket Islands where puffins reside during the summer months. Never mind that there are quite a few tourists that seem to, in this same moment, have made the same discovery. Never mind that a young man dressed like Robin Hood is making his way down the road with a gang of very merry men (yes, he is well-aware Sherwood Forest is in an entirely different country. We asked. He knows. As for why the Robin Hood costume? I think some questions are best left unanswered).
"We did it. We found it." Tom, Erin, Mom and I can't stop smiling. Do people who get to the top of Mount Everest feel like this? Is this how the explorers felt when they discovered the New World? Maybe...
...with crystal stemware in our carry-on luggage and memories with dear friends to last a lifetime, we come home...
...and receive our post card of the THIS spot. We smile.
We know exactly where THIS spot is now. It's just around that next bend.
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