Adventures at Home and Abroad

There's nothing like starting a visit in a driving downpour, getting soaked unloading the car. Golf clubs, suitcases, and bags of groceries made it to the condo, mostly dry. Overall, we had a great visit, and spending some time with Lauren made it all worthwhile. She made us laugh and her Googling skills uncovered the absolute best lunch place in Williamsburg, off the beaten track. I think I ate the best sandwich of my life there. Our day in Jamestown was gray, but I hadn't been back in years, so the new museum complex was very impressive. I survived golfing with Dad and another man. My guess is he didn't play with women very often... My instincts said he was a Vegas mobster, but maybe I was being overly dramatic.

"Don't surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn't true anymore."   --C heryl Strayed I should have this quotation tattooed in giant letters on my body.

In a moment of weakness, I told my Dad I'd meet him at his condo in Williamsburg, VA TWO WEEKS after we got home from Ireland. What in the @#$% was I thinking? At least Lauren will be there. Family commitments are interesting. Sometimes we look forward to them, sometimes we dread them, and a lot of the time we make them out of a sense of guilt, or duty. He's flying all the way across the country to play golf for a week. I suppose I can fly half-way for four days. But as a stress management activity, I'm renting golf clubs. I refuse to lug them all the way for one round of golf. At a minimum, I'm going to Yorktown, and I'm going to blast the Hamilton soundtrack. My tiny rebellion.

For the last year, I've taken stained glass classes at Glass Warehouse, on Broadway. When we moved here, I was shocked to discover there weren't many places for true glasswork and instruction. Yes, I could paint my own pottery, but that's not my interest. Apparently, during the last financial crash (2008 or so), almost all of the shops that catered to glasswork enthusiasts closed in the greater Denver metro area. But Glass Warehouse remained, mostly because Connie and her husband live above the shop. I love my class, and the instructor, Becky MacKenzie, is just excellent. She's taught me much more, and more effectively, than anything I learned in Madison. And, the Friday group is pretty cool. The women are interesting and not crazy and several are real artists. We had bad news yesterday. Well, bad for us, not for Connie, the owner. She's retiring and selling the building, and our classes will end, by early December. Sigh.

It's funny to think that John poo-pooed a trip to Ireland for so many years. I'm not quite sure why, since he always emphasizes the "Irish" majority (3/4) of his Irish-German roots. Perhaps he knew that once he visited, he'd want to return, soon. And so it is. We both loved this trip. The people, the gorgeous countryside, the sea. And the villages and larger towns, which hummed with vibrancy. It's actually a great thing that the sun doesn't shine as much as we seem to need these days, or we would seriously be thinking of moving. We lucked out with the weather, except for our first day in Donegal, when the wind blew a gale. Only a few spits and spots after that. Driving felt easier than in England and Scotland, perhaps because they painted a white line down the middle of all but the tiniest roads...psychological comfort, I suppose. We visited so many places, but I think my initial list of favorites include: Our walks. The breezy and chilly trek out ...

Once we arrived in Dublin, we knew there was one day trip we should try to make: to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Newgrange, the 5000 year old Neolithic ritual center and passage site. The easiest way to get there was via tour group and I'd done some research and discovered Mary Gibbons. The reviews said she was an excellent guide and very engaging, which sounded perfect.  We aimed to do this tour next week but she was fully booked when I enquired on Friday night. However, in a matter of a few moments, we learned she had a cancellation for Saturday, so we grabbed it.  The pickup spot was about 25 minutes away at the Doubletree. We hoofed it down there and made it by 7:45 a.m. First of all, it was a big tour bus, so John started getting hives immediately. (And muttering one-liners even before the main group of our compatriots joined us.) Once everyone got loaded onto the bus, including the Filipino family who held us up and the Italian girls who were late getting...