On Spring Break in the Emerald Isle.

Miracle Maddie

Maddie Girl is still doing so well — what a blessing! During therapy, Maddie did SO GREAT in her stander and was fitted for braces for her legs and wrists. We are making progress! She consistently tracked a baby doll! At the end of the month, she’ll have Speech Therapy evaluation for mouth movement/swallowing and to hopefully learn a communication device (like an eye gaze)! She really is doing SO well! We are seeing so many positive changes, and even though some are small, we are so grateful for how far she’s come! 

Ireland

I took a mini Spring Break trip with California Joe to explore the west coast of Ireland. On Saturday, we spent the day traveling to Sligo, which is W.B. Yeats country. We arrived at The Railway Hostel just before 5 pm. Paddy, the caretaker, was fantastic and gave us some great tips on where to go in town. We dropped our stuff and walked around the absolutely gorgeous town. We tried to get dinner at this fantastic place on the Garavogue River called The Garavogue Bar, but they didn’t do food, so we had to order from this place that only sold Indian food. The waiter was cute and funny, so I convinced California Joe to have a couple of drinks before we had dinner at a FANTASTIC place called Hooked. After, we tried finding some ice cream but it was getting colder by the second so we hightailed it back to the hostel.

The next day, we got up earlier than I thought we would and went to a nice mass for Palm Sunday. We had brunch at Hooked and then got the bus to the walking path to Queen Maeve’s cairn — that was a HIKE! I was proud of myself for making it to the top even though I thought I was going to throw up and busted my ass twice. We saw horses and sheep and breathtaking, once in a lifetime views. We climbed down and took the bus to Rosses Point — MAGNIFICENT — before we got dinner at the place Paddy recommended, which was Coach Lane Restaurant at Donaghy’s Bar.

California Joe and I traveling to Sligo. California Joe enjoying wine by the river in Sligo. This was a “strenuous hike” that kicked my ass. On top of the world. New Jersey was the way I was pointing. I think. Seriously magnificent views. California Joe and I in front of Queen Maeve’s cairn. Sligo IS Yeats’ country. A shipwreck on the way to Rosses Point. The sun came out as we walked along the water; glorious. A heartbreaking statue at Rosses Point. Beautiful. In case I forgot to mention where we were. Epic. Perfect.

On Monday, we got coffee and then toured Sligo Abbey. Then we went to the Knock Shrine. I was so caught up in the wonder and sacredness of the place that I didn’t take too many pictures, but I did get some holy water for Maddie. It was really cool and the museum was very interesting. We traveled to Galway, stopped for pint, and then arrived at The Rainbow Hostel in Doolin, which was essentially perfect. We had dinner at McGann’s.

Doolin is spectacular. If I could live anywhere in Ireland, it might be Doolin. A pint at McGann’s. One of the only pictures I took in Knock. Sligo Abbey. Sligo Abbey.

On Tuesday, California Joe and I walked TEN MILES. It all started when we walked from our hostel to Doolin Pier to catch the ferry to Inishmore. We walked to our glamping site, but it wasn’t quite ready, so we dropped our stuff and walked back to town for lunch and to buy some souvenirs. We walked back to the glamping site and waited about 30 minutes for our site to be ready. We hung out there for about an hour before walking to Dun Aonghasa by way of the seal colony. We walked to the top and then walked back, stopping at a local restaurant for dinner. Then we finally walked back to the site. EVERYTHING was sore but the views were phenomenally breathtaking and it was SO worth it.

We made friends with all kinds of wildlife. Like this lone member of the seal colony. California Joe taking on Dun Aonghasa. There’s NOTHING like this view. It’s so beautiful. ALL KINDS of wildlife. What a trip. My heart is so full.

We got home just a few hours ago. I am exhausted and incredibly happy.

Writing

I have to review the galley pages for my upcoming novel and work on my final submission for workshop, so in honor of procrastination AND national poetry month, here are some more poems.

7. Sippin’ Whiskey
I feel elegant
When I’m sippin’ whiskey
A handsome, troubled man
tried to teach me
the difference
between
whiskey and whisky
the reason for the different spellings
but I got drunk
and forgot

8. Air Conditioners are the worst
when they don’t work
when they’re too loud
when they’re too big
because summer’s supposed to be hot
because they’re expensive
because they can fall out of windows

9. Kissing girls is like
putting your fingers
into
a Chinese finger trap
you can’t get out
unless you know the trick

10. Whisper in the window
the summer breeze slipped in
like a whisper in the window
a secret, shared joke
between breathless lovers

11. Preacher Man said
I shouldn’t be so sad in the confessional
that I should love myself
the way God loves me

12. Drive-thru lightning
his love was like
drive-thru lightning
I had to brave miscommunication
through a tin box of static
and bark my order
to hurry along and collect
my wants
from a window always sliding closed
and in the grease-stained paper bag
was magnificent happiness
as beautiful and deadly and quick
as lightning

13. Emerald Escape
Ireland has been my emerald escape
I have traversed ruins and climbed mountains
Been happily rain-soaked and miserably cold
To practice and master the ancient craft
of storytelling

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