more fog.

The brothers Land Rover stops at the corner of Stocking Lane and Mount Venus Road. Get out and start on the walk up the hill, wearing a green visibility jacket.

It is foggy today, and the walk up the narrow road needs care, it is important to be noticed by the drivers of the cars. Pass the art centre. A few doors on a young woman in a black fitness outfit leaves one of the houses and starts to walk up the road. Pass her and walk on, trying to be a little faster.

There is no wish for company today. The woman walks all the way to the Killakee parking place, see her as pass before the background of fog hiding Dublin city.

Take a picture of a gate, with a warning that there is to be no shooting.

Before reaching Glencree, after an hours walking, there is the sound of the Land Rover car horn.

The journey to Glendalough continues that way.

children then

  in the tall room look all the way up at the rafters above the gallery. There is a dog barking and another one clicking toenails on the wooden floor.

Last night's three glasses of Southern Comfort and two glasses of beer impair the ability to get up.

Get up anyway, and talk to the owner of the flat with the high ceiling in the sitting room. He has made coffee and fed the dogs. His wife had left earlier to attend to a relative in the nursing home. Now he makes a poached egg on toast. He had learnt how to do it yesterday and he is a master today.

The dogs start to bark and the brother arrives.

More coffee is made and more stories told. Stories of older eras, both men are remembered as children.

27_11-2021 southern comfort

 In the morning, the host makes his first ever poached egg. He makes it in water with a shot of vinegar. And in that way, breakfast is perfect.

The rest of the day is spent showing editing techniques on a computer to make the electronic images of a debutantes ball just look better. Slowly, one by one and then faster and faster all the images are done.

And then it is evening, and after supper a case of beer and a bottle of Southern Comfort.

A touching recognition.

 Leave the white house at twelve and after goodbyes to the brother take the road up to the Killakee parking place on the road to Enniskerry. The walk up to Killakee  is faster than it was in any memory, it is a walk that was never before taken. It is only three kilometres, and it is fast. The Irish fondness for mobile 'phones makes itself felt, and a call comes organising a meeting  in three hours, in Enniskerry.

Enniskerry is over the hill called the featherbed, Joyce referred to it as the Featherbed Mountain.

Between Killakee and Glencree there is a cloudburst of snow, the stuff driven in nearly horizontal. tWalk on, do not turn, for that way, only the back gets wet and the front remains dry. At Enniskerry leave the Military road and go down by the german soldier's cemetary and proceed on all the way past the fancy houses to Enniskerry.

There is a strange meeting there, and see the brilliant pictures made by what had been a young student thirty years ago. Two books as a present for what had been his tutor.

A touching recognition.

wrong

 The distance from Enniskerry to Bray is not great, it is only roughly five kilometres. An easy walk of one and a quarter hours, and it is a lovely day. 

The roads are too narrow for the big cars driven in modern times, and again, there are no footpaths. Sometimes he drivers give a friendly signal to those who get out of their way, but more often they do not. Such is the way of things.

After crossing the motorway on the new bridge, walk down the road to the Peoples Park. It all looks very pleasant,

Telephone to the friend and arrange a meeting.

Meet in front of the Royal Hotel, both wear masks out of politeness. The friend complains of the cold, and he has a fear of the covid infection.

But as soon as he enters the café he takes of his mask.

This is all wrong somehow.

sidewalk luxury.

 Leave the white house in the park, take the granite stairs down to the gravel area in front of the building. See that there is a black car approaching, a modern Jaguar. It sistops fifty feet down the driveway, still on the tarred part. The driver stares out of the window with large round eyes, a dismayed expression on his face. Then the car moves on and passes by, the driver now staring ahead.

That is the second brother, the one who has the problem. He is angry, he vents his anger on the youngest brother and has joined forces with the second. This eldest brother is the unspeakable one, the one that moved out of his area of control.

This sounds unreasonable, it is unreasonable, and reasoning has never been a frequent cause for rage. Walk on down the driveway, and go out by the side gate to the grounds of the white park house. Stocking Lane is wide, but there are no footpaths. Take care to avoid the motor vehicles. This situation worsens on the mount Venus road, all corners and hedges. The long road up to Cruagh wood is dangerous too, and the road up Glencullen has no verges either. The elation sets in just before Glencullen village, so slow down, knowing well that after this short high exhaustion will set in. Down Bridge road and past the steep Devils Elbow, and then over the hill to Enniskerry. By this time it is dark and spend time moving well to the side of the road to avoid being knocked down.

Enniskerry is lit up for Christmas. It has sidewalks, and this is luxury, after sixteen kilometres walking without them.

dark and then light

The night appears to have been spent stumbling down the steep wooden stairs to the lavatory, there is something wrong, maybe a chill from having spent a large part of yesterday sitting on a damp plank in a small boat, who knows. Sleep never made itself aware until the seaside melody sounded at five. This was being awakened from a sound sleep, this was painful. Throw the clothes on as had been planned the evening before and down the stairs again, taking the bedclothes down too.

That was that, it is all done now, the holiday on the west coast of Ireland is over. There is nothing left but pictures, as the landrover rolls on through the dark. The dark is broken by the bright lights that the locals place on the gables of their houses. The drive in the dark continues, through An Spideal and on through the outskirts of Galway, and from there on to the first stop for a cup of coffee.

Later in a day, a visit to a nursery for trees, bitterly cold but all the plants beautifully asleep in the enchanted light of the enormous greenhouses.

A signal station on a deserted island 22 NOV 21

 A signal station on a deserted island

21 NOV 2021

 View over Galway Bay

Climbed the mountain today

Saw the islands, a few of the many.

Drove on to see the twelve pins and 

the boring village of Roundstone

They are made from the stones that were lying in the fields 20NOV 2021

Today, a walk around the island

There are walls everywhere

They are made from the stones that were lying in the fields

two journeys

The Dublin streetlights let the sky glow  orange. They are a carpet of pinpricks following the lines of the streets, in yellow red blue and green. They are visible over the fields and stop abruptly at the sea.

The brothers are leaving to go out west, to a small cottage under a big sky. It is near Galway, and it will  take around three hours to get there.

And when there, take a short journey on a small open boat, across the bay.

The petrol runs out and it becomes necessary to row back. The whole journey takes another three hours and ends just as it is getting dark

The cottage has a shower and a fireplace, it is possible to warm up again.

A journey in a boat

A deserted house on a tiny island belonging to a fisherman. 

The day ended with rowing due to a forgotten can of petrol for the boat's motor

All is well that ends well

Art in the food shop.

 The brother serves breakfast in his sitting room at the dining table there. The nephew and the brother, they met yesterday for the first time. The nephew was presented with a bronze bust of his father as a young boy, the father being the other brother. The sculpture was made by the nephews grandmother, the mother of the brothers.

It is his now.

There is a witness too.

In case of disagreement the two brothers will never tell the same story

Walk down the hill that used to appear so huge as a child

and all the way into town

Ballyboden, the yellow house, Rathfarnham, cross the Dodder into Terenure, and all the way on to Harolds Cross. Across the canal see that the ruined houses are still there in quantity, but now they are different buildings that are in ruins. All dressed in barbed wire and security fencing and made up bright with sprayed graffitis. All of these houses are fallen beauties by the canal

Pass the Liberties, and go through Kevin Street and Stephen's Street. Cross Grafton street later, in all its high-priced ugliness and walk down Duke lane.

There is the emporium that sells food.

And in which an exhibition is to take place.

erIt is too early, the opening is this evening. But the girl working in the shop thinks nothing of opening the doors and letting a stray photographer in.

That is nice. For the artist it is one drawback in doing a show in a food shop,

Sugarloaf

 There is a dog on the bed and the sky is lightening outside. The Sugarloaf Mountain is visible as a cutout profile against the steadily brightening sky, and there are a few lights showing in some of the houses in the distance. Like fallen stars with some kind of unnatural rectangular halo. No, not a halo, it is just the window fromes in the distance.

The other dog is walking around on the wooden floor making a steady clicking noise as the canine toenails hit the floor. It is wandering about, perhaps it is wondering as to whether or not this stranger on the couch is good for breakfast.

The man of the house gets up and prepares breakfast. The one dog starts to bark continuously in anticipation.

A cup of coffee in hand, look as the mountain as it slowly turns into more than just a cut out, it is now a mound on the horizon.

The sons of the house have their uniforms on for school.

Their mother explains what is to be done with the dogs in case of emergency. The dogs are given to chasing the farmer landlord's sheep.

And the father says that he will be back after ten, after his duty at the pedestrian crossing.

white sheets black seats

the bedsheets where all white this morning, that is the way they should be and it is pleasant. This is the big room over Dublin city in the brother's flat in the old manor. It is very nice, and he works hard to have it and to keep it.

Later on, walk through the villages Ballyboden and Rathfarnham to Terenure, to a meeting at 12:30 with an old friend. It is far too early, spend time looking at the old haunts, there is the site of the new Model Laundry as mentioned by Joyce, but it is gone now. Spend time in Rathfarnham trying to find the buildings in which the shops that used to be a joy to this older man when he was a young child. Only the church is still much as it was, the butcher and the general store has gone, as has the newsagent.

Later, in Terenure, see that the newsagent and toyshop are deserted.

Kill the remainder of the time in an exhorbitantly priced cafe writing a letter to a professor who needed some advice on scanning.

Write, remembering all the while not to be patronising, a man who can understand the world in eleven dimensions may have problems elsewhere.

The walls in the cafe are cement blocks painted black, and it took five minutes to fix up the telephone because they have no wifi.

The tables are black as well.

As are the seats.

7 minutes

 The verbally ordered alarm yesterday sounds this morning, seemingly just after sleep wins over a wakeful night. It is playing that seaside melody, the tune seems to be a default. It is dark, because it is only six in the morning. Take a wakeup shower, not one that is necessary, but it serves it's purpose. Then return to the bedroom and put on the clothes laid out in preparation last night. They are nothing special at all, jeans pullover and underwear. But there is no need to think about them, all the thinking had been done last night. In the kitchen press the coffee grinder's button twice and fill up the middle-sized coffee machine. Put it onto the gas stove, let the gas hiss as it works to heat the aluminium pressure percolator. There is a picture of a man pointing upwards as a trade mark on the coffee machine.

Bread, butter, and a few slices of salami. This is an early morning breakfast

Check all the papers, and remember to pack away the shaver and the toothbrush.

And then take the orange suitcase and the small camera bag away on their journey to Dublin. There is activity on the streets already, children hurrying to get to school.

At the bus stop the electronic notice indicates that the bus is late. This could be silly, it would mean missing the early train to the airport. When the bus arrives, realise why it is late. The driver is a pedantic fool, a man who insists on waiting until the delivery truck waiting at the bus stop has been forced to move on by his hooting of the horn and his shouting. He could have stopped two metres away and let his rights as a bus driver be. Two stunds like that, realise that the sum of these things cause the delay.

Rush through the station, down through the tunnel, and up to the tracks, just as the doors begin to close.

The mask is inflating and deflating like a bellows due to the heavy breathing after the run through the station. But all is well now, the train speeds on.

At the airport, check the email.

There are two warnings that the bus in Landshut has been delayed.

A matter of seven minutes.

cat warmth

 Now that the morning is getting on, and there is light coming in through the window. See the earlier antics as being strange, the awakening at half pas four in the morning and getting up and making coffee.

Feeling awake, feeling fine, ready to take on this last day at home for the next two weeks.

Then the bitter cold feeling in the legs and the arms, the doctor once explained that this is the blood circulation concentrating on keeping the vital organs warm, yes, this bitter cold makes going back to bed imperative, even though the feeling of diminished personal worth is strong. It just will not be possible to do all the things as intended today.

The cat makes noises, get up to feed her in the grey light from the mist-covered sky outside the window. Make another cup of coffee, then go and find the clothes on the chair beside the bed. Drink the coffee, the heavier day clothes and a pullover keep the legs and the arms warm. Wonder about the postulated infection.

There is no idea that would help the matter any further. The cat, having fed, jumps up onto the knees. She is pleasantly warm.

never know

 There is fear among the forms, the forms that need to be filled out to qualify for a journey. There is fear of  illness and fear of punishment  and a fear of loosing the holiday too.

The form asks many questions and  there are clear warnings about what happens to liars. The words "must" and"need" are there all the time, and- 

There is fear of error. Automatic systems that exclude for no reason other than a middle name being used in the passport and not on the ticket. The system for buying the ticket does not allow for middle names, the system for the certification of innoculation requires them and the system for easing the path through the airport requires both entries to be identical.

It does not work at all well.

The walk this morning will have been the last one here for the next two weeks.

Never know, but that might be the end of the story.

Here is a yellow tree.

The misery is increasing daily as the various stalls around town go up to promote Christmas cheer. It is a strange paradox, and then it is not. The reason for Christmas has gone, and the entertainment is poor at best.

But that is not it. Live has become a succession of long walks and short drinks of coffee. There is nothing else. Facebook pictures, it is all no fun.

On Monday the flight to Ireland will leave. There will be recrimination to face from the wife, and yet-Staying would be a mistake too, for then there would be no holiday and that would be silly too.

There was a yellow tree on the opposite river bank on the morning walk today.

Here is a yellow tree.

ready sliced Emmentaler

 Resolve to leave early for the morning walk. Take a shower, take the pills, make some coffee, and feel the body collapse into an inert lazy state.

Sit there for an hour, The cat jumps up onto the lap and falls asleep.
Fall asleep.
Hear the son get up to go to school.
Cannot move at all, this is awful
Then slowly, life returns.

Arise and put on the jacket, pick up the camera bag and go.

The legs and everything are a little bit slow, but it does not matter. At the top of the steps, by the castle, the fog is so thick that nothing of the town is to be seen. Do the usual circuit, and finally, a coffee in the café.

No idea what is wrong today, the trees are nearly all bare.

The people who work in the café are all really busy, even though there are few guests there. Then go to the supermarket, buy some pretzels.

And a plastic bag full of ready-sliced Emmentaler.

no plan

 A walk finishes what was a day trying to fill out online forms. The forms are meant to make things simple, but it is not that easy. The app will not recognise the standard vaccination book. So go to the apothecary and avail of their services to make a digital pass. Later on, after the walk, scan the code printed on the pass,  only to discover that the online form has included both Christian names. Since this does not comply with the permit-producing app, the certificate was refused. Using the data from the airline meant that the airline's inability to accept second names meant that the app will no longer accept the certificate.

Print out the certificate, somebody at the airport will have to look at that now.

The coffee was nice, and the wife decided not to cook an evening meal today.   

Therefore, go to bed hungry.

that will be the plan.

trailer

 Move the bicycles out of the corridor, and roll the small trailer to the door. Then go out to the paarking spot where the little Opel car is parked. The windshield is covered in a thin coating of ice. There is no dedicated scraper available, so use a piece of plastic. It is good that the ice is not thick.

Leave the car in front of the house, after having fixed the removable tow hitch to the back. Then go into the house and open the doors. Drag out the tiny trailer and hitch it to the back of the car, remembering to plug in the electrical connector.

Close the door and drive to the inspection company. The trailer needs to be safety inspected every two years.

The engineer checks that the lights are working, that the tow hitch is secure and that the tyres are in order.

Then he notes down the number embossed on the chassis. The trailer was made in the German democratic republic, it is now forty years old.

And that is that. A new sticker is applied, a form is filled, and the bill paid. Then take the car and the trailer back home and reverse the procedure. After parking the car return home and go upstairs. The wife is still asleep.

Lie down on the couch in the sitting room  and fall asleep. It is nine in the morning.

dwarfed

A short walk today, there is still pain in the bones from yesterdays walk over twenty five kilometres. This is far short of a marathon distance, but it is far enough.

It is shortened also because of the mistaken belief that the pageantry in the castle had not finished, and that it would be closed. It was actually open, but who cares.

There are no more chestnuts under the tree, it has shed it's produce for this year. Perhaps again next year. 

The walk takes it's usual path, over the heights at the Carossa viewpoint and on down to the river, passing the new shopping centre and crossing the bridge.

Follow the path by the river, onward past the footbridge. Stop to take a picture of the giant trees lining the path, all in their yellow autumn splendour. A man approaches, let him be part of the picture. The man is dwarfed by the trees.

 A long walk in the foggy air, take pictures, and walk all the way out to the nature preserve again. On the way back to home the endorphin starts to make itself felt, this is just a happy feeling. Look, there are no drugs involved. Still, would it be possible to control a vehicle safely?

The way back is along the bank of the reservoir. The water is choppy today, and there are hundreds of black water birds on the surface of the water, There are the usual swans too, of course.

Progress becomes increasingly difficult as the walk comes to an end, the legs are sore, and the new shoes are a new experience too.

Take a picture of the seed pod of a vine, one that upon researching it on Google turns out to be some variety of clematis

than those with eyesight can see

 Postpone the walk today, for there are two other things to be done. First of all, a package needs to be brought to the post, an item was sold last night. The package is large and flat, not a usual format. The man in the post office looks at it in a puzzled way, then he reads the code on the label with his code reader, and after pressing a button on his computer at least four times a receipt is produced.

Wish him a pleasant weekend, and go.

Walk all the way down through the town, and take the last turn on the right before the river. This is the shortest route to the shopping centre. The front doors of the shopping centre are locked, and the glass has been covered in white plastic sheeting on the inside. There is a notice on the door that this entrance is being repaired, please use a side entrance. Enter the big hall through the side entrance, nearly getting tangled in the revolving door in the process. It stops rotating, just like that. Give it a slight push, and it starts to move again. That is a relief, it is a bad way to start the day, being locked into a revolving door is.

Down in the basement the tailor is waiting, he hands over the suit. Go into the changing cubicle and try the grey suit on. It fits properly now. Pay the money for the work. He is a friendly man from Iran, a Kurd. He is proud of being one of the fastest tailors about, and he says that fixing the other suits should not be a problem.

In the supermarket next door buy four pretzels, for a family breakfast. There is a trainee at the till, and he is under supervision. He short changes, perhaps he is stressed being new on the job. Hold out the hand as a sign of actually wishing to have that Euro. The supervisor tells him to look carefully at the paid money in his hand, he apologises and hands over one Euro. It is an easy mistake to make. A blind man is next in line and he hears the exchange and he laughs and says that this would not have happened to him. The blind must feel a greater difference between the coins than those with eyesight can see.

do not turn back

On the exposed track between the adventure playground for the children  and the woods by the farmhouse see two people approach with a dog. It is the landlady from the previous rental accommodation, the house on the hill. She is with a young man, and a brown dog. The dog is not her style, at least not equivalent to the style she had fifteen years ago. The young man is too young to be her boyfriend, and as he has a certain similarity, he may be her son.

A friendly greeting on the long sandy path through the wide ploughed fields under the large Bavarian sky. Explain the reason for being there, it is just the walking hobby. The mother, and her son, and the loaned dog are on a short walk, a quick stroll to exercise the dog. Chat for a while, out in the bleak windy weather. Talk about the son's successful studies, and do not talk about old times.

They go on towards their home, and continue the walk.

And do not turn back.

Today is a day where the walk was for fourteen kilometres, and it all took a bit longer, for there was a wedding in the café, and the waitress had many customers to deal with.

bright green and blue lights later

 Pull the hood of the hoodie over the head to protect the head from falling chestnuts. They are the spiny eating kind. Now search the ground for the telltale bright green of a freshly fallen chestnut. There is one, step on it until the casing bursts and take the chestnut out. There is a thump, and another one has fallen nearby. Treat it the same way. Carry on searching, and find a couple more.

Then take a picture of the small garden lodge. Hope to get a picture with the air full of leaves, but unfortunately neither the wind nor the trees oblige

The path through the cornfields is now covered in fallen leaves. They bind the mud, this is agreeable, there is now no slipping on the path.

Crossing the river the town lights come on, the long path by the river now is defined by pools of light emanating from old-fashioned style lanterns. The power station is decorated with blue lights behind its frosted glass windows. It is all very pretty.

Fair

 they collected the wooden box with the enlarger in it, even though it has not been used for years it is a shame to see it go. It is off to China now. So much for that, it no longer takes up space here and it even produced some money. Go back to the telephone and deal with the insurance company and that broken pane of glass. Just a small pane of glass, and such pain. It will be necessary to take a picture of the frame to convince them that a glass needed replacing.

And after that, freedom! No, there was one more thing. The mobile phone has to be brought to a repair shop nearby to have its battery replaced. And a parcel must be brought to the post.

The post first, watch the clerk as she carefully measures the parcel. Take the reciept, and go to the bank to collect some cash, some small spending money. Then turn in the mobile 'phone, it will be ready in an hour's time. The man who is repairing it is a bald man alone in his shop. He is very neat and tidy, and so is his work. Back at home, check on a few things, and do a few things, and when the  hour is up, go back to the shop and collect the 'phone.

And then, a late start to the daily walk, all the way to the castle. At the castle they are opening some kind of a Christmas fair, with stalls and lights and things.

Christmas is coming, as it does every year, even during this pandemic.

rain

 Start out really late today, after taking the parcel to the mail, and having to deal with the online courier service, a crowd of incapable people all trying to order the world by remote control. And it did not work yesterday, the large wooden crate is still in the hallway awaiting collection.

Take the walk up along by the river today, cutting back along the bluffs above the town. Then take the steep steps known as the keyboard of the oxen up to the castle. Be surprised at the improvement in the old body, it is possible to climb the steps now without losing breath.

Take a few pictures during a rainstorm in the park, be thankful of the rain poncho in the camera bag. This saves everything from a serious soaking. But the photos are not any use. Walk along the bluffs, then cut down to the river by the brewery. Because of the rain, there are no other walkers about, this is nice, it is good to be alone.

Enjoy the rich coffee at the café. The charming waitress is there today, all ready to charm. Watch the other customers, they are the only group sitting outside. There are two excitable little girls, who keep on running off to feed the swans. When they come back the grandmother critiscises them for having become wet. They both deny this.

Chat with the waitress when she comes to bring the change. 

And then go home.

Back home again

time wastage

 Today, it is necessary to wait, for a carrier has promised to pick up a crate.

Even if today is all hallows day, and nobody is about outside. Because it is raining and it is cold. And yesterday's exertions may have been a little too much. It was a beautiful day, there is satisfaction there for having made the most of it, especially as todays weather is not a thing you could make anything of. Now that the clocks have been changed it gets dark at five in the afternoon already, and the feeling for the day is confused. It should, after all, still be light. This is what the feelings say, they also say that it is later than the time on the clock.

The carrier did not come to pick up the crate. he will be around tomorrow most likely.

This is a wast of time, but there is nothing to be done about it.