Early Morning in Mayo

Up early this morning (although I'll likely go back to bed shortly for a little power nap). The light this morning is gorgeous. I'm sitting in the study looking at the window across the bay. Although an enormous cloud is balancing atop Slievemore on Achill island in the distance (ht. 671 feet), the sunlight was gleaming off the Blacksod light house illuminating the entire point. Yesterday was quite windy but it appears calmer today. Despite the wind, it was a gloriously warm day following Tuesday's rain which at times was coming down horizontally.

Yesterday around lunch time I walked down the lane to the sandy beach and walked all around the beach and even waded into the water. In places it must have been 70 degrees warm as it was fairly shallow (I walked in probably 30 or 40 feet and never went completely up to my knees) and crystal clear.

In the afternoon we headed to Ceide fields and the cliffs at Downpatrick Head. Took an interesting tour of the neolithic farming site at Ceide and watched the fill-um (aka film) about the site. On the way home we stopped off at Cormacks for a pint and a chat. We get the feeling that the pub scene is basically a male thing as other than Rose, the bartender/owner whom we adore, we've encountered very few women in there. The men, however, come in after work to drink, look out the window and chat. They've been extremely gracious in allowing us to intrude on their routine and are eager to chat with us about American politics (many are Obama supporters and most are probably better versed in US politics than the average American voter), life in this area, etc. When we mentioned the one thing we want to do that we haven't done yet is visit Inishkea they told us about the annual BBQ on the island that is happening on Saturday night and Rose immediately got on the phone and began making plans for us to attend. Evidently boats ferry people to the island, an early Christian monastic site which was home to a fishing village that was abandoned in the 1930's. People build fires on the beach, cook out, drink, and there's music and good craic (fun). Can't wait!

More pictures from recent days posted at top.