Words
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Eugene AdamsLetter from Home 15Do you remember that rhyme to be said when you see a magpie? I mentioned it to Gerry the other day, and she reminded me of the custom of "saluting the magpie." She said -- explaining that she isn't superstitious, of course -- that if she sees only one magpie, she gives him a courteous salute, because that will keep the sorrow off. Letter from Home 14Remember how I used to write a "Letter From Home" for the Clifden web site? I left off more than a year ago -- I guess I felt more reflective and less like talking, for a while, and this fitted in very well with being out on my bike, and spending an afternoon or evening trying my luck with the fly rod. Lately I've also spent some time reading over Emily Dickinson, and this has gotten me interested in writing these letters again. Letter from Home 13What has been particularly on my mind over the past month is the new proposal for an air facility in the Roundstone Bog, which I'm sure you've been thinking about yourselves. I decided to send a letter to the Minister, and that will also be my letter to you for now. Letter from Home 12It's nearly the shortest day of the year now, and even on a clear day there isn't much light. From the sitting room window you're looking to the southeast, to the ridge line that runs above the river from Dooneen to the bay, and the sun now rises at Dooneen and barely stays clear of the ridge line before it sinks again just behind the bit of hill above the O'Halloran's house. Letter from Home 11Winter begins for us November 1st, All Saints Day. The hills and bog have turned a red brown now, but the Bens still throw back the light from their bare rock. There are only a few visitors in town. Most people have more time to see friends and talk, and there are table quizzes in the pubs. The Irish Countrywomen's Association has resumed meetings, and your mother is managing the craft nights each Wednesday at the town hall, where many of the women are making Christmas gifts and decorations. Letter from Home 10The Clifden Pony Show was held a couple weeks ago -- it's always the third Thursday of August, but that day falls late this year, and so more than usually it seemed to signal the end of summer. It was warm and bright, and not a drop of rain fell. There seemed to be a bigger crowd than usual, perhaps because it was so warm and dry. Letter from Home 9June is almost out, and I haven't written -- too much music and fishing. You remember Brendan Salmon -- he came here from Mayo ten or so years ago, was working at Clifden Supply, and playing guitar and singing at Terry Sweeney's and at Guy's. He was at university with the King lad, and one summer a few years ago they performed together at Terry's, mostly American rock and roll, a sort of Connemara Simon and Garfunkel act. Letter from Home 8You can think that summer has come to Connemara. I was up in Duneen on Sunday afternoon, the 20th, and heard the first cuckoo. That's usually a good place to hear him, as it's secluded and there are a lot of trees, on the hillside toward the Salt Lake and on the other hillside, toward the river and along the river side. Letter from Home 7During the week before Easter I went with a small group of parishioners to visit two of the holy wells near here. On Wednesday evening, the six of us went to St. Caillin's Well, near Ballyconneely, and on Good Friday we went up to St. Patrick's Well at Maumeen, near Recess. Letter from Home 6Trout season started last month, and I've been out a few times. I'm using the nine and a half foot, four-section rod that I got last year. It's really not big enough when there's a lot of wind, but it suits me all the same. I lash it to the top tube of my bicycle, put my gear in my back pack, along with a flask of tea, a sandwich, fruit, candy bar, pipes and tobacco, and I'm ready for a day of fishing on the bog. Letter from Home 5Do you remember my telling you, some months ago, about Sharon Murphy, the singer/songwriter? I heard her perform here during Arts Week last September, and the year before, too. Sharon was raised here in Clifden, at St. Joseph's Orphanage, which closed about 1983. Her father was Black, from the West Indies, and her mother Irish. Letter from Home 4If you were here for the holidays you'd see that there are changes in Clifden. James Sullivan has re-opened his shop on Main Street -- it's really a supermarket now, with a number of things you would have had to get from Galway, before. The seven houses that Kevin Barry is building next to the Old School are roofed and plastered. John Sweeney has begun clearing the site for the hotel and houses he is to build -- that would be along the Galway Road coming into Clifden, where the old motel stands. And leaving Clifden on the Westport Road, opposite Doctor John's, there will be some houses built. Letter from Home 3A good American film was shown here last week. Of course the nearest cinema is in Galway, but during the winter the Letterfrack Film Society has the use of the audio-visual centre at Connemara National Park, and shows a film there every two weeks. So last Thursday "Smoke" was shown; you might have seen it; based on a story by the Brooklyn novelist Paul Auster, and placed in Brooklyn. Letter from Home 2We're getting a lot of wind and rain here lately, but not so much that I can't get out on my bike most days. Yesterday I rode out the Bog Road and saw the whole range of the Bens, from Diamond Hill to Derryclare, covered in snow gleaming in the morning sun, and the sun was warm on the bog despite the snow in the mountains. I rode out about four miles, to the bit of high ground where I could look out over the bog. Letter from Home 1I'm sure you're surprised to be reading my letter to you on the internet. This is how it happened: I was talking with your friends Ralph and Justin, and they suggested that, since I write to you regularly to keep you up to date on life here, I send the letter over the internet using their new Clifden web site, so that your friends in America, and anyone interested in life here, can stay up to date too. |
