Gold

They say money doesn't satisfy - I wouldn't know... And that the love of money is the root of evil. But this evening the western sky was full of gold, freely available, but I wonder how many appreciated it? I regret that my photos but poorly convey the majesty I bathed in for the few minutes it persisted..

Hard of hearing

I may have mentioned that I have suffered tinnitus for many years now. This constant background noise sets a lower limit to what external sound levels I can hear. In addition loud noise tends to distort in my ears. So for me the so called cocktail effect works in reverse - the more people speaking at once the less likely I am to be able to make out anything, so that I tend to retire, give up, at corporate mealtimes.

After church today we had a special lunch in honour of a student who has just graduated. I had been cooking vast quantities of chips in the kitchen so when I finally made it into the dining area the meal was already in full progress and there was a lot of talking going on. The noise level hit me rather like the heat can when entering a sauna. It was uncomfortable. So I went upstairs to get some ear plugs. A few minutes after returning those sitting nearby noticed and I was conscious of laughter at my expense. Not nasty - after all we are Christians - but laughter none the less.

Why is is reasonably socially acceptable to be lame, or blind, but having a hearing deficiency or going about without shoes on is not? Could I claim discrimination?

Clean out of creme eggs

Not long ago I had two creme eggs in my top drawer. One got eaten last weekend on Church mountain. And today I cycled to the Curragh, parked the bike and ran over 9 miles, re-fuelled on egg No. 2 and water, then cycled back (cycle round trip 24.5 miles, average speed 12.6mph).

Running statistics: 9.05 miles (14.5km), average speed 6.23mph (10km/hr). The route took me right around the Curragh Camp (Irish army headquarters) then back alongside the M7 motorway.

Apart from a few thistles the grazed grass is heavenly to run barefoot on. It was good-feel running for all but the last mile or so when my legs began to tire. Here are a few photos I took today of or from the same look-out post I found in my last Curragh run.

The look-out post

Strange ditches surrounding the look-out

More ditches - Under Me?

That's my head beside the post

Irish railways

In a previous post I claimed to be a mild siderodromomaniac and so it is with considerable shame that I confess that I have only recently realised that the Irish track gauge is 5' 3" (1600mm) and not the standard gauge 4' 8.5" of the UK. You'd think...

Wikipedia has a nice animated map illustrating the progressive axing of railways in Ireland, similar to what happened in the UK under Beeching. Or here for a good history. Here is the best map I could find of the rail network before the axing. Click on the image to enlarge it or view the original.

So what? I hear you say. I find the past of interest when I discover remnants: reminders of days gone by. For example my post about the bridge over the Liffey that carried the Naas to Tullow line. Or when I hear glad tidings about plans to create more Irish greenways some of which use the course of disused railways. Here's one that is already open which I would like to explore. 

I sometimes look for remnants when running or by comparing on-line satellite imagery with old maps - see this post. Ordnance Survey Ireland (osi) has a handy on-line map viewer that can superimpose modern aerial imagery with historic maps dating back to 1830's and 1900's. 

And, whilst not wanting to grow older any faster than my present escalating rate, I look forward to using my promised free pass on all Irish public transport. 

Church Mountain

It was a year ago I last climbed Church Mountain. This time I took much the same route by bike, but I found a different path for the final climb on foot (bare of course), starting at a gate just past the summit of the pass.

The gate

The gate led to a well worn path that was relatively easy under barefoot and led all the way to the top. Sometimes grassy underfoot, or boggy peat with rocks in a few places.

The path follows a fence

Looking back

The church ruins from the triangulation pillar

View of our lakes from the top

Home is somewhere near those lakes in the distance...

The view descending to Donard

Honeysuckle on the way home

10km

Mostly I run without GPS (because it would be yet another thing to carry), but on Friday I ran, barefoot of course, along roads in Naas for almost exactly one hour and managed an average of 10.21 km/hr according to my GPS. The GPS didn't kick in for the first few minutes, but I reckon the total distance was about 10km.

I passed a car waiting for traffic lights and the passenger, a middle aged woman, hung her head out of the window to ask "was I alright?", as if to enquire whether or not I knew I hadn't got shoes on. I should have parried back: did she realise she was not wearing gloves?...

Narrow gauge steam in the garden

What if...?  What if money were no object? And I had time? And the others who live here were in accord?

For many years I have toyed with the idea of a narrow gauge garden railway. We have strips of woodland which are not well used for other purposes and the route is almost ready made:

It would start at the wood pile...

... and then meander along the path in the wooded border on the north side of the property...

...past the front gates and then between the trees that line the field alongside the road...

...around the perimeter of the property and then entering the wooded area on the south side...

...behind the chalet...

... beside the "bog garden" with its little summer house...

... and finally ending at the front of the house and not too far from the wood pile where it started.  The route is about 0.9 km in length, involves no steep gradients and would require minimal clearing.  The gauge would be no more than 15", enough to take a few passengers. Of course we would open it to the public on occasions. What better way to spend a summer's Sunday afternoon than driving a steam locomotive back and forth?